FEDERAL GREEN SPACE BILL EYED

By Mike Soraghan Denver Post Washington Bureau

July 18, 2000 - WASHINGTON - U.S. senators from across the Rocky Mountain West are playing key roles on both sides of a heated debate about buying more land for soccer fields, open space and hiking trails.

But Colorado's two senators, Ben Nighthorse Campbell, R-Ignacio, and Wayne Allard, R-Loveland, are undecided on the bill, which supporters say could bring more than $57 million to Colorado.

Campbell's vote on the Conservation and Reinvestment Act is considered especially important, because he sits on the Energy and Natural Resources Committee that is expected to vote this week.

"He's still studying the issue," Campbell spokesman Chris Changery said. "He will often hold off on making a decision until there's been a full debate."

The Conservation and Reinvestment Act takes taxes from offshore drilling and puts the money into buying public lands to restore eroded beaches, create new urban parks and protect wildlife. It is supported by conservation groups, along with sporting goods companies. It is opposed by property rights groups and Western Republicans who are wary of federal ownership of land.

Pressure from GOP leaders

One group lobbying fervently for the bill says that Campbell is being pressured by Republican leaders, who are nervous about the proposal. Frank Hugelmeyer, executive director of Outdoor Recreation Coalition of America, a Boulder-based trade group, said he thinks Campbell is leaning against the measure.

"Colorado is the epicenter of the outdoor lifestyle," Hugelmeyer said. "You'd expect Sen. Campbell to be taking the lead, but he isn't."

Other Colorado Republicans have supported the bill. Gov. Bill Owens joined 40 other governors last year in endorsing it. When the bill passed the House, three Republicans and two Democrats from Colorado voted for it. Only Rep. Bob Schaffer, R-Fort Collins, voted against.

The bill had stalled in the Senate until late last week, when committee chairman Frank Murkowski, R-Alaska, and Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., the ranking Democrat on the panel, cut a deal they hope will get the bill out of committee.

As they looked for a way to get the bill through committee, the price tag swelled from $2.8 billion to $2.99 billion. The estimated amount of money that could go to Colorado has risen from $44 million.

"It's critical for everyone in Colorado to keep the quality of life we have now," said Andy McRoberts, parks and recreation director in Evans and president of the Colorado Parks and Recreation. McRoberts said his city would like some of the money to expand a trail network along the South Platte to serve its fast-growing population.

The bill is popular because it has something for just about everyone from coastal states to the interior West. And it's a pro-environment vote that doesn't put the screws to business. But that is also what makes its opponents even more suspicious.

"It's a pork barrel with a wide enough mouth for everyone to get a hand in," said Larry Akey, spokesman for Sen. Conrad Burns, R-Mont. "Green pork would be a good way to describe it. Where I come from, green pork generally smells."

Oversight pushed

Burns is expected to try to add more congressional oversight over federal land acquisitions as the committee works on the bill.

Wyoming Republican Sen. Craig Thomas, like Colorado's senators, is officially undecided. He wants to add language that would restrict federal land purchases in Western states where Uncle Sam already owns a lot of land.

Under his "no net loss of public land" plan, in any state where the federal government owns more than 25 percent of the land, the federal government would have to sell as much land as it buys.

That threshold would include both Colorado and Wyoming.