In addition to the Alaska Lands Act, over the past four years we have been
able to expand significantly the national wilderness and parks systems. In
1978, the Congress passed the historical Omnibus Parks Act, which made 12
additions to the National Park System. The Act also established the first
two national trails since the National Trails System Act was passed in
1968. Then, in 1980, as a result of my 1979 Environmental Message, the
Federal land management agencies have established almost 300 new National
Recreational Trails. With the completion of the RARE II process, which
eliminated the uncertainty surrounding the status of millions of acres of
land, we called for over 15 million acres of new wilderness in the nation's
National Forest, in 1980 the Congress established about 4.5 million acres
of wilderness in the lower 48 states. In addition, the Administration
recommended legislation to protect Lake Tahoe, and through an Executive
Order has already established a mechanism to help ensure the Lake's
protection. Finally, in 1980 the Administration established the Channel
Islands Marine Sanctuary.
Administration actions over the past four years stressed the importance of
providing Federal support only for water resource projects that are
economically and environmentally sound. This policy should have a major and
lasting influence on the federal government's role in water resource
development and management. The Administration's actions to recommend to
the Congress only economically and environmentally sound water resource
projects for funding resulted not only in our opposing uneconomic projects
but also, in 1979, in the first Administration proposal of new project
starts in 4 years.
One of the most significant water policy actions of the past four years was
the Administration's June 6, 1978 Water Policy Reform Message to the
Congress. This Message established a new national water resources policy
with the following objectives:
--to give priority emphasis to water conservation;
--to consider environmental requirements and values more fully and along
with economic factors in the planning and management of water projects and
programs;
--to enhance cooperation between state and federal agencies in water
resources planning and management.
In addition, the Executive Office of the President established 11 policy
decision criteria to evaluate the proposed federal water projects, the
Water Resources Council developed and adopted a new set of Principles and
Standards for water projects which is binding on all federal construction
agencies, and improved regulations were developed to implement the National
Historic Preservation Act and the Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act. As a
result, water resource projects must be determined to be economically sound
before the Administration will recommend authorization or appropriation.
Over the years ahead, this policy will help to reduce wasteful federal
spending by targeting federal funds to the highest priority water resource
projects.
In the pursuit of this policy, however, we cannot lose projects. In the
part that sound water resource projects play in providing irrigation,
power, and flood control. We must also recognize the special needs of
particular regions of the country in evaluating the need for additional
projects.