to appropriate to the National Park Service and the Bureau of Land Management, for the fiscal year 1995-1999 period, sums not to exceed $36,000,000 more than that provided in fiscal year 1994 for additional administrative and construction costs, and $300,000,000 for land acquisition costs... Additional findings and policy Congress found that federally owned desert lands of southern California constitute a public wildland resource of extraordinary and inestimable value for current and future generations; these desert wildlands have unique scenic, historical, archeological, environmental, ecological, wildlife, cultural, scientific, educational and recreational values; the California desert public land resources are threatened by adverse pressures which impair their public and natural values; the California desert is a cohesive unit posing difficult resource protection and management challenges; statutory land unit designations are necessary to protect these lands. Congress declared as its policy that appropriate public lands in the California desert must be included within the National Park System and the National Wilderness Preservation System in order to preserve the unrivaled scenic, geologic and wildlife values of these lands; perpetuate their significant and diverse ecosystems; protect and preserve their historical and cultural values; provide opportunities for compatible outdoor public recreation, protect and interpret ecological and geological features, maintain wilderness resource values, and promote public understanding and appreciation; retain and enhance opportunities for scientific research in undisturbed ecosystems. Background History U.S. Senator Alan Cranston (D-Ca) introduced the California Desert Protection Act as a bill for consideration by the U.S. Congress for the first time in 1986 and several times after, with his final attempt occurring in 1992. Around that time, on April 2, 1990, the Mojave desert tortoise was listed under the U.S. Endangered Species Act of 1973 as a threatened species, but there was still resistance in the U.S. Senate to any bill that would prohibit certain uses of the California desert, such as hunting and grazing, in order to protect desert life, even if such life included species threatened with extinction. Senator Cranston retired in 1993 and was succeeded by Barbara Boxer (D-Ca), while John Seymour (R-Ca), who was Cranston's fellow U.S. Senator from California and who opposed the bill, lost his election to challenger Dianne Feinstein that same year. In 1993, both U.S. Senators from California, Feinstein (D-Ca) and Boxer, as well as President Clinton pledged support of legislation to protect the California desert. Several studies, lobbying efforts, and over 50 revisions to the