Lynn C. Woolsey: “I rise in support of CARA. I so appreciate the hard work of the gentleman from Alaska (Chairman Young) and the gentleman…”

“I rise in support of CARA. I so appreciate the hard work of the gentleman from Alaska (Chairman Young) and the gentleman from California (Mr. George Miller), the ranking member, that they put into this bill. Mr. Chairman, I was proud to be an early cosponsor of their effort, because I knew if they could get together, it had to be a good bill. And it is. For my constituents in Marin and Sonoma Counties, CARA will be one of the most significant environmental bills this Congress will consider. It provides for full and dedicated funding of the Land and Water Conservation Fund. It gives States and local conservation and environmental entities a reliable partner to preserve and restore coastal and marine habitat and to save our wildlife. Particularly important to my district, however, and to my constituents is CARA's priority to preserve and acquire open space and to protect farmland. For example, in my district, which is just north of the Golden Gate Bridge, very close to a very, very concentrated urban area, CARA has a funding mechanism for the purchase of conservation easements on farmlands, farmlands that are currently under threat from development because of their location so close to the Bay Area. While CARA will not supply all the money needed to preserve the threatened lands across our country, I am truly encouraged by this good start and look forward to building on this principle. I urge all of my colleagues to support H.R.…”