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Document 11 of 79.

April 6, 2000, Thursday

SECTION: PREPARED TESTIMONY

LENGTH: 3847 words

HEADLINE: PREPARED TESTIMONY OF MARY BETH BEETHAM DIRECTOR OF LEGISLATIVE AFFAIRS DEFENDERS OF WILDLIFE

BEFORE THE HOUSE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE SUBCOMMITTEE ON INTERIOR AND RELATED AGENCIES

SUBJECT - THE PROPOSED FISCAL YEAR 2001 INTERIOR AND RELATED AGENCIES BUDGET

BODY:
On behalf of our more than 380,000 members and supporters Defenders thanks you for the opportunity to testify.

Lands Legacy/Land and Water Conservation Fund (Multi-agency)

Defenders urges full funding of the President's Lands Legacy Initiative, a total of approx. $971 M under the Subcommittee's jurisdiction: $450 for federal LWCF (DOI/FS), $65 M for the Cooperative Endangered Species Fund (FWS); $150 M for state land acquisition grants (DOI); $50 M for state open space planning grants with the caveat discussed below under USGS (DOI); $60 M for Forest Legacy (FS); $40 M for Urban and Community Forestry (FS); $6 M for the smart growth revolving loan program (FS); $20 M for Urban Parks and Recreation Recovery (NPS); $30 M for the North American Wetlands Conservation Fund(FWS); and $100 M for State Non-Game Wildlife Grants (FWS). We urge the Subcommittee to fund Lands Legacy at the requested level and to Work with the Budget Committee to establish the new budget category proposed to dedicate and protect the total $1.4 B level for Lands Legacy for future years. Broad support exists in Congress and across the nation for permanent funding for these programs at predictable levels, as evidenced by the array of permanent funding bills pending that have the combined support of hundreds of cosponsors. The Subcommittee has the opportunity to take the initiative and establish this critical new fund. We wish to highlight several components of Lands Legacy. First, the $450 M for federal land acquisition is needed to protect numerous areas in our Refuges, Forests, Parks, and BLM-managed special areas. Defenders will soon be completing a report that highlights the importance of using LWCF for biodiversity conservation; in it, based on scientific analysis, we will recommend funding of key projects in the President's budget that will contribute to the conservation of endangered ecosystems as identified in Defender's 1995 report, "Endangered Ecosystems: A Status Report on America's Vanishing Habitat and Wildlife." Second, the substantial increase in funding for the Cooperative Endangered Species Fund will give states badly needed resources to move forward with candidate conservation, recovery, and HCP efforts, and for land acquisition to support both HCPs and species recovery. Third, the new $100 M funding request for State Non-Game Wildlife Grants is critically needed to provide some reliable funding for conservation of the roughly 90 percent of species that are neither hunted or fished nor federally listed as threatened or endangered. Annual state funding spent on conservation of non-game species is less than one-tenth the amount spent on hunted species. In funding the non- game program, we also strongly urge the Subcommittee to include report language stipulating that each state that has not already done so develop a plan for prioritizing fund expenditures that includes assessing species population status and distribution, habitats essential for their conservation, factors contributing to the decline of the identified species and habits, and actions to address these factors. These non-burdensome planning requirements are almost identical to those in the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act of 1980, passed to conserve non-game species but never funded; such plans would be extremely cost-effective in providing a comprehensive blueprint for states to more strategically conserve biodiversity and avert new ESA listings. Several states (Florida and Oregon) have already completed plans.

Defenders continues to strongly support Pima County's landmark Sonoran Desert Conservation Plan and related efforts, one of the largest and most complex multi-species conservation plans in the nation, and a model for funding under various components of Lands Legacy such as planning, easements, and state and federal land acquisition. A preliminary plan will be released this summer and an additional $2 M will be needed for FY01 to continue and expedite the planning process. Integral to SDCP efforts is continued acquisition for Saguaro National Park West expansion (approved by Congress in 1994 without a funding source) and initial acquisition for Ironwood National Monument; $16 M is needed to complete Saguaro West acquisition and purchase conservation easements and $14.9 M is needed for initial Ironwood NM acquisition and easement purchase. We are extremely concerned that the Administration has not requested any FY01 funding for Saguaro NP and Ironwood NM and urge funding for FY01, particularly for biologically rich wildlife corridors and ancient ironwood forests threatened by development. Given that this is one of the fastest growing areas in the U.S., if not purchased soon, lands will no longer be available nor affordable. We appreciate the Subcommittee's past support for SDCP and Saguaro NP.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Endangered Species: At the very least, Defenders urges full funding of the President's FY01 $115.3 M request for the Fish and Wildlife Service's (FWS) four main endangered species accounts: Candidate Conservation ($8.4 M), Listing ($7.2 M), Recovery ($55.3 M), Consultation ($39.4 M), and the ESA Landowner Incentive Program $5 M). We also urge full funding of the $65M request for the Cooperative Endangered Species Fund, discussed under Lands Legacy (above).Defenders supports the increase for Candidate Conservation, but has serious concerns with the FWS implementation of this program. The increased money is needed for status surveys on approximately 265 candidates, development of additional Candidate Conservation Agreements (CCAs) when appropriate, and necessary monitoring of CCAs and technical assistance to current partners to ensure biological improvement of covered species and reduction of threats. We cannot, however, support the continued use of these funds to illegally avoid listing species that clearly meet the ESA's criteria for listing. We also question FWS priorities in requesting over a million dollars more for Candidate Conservation than that requested for listing and critical habitat, given that the current resource needs for the latter two program elements is substantially greater than that of the former. FWS funding requests are clearly reflective of a fundamental and what we consider to be improper shifting of ESA program priorities. In its budget justification, FWS considers "(m)aking listing species unnecessary" as one of its three Endangered Species Program's priorities. Noticeably absent from that list, however, is the ESA's most fundamental and important provision - the listing of species determined to be endangered or threatened.

The Listing increase is clearly needed but is inadequate to process listings on species requiring the Act's protection in FY01, and to designate critical habitat for the nearly 90% of listed species that currently do not have it. The fact that FWS continues to operate under its Listing Priority Guidance, nearly four years after the listing moratorium was lifted, is the clearest indication that the agency is failing to request or receive enough money to process needed listing and critical habitat actions. We urge this committee to appropriate funding for the listing and critical habitat program element that is commensurate with the substantial and growing backlog for these activities. We continue to oppose the Administration's request for statutory language to cap the listing program which is clearly an attempt to avoid having to comply with statutory mandates and court orders. The FWS should instead request an amount for listing and critical habitat that accurately reflects its workload.

The Consultation increase will help address the growing Section 7 consultation workload (more than 40,500 actions projected for FY01 and annually thereafter) and continually expanding use of Habitat Conservation Plans (HCPs - more than 550 new and ongoing HCPs projected for FY01) as well as provide some funding to ensure that both consultations and HCPs are based on sound science and subject to monitoring for effectiveness and compliance. While Defenders is not opposing funding for new HCPs, we continue to believe that the current FWS HCP process is fundamentally flawed and in need of regulatory modifications. The Administration has failed even to finalize its so- called 5-Point Plan which would make modest, nonregulatory changes to the HCP program. We urge this Subcommittee to include report language directing the Administration to remedy the numerous deficiencies in its HCP program and at a minimum to finalize its 5-Point Plan.

The Recovery request will help address the backlog of more than 300 species still without final recovery plans as well as recovery implementation and monitoring for the nearly 1300 listed species expected by the end of FY01, a 42% increase just since 1995. Recovery is the goal of the Act yet recovery implementation continues to be critically underfunded. The following are Defenders' highest priorities for specific recovery programs. To help restore the wolf to the northeast, $100,000 is needed for preparation of NE recovery plan and economic and other necessary feasibility studies. For needed efforts in the NE on recovery of lynx which has just been listed, $50,000 is necessary. For the successful red wolf program in North Carolina, $1 M will support continued captive propagation, monitoring, and reintroduction. FWS needs $1.2 M to ensure continued Mexican wolf restoration success, specifically to: provide a full-time biologist for the White Mountain Apache tribe; provide funding for biologists from AZ and NM Fish and Game Departments; increase law enforcement; and equipment to manage wolves in remote and difficult to access areas. For the Northern Rockies wolf recovery program, $1.325 M is needed for the FWS of which $600,000 will be passed through to the Nez Perce tribe, while an additional $220,000 (NPS) will pay for management of the program in Yellowstone National Park. At least $380,000 is necessary for recovery efforts in WY, MT, SD and AZ for the endangered black-looted ferret, thought to be extinct in the wild except for reintroduced populations, FWS will need $1.65 M in FY01 to conduct critical research necessary, to identify the cause of a precipitous 17% decline in southern sea otter populations over the past 4 years. Finally, for the grizzly recovery program which covers 30,000 square miles in four states, $1.3 M is needed of which $400,000 is for Bitterroot reintroduction (our highest priority), $550,000 is for the base program, $250,000 for an EIS on grizzly recovery in the North Cascades, and $100,000 for enhanced monitoring and nuisance bear work in the Northern Continental Divide ecosystem. Defenders has opposed attempts to derail the Bitterroot grizzly reintroduction in the last few years appropriations bills and will work to ensure that $115,000 of the grizzly recovery budget will be will be used for finalization of the EIS, issuance of a ROD and final rule and creation of a citizen management committee in FY01.

Migratory birds: FWS is responsible for 58 game and 778 non-game migratory bird species protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918. At the very least, we support the President's FY01 budget request of $22.8 M for critical activities such as conservation plan implementation, monitoring, and use of scientific information in designing management strategies. Twelve critical projects will be funded with increases including: development of the West Coast Seabird Conservation and Management Plan; strengthening of bird habitat and population evaluation teams; and integration of national objectives into refuge comprehensive plans.

International Affairs: Under General Administration, Defenders endorses the $11.4 million request for International Affairs which helps support U.S. international leadership in the conservation of wildlife and biodiversity, particularly through implementation of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). We suggest an additional enhancement of $600,000 (split evenly between International Wildlife Trade and International Wildlife Conservation within that line item) for personnel and/or contracts to enable FWS to assist the CITES Parties in strengthening national legislation that implements CITES and improving wildlife law enforcement.

National Wildlife Refuge System (NWRS) Operations and Maintenance: We deeply appreciate the Subcommittee's strong support for the Refuge System and its leadership in providing critically needed increases. Defenders continues to be a proactive member of the Cooperative Alliance for Refuge Enhancement (CARE), a diverse coalition of 18 environmental, hunting, fishing, and recreation groups. CARE has again reviewed FWS expenditures and concluded that FY99 funds were used as intended, to reduce the overwhelming O&M backlog. Unfortunately, due to the magnitude and duration of the O&M funding deficit, continued increases will be needed to address the $953 M in operations needs and the $578 M maintenance backlog. FWS is currently working to separate its Refuge Operating Needs System into two tiers as directed by the Subcommittee last year with completion projected for June. The largest portion of Tier One is expected to be the minimum staffing needs estimated to require an additional 1400 FTEs. In its five year plan, CARE has identified a target O&M level of $495 M necessary to bring the Refuge System into a state of health by its 100th anniversary. An additional $85 M over the President's request is needed for FY01 to keep pace with the CARE plan; of this $68 M should be focused on operations increases which have not kept pace with those for maintenance. These Operations increases are critically needed to carry out the requirements of the new National Wildlife Refuge System Improvement Act and to implement the FWS blueprint for strengthening the Refuge System, "Fulfilling The Promise - Visions for Wildlife, Habitat, People and Leadership."

Law Enforcement: We urge a $5 M increase over the President's requested $52 M for Law Enforcement. The current budget does not cover the basic needs of existing staff which total 42 fewer than authorized; pending retirements could reduce staff to 75% of the authorized level by the end of FY00. The $5 M over request should be allocated as follows: $3 M and an additional 3 FTEs to bring the number of inspectors up to authorized strength and provide resources necessary to monitor increasing wildlife trade flows; and $2 M and an additional 3 FTEs to increase the level of anti-poaching training, CITES enforcement workshops, and technical assistance to countries around the world. Over the years, Defenders has partnered with the FWS on law enforcement efforts by contributing nearly $100,000 in rewards to apprehend illegal killers of wolves, bears, eagles, and cormorants.

U.S. Forest Service

In general, while Defenders does not pretend to be expert in improvements needed to address FS accountability problems, we have examined the proposed simplification of the FS budget structure and are concerned that tracking and oversight of funding for resource management needs will be more difficult. Major priorities for Defenders for FY01 are again funding increases for two extremely important areas that support species conservation in the FS budget: research and habitat management for threatened, endangered, and sensitive (TE&S) species. Under Forest and Rangeland Research Wildlife, Fish, Water, and Air program, Defenders is concerned that the $43.8 M requested will be inadequate to carry out needed efforts, particularly for TE&S research. The agency has identified $27 M in Wildlife, Fish, Water, and Air research opportunities that will go unfunded at this level, including critically needed work on forest carnivores (lynx, wolverine, marten, fisher), bats, plants, amphibians, mussels, and crayfish. This program continues to be so grossly underfunded that 70% of meager TE&S research funds are invested in fewer than 10 species or groups of species; of the 2500 sensitive species on FS lands, FS scientists are studying only 54. We therefore recommend a $10 million increase over the President's request for Wildlife, Fish, Water, and Air Research to be targeted at TE&S efforts. Given that the lynx has recently been listed, sound scientific information on this species is more crucial than ever. We opposed language initially included in the FY00 Senate report that would have reduced funding for research and targeted it on forest and rangeland health and productivity and targeted Wildlife, Fish, Water, and Air research for deep cuts or termination. We will continue to oppose any similar efforts in the Senate this year. Defenders also strongly urges full funding of the President's requested $33.5 M for TE&S Habitat Management under the Fish and Wildlife Conservation program; however, even the request falls $67 M below identified need. Increases are critically needed to provide for key activities such as: recovery activities for listed species; conservation strategies and agreements for highest priority species where continued viability is of grave concern; and establishment of inventory and monitoring protocols for highest priority TE&S species.

Bureau of Land Management

Defenders strongly supports, at the very least, the requested levels in three important areas: Wildlife and Fisheries Management ($40.7 M), Threatened and Endangered Species Management ($23.6 M), and Rangeland Management ($72.8 M). BLM manages some of the most ecologically diverse habitat in the U.S., including habitat for 241 listed, 46 proposed, 55 candidate and 1500 sensitive species. To pro-actively deal with final listing decisions expected soon on a number of proposed species as well as continued recovery efforts for listed species, BLM has selected for coordinated conservation efforts two critical ecosystems where habitat for many of these species overlaps: the sagebrush ecosystem affecting sage grouse, Columbian sharp-tailed grouse, Great Basin redband trout and Lahontan cutthroat trout; and the prairie grasslands ecosystem affecting black-tailed prairie dog, black-footed ferret, lesser prairie chicken, piping plover, swift fox and numerous other species. Increases in Wildlife and Fisheries Management and Threatened and Endangered Species Management will be crucial to these comprehensive ecosystem level initiatives; moreover, BLM has identified an additional $4 M in unmet needs for these two efforts even at the level requested. Finally,.the request for Rangeland Management will support needed environmental reviews for expiring grazing permits; we opposed the rider in the FY00 bill allowing renewal of permits without reviews and will continue to oppose any such riders in the FY01 bill.

U.S. Geological Survey Biological Resources Division

Defenders supports the President's FY01 level of $158.8 M for BRD, as well as increases under other USGS divisions for BRD related activities such as: amphibian research and monitoring; DOI science priorities; Livable Communities/Lands Legacy; Decision Support; Aquatic Systems-Columbia River; Place-Based Studies; Science Support; and Facilities. BRD increases are critically needed to allow important research to move forward on amphibians and other declining species like sage grouse and mountain plover; even at the FY01 request level, funding will still be about $20 M below the FY94 level adjusted for inflation. We wish to note however, that while we support the increase for Livable Communities/Lands Legacy, we are concerned that all of the increase - even for matching grants to communities - seems to be focused on information collection, transfer, and delivery. Increases for efficient transfer of useful data and its integration into important on the ground conservation planning are needed; but we also believe that at least some portion of the matching grant funds should be available to communities for other important activities related to conservation and smart-growth planning. Defenders maintains its strong support for the Gap Analysis Program (GAP), a collaborative effort involving the states and multiple partners to map our nation's biological diversity and areas currently managed for its protection; increases requested will be used to expand the current program to include invertebrate species and aquatic environments.

Bureau of Indian Affairs

Defenders believes that increased funding should be provided for tribal conservation efforts on reservations. The Nez Perce Northern Rockies wolf program (under FWS) has been chronically underfunded (as evidenced by staffing and monitoring shortfalls) and two additional tribes, the Umatilla (OR) and White Mountain Apache (AZ) want to manage wolves in their areas. Defenders has contributed or secured funding for all three efforts, but federal funding is needed as well. In addition, the Blackfeet people need $125,000 through BIA for listed species management. Finally, with the determination that listing of the black-tailed prairie dog was warranted but precluded, Northern Great Plains Indian tribes have united to work collaboratively on prairie conservation under the newly formed Inter-Tribal Prairie Ecosystem Restoration Consortium. Tribes have requested the following amounts for prairie conservation plans: Consortium Coordinator, $145,000; Northern Cheyenne tribe, $156,650; Pine Ridge, $98,580; Rosebud Sioux, $248,000; Crow Creek Sioux, $16,800; Lower Brule Sioux, $18,980; Fort Belknap, $100,000; Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Bethold Reservation, $37,250; Standing Rock Sioux, $93,600; and Crow Tribe, $100,000. The Cheyenne River Sioux have requested $8 M over the next four years to implement Phase II of their Prairie Management Plan at $2 M/yr.

Everglades Restoration (Multi-agency)

Defenders urges full funding for Florida Everglades Watershed Restoration, a total of $143.8 million. (FWS $37 M, NPS $97.5 M, USGS $8.5 M, and BIA $0.4 NI). These funds are vital for carrying out the first phases of the most ambitious and critical ecosystem restoration project in history. In July, the Army Corps of Engineers submitted to Congress its Comprehensive Plan to restore the Everglades, a successful collaboration between federal, state and local partners that truly represents an investment in the future of South Florida. Both Governor Jeb Bush and the Florida legislature have indicated that the State will deliver on its commitment to provide half the funding. We urge you to stay the course and fully fund this historic project, which has such unprecedented bipartisan and multi-agency support.

END

LOAD-DATE: April 22, 2000

Document 11 of 79.


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