Each year, the Treasury deposits over $900 million in revenues and royalty receipts in the Land and Water Conservation Fund for federal purchase of environmentally significant land. Congressional appropriations from this fund may be used to acquire privately held lands within national parks, forests, or wildlife refuges. Congress has reduced purchases in recent years despite a growing balance in the fund and a lengthy list of deserving parcels offered for sale by willing owners.

Rep. Sam Farr (D-CA) offered an amendment to H.R. 3662, the Fiscal Year 1997 Interior Appropriations Bill, to increase appropriations from the Land and Water Conservation Fund by $135.2 million, restoring funding to 1995 levels. The fund increase would be offset by an equivalent reduction in fossil energy research and development so as not to increase the budget deficit.

On June 19, 1996, the House rejected the Farr amendment, 183 - 235. YES is the pro-environment vote.