The federal government will pay a fringe religious group $13 million for 9,300 acres of land surrounding Yellowstone National Park. The area will provide additional grazing grounds for herds of American bison from the park, and migration corridors for grizzly bears, elk, antelope, bighorn sheep, and other wildlife. Enviros had feared that the religious group’s activities would damage the land, and that its plans to build a spa using geothermal waters could deplete underground water supplies feeding Yellowstone’s famous geysers. In his weekly radio address on Saturday, Pres. Clinton touted the agreement and criticized Republican attempts to cut his proposed $1 billion Lands Legacy program, which would protect dozens of sites throughout the nation from development.
