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WEATHER, PAGE 5A
Annie’s Mailbox . 4B Classified. 6B Comics. 5B Nation & World. 3A Opinion . 4A Sports . 1B
INDEX
VOL. 47, NO. 145
14 PAGES
A government fund that has
helped preserve some of the
nation’s most iconic parks — from
Gettysburg’s battlefields to the
Everglades and the Appalachian
Trail — could disappear as early
as fall because of a congressional
dispute over how the program’s
revenues should be spent, U.S. offi-
cials warn.
The federal Land and Water
Conservation Fund has been used
for 50 years to acquire land deemed
to have special historical or envi-
ronmental significance. Although
the fund is popular with lawmakers
from both political parties, legisla-
tion needed to keep the program
alive appears to have stalled.
The law that created the pro-
gram is set to expire in September,
putting at risk a primary source
of revenue for the nation’s largest
preserves as well as state parks
and community playgrounds and
ballfields. The money — capped
at $900 million annually but sub-
stantially smaller in most years —
comes not from tax revenue but
from royalties paid by oil and gas
companies for drilling rights in
federal waters offshore.
“Absolutely, there’s a risk that this
could go away,” Interior Secretary
Sally Jewell said in an interview.
Jewell said that although the pro-
gram has traditionally drawn heavy
bipartisan support — the law that
created the fund in 1964 had only
one dissenting vote — a bill that
would reauthorize the fund faces
significant opposition from law-
makers who either are ideologically
opposed to federal land acquisition
or have other ideas for using the
money.
“Anything that looks like a chunk
of money that you can use for your
other projects, some will want to go
for it,” she said.
A failure to renew the fund could
jeopardize improvement projects
at hundreds of sites across the
country at a time when many of
the nation’s most popular parks
face budget shortfalls and deferred
maintenance. While Congress has
frequently sparred over the fund’s
size, the current impasse is regard-
ed as the most serious threat to
the program’s survival since its
inception during the Johnson
administration.
Jewell, whose department
S
hoppers at Queens’ MarketPlace
in Waikoloa Beach Resort
were treated to the “Summer
is upon us!” fashion show at the
Coronation Pavilion on Saturday.
Models from Larson Talent Hawaii
sported fashion styles and swimwear
from Volcom, Local Motion,
Mahina and Quicksilver/Roxy, all
merchants at the shopping center.
Camp shows love to children with incarcerated parents
Two buses rolled up to
Bayfront Park on Sunday
afternoon, and a steady trickle
of boys and girls in purple and
yellow t-shirts stepped off each
one, walking through a tunnel
of high-fives and cheers as they
headed for a large tent pitched
on the shore.
There were 85 kids in all,
ranging in age from 7 to 17.
They had spent the morning
bowling, and the previous
day horseback riding at Paani
Ranch. There would be a luau
later that night, before the kids
returned to their cabins at the
Kilauea Military Camp. More
than 200 volunteers helped
out
Campers came from around
Hawaii Island — mostly Hilo,
but also Honokaa and Kona.
Some were from Oahu. But
they were all there for one rea-
son: to just be kids for a few
days.
On the surface this is a
straightforward goal, but for
the kids at Camp Agape, run
by the New Hope Hilo church
and now in its third year on
the island, it’s not one that
necessarily comes easily. Every
camper has a parent who is in
jail or prison.
There’s no accurate state-
wide count for how many chil-
dren have incarcerated par-
ents. That may change soon
with the passage of a recent bill
in the legislative session, which
requires the Department of
Public Safety to keep track of
incoming offenders who have
children, and how old the
children are. Data collected is
intended to kickstart broad-
er efforts to help the young
group.
But in the meantime, ser-
vices directly addressing this
population are lacking.
Roy Yamamoto of Pearl City,
Oahu, a former inmate whose
daughter was three when he
entered prison, founded Camp
Agape on Oahu 10 years ago.
“God cut me loose,”
Yamamoto said. Since then, he
said, he’s been “doing every-
thing I could for inmates and
BY IVYASHE
HAWAII TRIBUNE-HERALD
Congress
stalls on
renewing
funds for
parks
JOBYWARRICK
ASSOCIATED PRESS
LEFT: A model from Larson Talent walks the runway in clothing from Quicksilver/Roxy at Queens’ MarketPlace’s
“Summer is upon us!” fashion show Saturday. RIGHT: A model poses in clothing from Mahina.
PHOTOS BY LAURA SHIMABUKU/
WEST HAWAII TODAY
LEFT TO RIGHT: Models from Larson Talent wait for their turn on the runway wearing clothes from the shops at the
Queens’ MarketPlace; A model from Larson Talent poses in clothing from Local Motion; A model from Larson Talent
poses in clothing from Mahina.
SEE
PARKS
PAGE 6A
SEE
CAMP
PAGE 6A
