Parks and Open Space Funding

To whom it may concern,

A significant amount of funding for local and regional parkland is derived or leveraged from federal grants. Moreover, the federal government is the largest land holder in the country, and much of this area is leased for natural resource production. While this follows a reasonable management approach of balancing conservation and preservation, it is administered in a way that poorly reflects the real and intrinsic value of these natural resources and open space areas. Many of these leases could be used to fund not just federal parks and recreation activities, but actual environmental restoration and park acquisition. These funds could become a boon for urban parkland, especially for park poor areas of the many needy cities across the country. As a resident of Los Angeles, I deal with this reality daily. While the mountains and the ocean are within view, there is not a single park in my neighborhood of 40,000 people. We rely solely on our private roof-top patios and a single, ill-conceived central plaza. What is needed is a funding mechanism that connects park poor areas with federal monies. What will this administration do to promote parks in urban areas and open space conservation across the country, and will you directly tie funding for park acquisition to persons served and/or environmental need?

GUNNAR HAND, AICP