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Will support "increased funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund, which supports land acquisition and maintenance of parks" and "will lead efforts to acquire and conserve new parks and public lands, focusing on ecosystems such as the Great Plains and Eastern forests which do not yet have the protection they deserve."
Buried in President Barack Obama's first budget is increased funding for a program that protects land and water.
The program, known in Washington as the Land and Water Conservation Fund, provides money to the Departments of Agriculture and Interior to buy and preserve environmentally sensitive land.
Obama talked about the program on the campaign trail, and then budgeted about $420 million for the program once he got in office. That's a 38 percent increase over last year's budget, and puts the administration on track to reach $900 million in funding by 2014, according to the administration.
Congress boosted that figure by $30 million in the Interior Appropriations bill. Obama signed that legislation on Oct. 30, 2009, so we're moving this pledge to a Promise Kept.
White House, Interior Department budget , accessed Nov. 1, 2009
Forest Service, LWCF overview , accessed Nov. 1, 2009
House Appropriations Committee, Interior Department Appropriations Bill Summary , accessed Nov. 1, 2009