"WASHINGTON, DC -- The U.S. Forest Service is investing $40.6 million to acquire 27 pieces of land in 15 states that the agency says will help safeguard clean water, provide recreational access, preserve wildlife habitat, enhance scenic vistas and protect historic and wilderness areas."
"Funded projects would protect what Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack calls 'nationally significant' lands in: Alaska, California, Colorado, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, Tennessee, Utah and Washington.
'In keeping with the Obama administration's America's Great Outdoors conservation initiative, USDA is committed to conserving and restoring our forests and bringing jobs to rural America,' said Vilsack. 'Through our partnerships with states, communities, tribes and others, it is vital that we step up our efforts to safeguard our country's natural resources.'
The money is made available through the Land and Water Conservation Fund, created by Congress in 1964 to provide funding to federal, state and local governments to purchase land, water and wetlands. The fund receives most of its money through royalty payments from offshore oil and gas revenues to mitigate the environmental impacts of those activities. "