On Sept. 23, in an effort to better protect wildlife habitat and other open spaces, the House of Representatives passed the Coastal and Estuarine Land Conservation Program Act (HR 1907) by a vote of 313-59. Introduced by U.S. Rep. Lois Capps (D-Calif.) and U.S. Rep. Jim Saxton (R-N.J.), the legislation formally authorizes the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to establish a competitive program to provide coastal states with federal matching funds to acquire coastal properties. The federal funds provided through this program would be combined with state, local, and private funding to protect sensitive coastal areas. Since 2003, a version of this program has been funded on a temporary basis through annual earmark bills. To date, NOAA has spent $176 million to protect more than 100 coastal areas, including Ellwood Mesa and Gaviota State Park in Santa Barbara County and Morro Bay Dunes and Piedras Blancas in San Luis Obispo County. Numerous environmental and community groups, including the Trust for Public Land, a land conservancy group, have endorsed the bill.
This article appears in Oct 2-9, 2008.