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APRIL 27, 1999, TUESDAY

SECTION: IN THE NEWS

LENGTH: 2660 words

HEADLINE: PREPARED STATEMENT OF
ELLIOT L. MARKS
VICE-PRESIDENT
NORTHWEST AND HAWAII DIVISION
AND DIRECTOR, WASHINGTON STATE CHAPTER OF
THE NATURE CONSERVANCYCONCERNING
BEFORE THE SENATE COMMITTEE ON ENERGY AND NATURAL RESOURCES
SUBJECT - S.25, THE CONSERVATION AND REINVESTMENT ACT OF 1999
S. 446, THE RESOURCES 2000 ACT
S. 532, THE PUBLIC LAND AND RECREATION INVESTMENT ACT OF 1999
S. 819, THE NATIONAL PARK PRESERVATION ACT
AND THE ADMINISTRATION'S LANDS LEGACY INITIATIVE

BODY:

Mr. Chairman, and members of the Committee, I appreciate the opportunity to submit this testimony for the record on S. 25, the Conservation and Reinvestment Act of 1999, S. 446, the Resources 2000 Act, S. 532, the Public Land and Recreation Investment Act of 1999, S. 819, the National Park Preservation Act and the Administration's Lands Legacy Initiative.
The Nature Conservancy is an international, non-profit organization dedicated to the conservation of biological diversity. Our mission is to preserve the plants, animals and natural communities that represent the diversity of life on Earth by protecting the lands and waters they need to survive. The Conservancy has more than 900,000 individual members and over 1,500 corporate associates. We currently have programs in all 50 states and in 17 nations. To date our organization has protected more than 10.5 million acres in the 50 states and Canada, and has helped local partner organizations preserve millions of acres overseas. The Conservancy owns more than 1,600 preserves - the largest private system of nature sanctuaries in the world. The Conservancy's conservation programs are characterized by sound science and strong partnerships with public and private landowners. We are dedicated to achieving tangible and lasting conservation results in all of the many locations at which we work.
We are now cooperating with our partners to develop a "conservation blueprint" that will identify the sites, at scales from landscape to nature preserve, that will be required to conserve -- ecoregion by ecoregion -- the nation's full array of plants, animals and natural communities. We and all our partners, who are daily working to conserve the nation's natural treasures, will be far better able to accomplish our common goals with the increased resources envisioned in legislation before this Committee.
We thank Senator Landrieu, Senator Boxer, Senator Feinstein, Senator Graham and Chairman Murkowski for their leadership in proposing substantive reform of the Land and Water Conservation Fund and other new conservation programs. The President's Lands Legacy Initiative is a complementary, far-reaching design that would also provide much needed federal funds for biodiversity conservation.
Congress and the President have an historic opportunity to work together to achieve the non-partisan goal of protecting the nation's biodiversity, natural areas and open spaces. There is an enormous demand and need for the financial resources these bills would provide. Throughout the nation, voters are approving local ballot measures to increase public investment in parks, natural areas, critical wildlife habitat and open space. But these local efforts need to be supplemented with an enhanced national commitment.
Last month, we had the honor of presenting The Nature Conservancy's "1998 Conservation Leadership in Government Award" to Governor Christine Todd Whitman for her leadership on a state-wide ballot campaign that secured $1.85 billion to protect 1,000,000 acres of open space in New Jersey. Last November, voters endorsed 84 percent of 148 state and local open space ballot measures in the United States, generating over $5.2 billion in public land acquisition dollars. Congress now has the opportunity to do its part; to contribute in a visionary manner to meet this rising public demand; and leave a natural legacy for future generations.
This opportunity comes at a time of great urgency. At least 110 species of plants and animals are now extinct in the United States, with another 416 missing and feared extinct. Seven percent of plant and animal species in the United States are classified as critically imperiled, 9 percent as imperiled, and 15 percent are considered vulnerable.1 Aquatic animals are even more imperiled than terrestrial species. The plight of salmon in the Northwest and New England is widely recognized. It is less well known that two-thirds of the nation's freshwater mussels are at risk of extinction, and nearly I in 10 species may already be extinct. Forty percent of the nation's freshwater fishes and amphibians are at risk of extinction, as are one-half of crayfish species.2 There has never been a more important time for Congress to attend to the critical federal and state programs that conserve the nation's legacy of biodiversity.
The Conservancy pledges its assistance to the Committee as it considers new proposals for increasing funding for conservation areas and programs.
The bills before the Committee approach the goal of providing significant new investments in natural resource protection in different ways. The Nature Conservancy believes the following elements and principles ought to guide whatever legislation the Committee ultimately adopts:
1. FULL AND PERMANENT FUNDING OF THE LAND AND WATER CONSERVATION FUND ("LWCF"):
The LWCF is one of the nation's most important conservation achievements. The principle of investing proceeds from a non-renewable resource, offshore oil and gas reserves, into permanent land and water resource conservation is an outstanding expression of our nation's stewardship commitment. This Committee will make a lasting and historic contribution by creating a permanent funding stream for both the state and federal sides of the LWCF at their fully authorized level of $900 million. Even at this level of LWCF funding, however, long-term conservation of the nation's biodiversity and natural areas will also require significant additional investments envisioned in the other proposals before the Committee.
2. EQUITABLE TREATMENT FOR STATE AND FEDERAL PROGRAMS:
In recent years, the federal government has ceased appropriating the state portion of the Land and Water Conservation Fund. The Conservancy favors restoration of this federal(1998).funding for state conservation action. Recent ballot measure results evidence the substantial need and demand in many states for land acquisition, conservation and recreation purposes. Enormous good can come from leveraging state commitments with federal matching funds.
3. INCREASED FEDERAL SUPPORT FOR STATE FISH AND WILDLIFE AND PLANT PROGRAMS INCLUDING STATE NATURAL HERITAGE PROGRAMS:
State programs to support biodiversity conservation programs have been chronically underfunded. The Conservancy endorses increased funding for state fish and wildlife and plant programs. New dollars should target efforts to conserve native and nongame fish and wildlife, native plants and natural communities. Legislation must also explicitly provide funding for state natural heritage programs. These programs are recognized leaders in the conservation of native fish and wildlife, native plants and natural communities. Nearly two-thirds of state natural heritage programs, including successful ones in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Colorado, Ohio and Florida, are not part of state fish and wildlife agencies, and would not be assured funding in proposals now before the Congress.

The Committee should also ensure that new funds support new investments in habitat and stewardship rather than replacing existing operating funds.
4. INCREASED SUPPORT FOR INCENTIVE-BASED, NON-REGULATORY PROGRAMS THAT ASSIST PRIVATE LANDOWNERS IN CONSERVING ENDANGERED SPECIES:
The Nature Conservancy strongly supports dedicated funding to enhance incentive-based, non-regulatory programs for private landowners to voluntarily assist in endangered and threatened species recovery. The Conservancy, along with private and public partners in the Natural Community Conservation Planning initiative, is using federal and state dollars to conserve habitat for nearly 100 species and more than two dozen natural communities in five southern California counties. By voluntarily joining this program, landowners can achieve greater certainty with respect to potential development uses of land, as well as avoiding unexpected consequences of future species listings under the Endangered Species Act.
The Administration's $80 million request for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Cooperative Endangered Species Fund reflects the critical importance and unmet public funding needs of programs such as this.
5. INCREASED SUPPORT FOR NORTH AMERICAN WETLANDS CONSERVATION ACT:
The North American Wetlands Conservation Act has provided significant federal costshare funding for state fish and wildlife agencies and private organizations to conserve, restore and enhance critical wildlife habitat. The Committee should ensure that funding mechanisms, such as directing interest that accrues from the Pittman-Robertson Act,benefit the purposes of the North American Wetlands Conservation Act. Such a mechanism is provided in HR. 701.
6. REINVESTMENT OF OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF ("OCS") REVENUES IN COASTAL STATES:
Coastal states, particularly Louisiana, have suffered significant environmental damage as the result of OCS activities. A portion of OCS revenues should be dedicated to environmental restoration programs in coastal states. We are hopeful that the Chairman, Senator Landrieu and other sponsors of S. 25 will work with members of the environmental community to ensure that S. 25 does not create incentives for communities to rescind existing moratoria on OCS activities.
7. INCREASED SUPPORT FOR COASTAL AND MARINE CONSERVATION:
Restoring and protecting coastal and marine ecosystems is a critically important conservation priority. Many of our fisheries are near collapse, pollution is creating offshore "dead zones" and coral bleaching and disease are increasingly common. Our nation's coastal areas and oceans contain biodiversity rivaling tropical rain forests, yet we as a nation have focused little attention on their conservation. We cannot simply purchase a section of ocean and set it aside for conservation purposes. New permanent funding should invest in the range of actions necessary for protecting marine habitats, including conservation, restoration and acquisition of critical coastal areas, water quality improvements and management of living marine resources and habitat. In the Florida Keys, for example, the Conservancy's Florida Bay Watch program has documented increased nutrients in near shore waters, highlighting the need to upgrade and retrofit waste and stormwater systems.
8. PACIFIC COASTAL SALMON RECOVERY
Pacific salmon populations have declined precipitously from historical levels, resulting in Endangered Species Act listings of an increasing number of both coastal and inland salmon runs. While the reasons for this are complex, it is clear that habitat destruction, over- appropriation of water rights, pollution, stream blockages from hydropower and other developments, over-harvesting, and unintended hatchery impacts on native runs have all played a significant role.
Experience from the Florida Everglades to the Columbia River Basin has demonstrated that vast amounts of money can be spent on habitat restoration and recovery that could have been more efficiently spent on habitat protection before the systems had been altered and degraded. We may now have to make some tough choices about where fish can be successfully recovered, but we should focus our efforts on functioning systems with relatively healthy habitats and salmon populations.
The Nature Conservancy recognizes that there is a clearly established need for significant additional funding beyond the Administration's $100 million for these efforts to succeed,perhaps as much as $200 million annually for several years. Given the size of the recommended appropriation, it is imperative that priority be given to efficient prevention strategies such as habitat protection over more costly recovery efforts.
9. INCREASED SUPPORT FOR AGRICULTURAL FOREST AND OPEN SPACE PROTECTION:
Matching grants for agricultural, forest and open space conservation, like state appropriations from LWCF, would increase the conservation effect of state investments and federal initiatives such as the Forest Legacy program. The Conservancy is working with farmers along New York's Fish Creek and Illinois' Mackinaw River to address resource conservation issues while enhancing the ec viability of sustainable farming operations. Increased opportunities for conservation easements could enable farmers, ranchers, and forest owners to maintain sustainable economic uses while providing important public conservation benefits. Such programs would also help mitigate the threat to biodiversity caused by habitat fragmentation, an increasing and pervasive threat to biodiversity.
10. DEDICATED FUNDING FOR URBAN PARKS:
Although the Conservancy's mission focus is biodiversity conservation, we join and support our colleagues who seek dedicated funding for urban parks through a revitalized Urban Park and Recreation Recovery program. Creation of a separate dedicated funding source would ensure that urban park funding does not compete with the state and federal land acquisition programs supported by the LWCF.
11. DETERMINATION OF LWCF PRIORITIES WITHOUT GEOGRAPHIC OR OTHER STATUTORY RESTRICTIONS:
LWCF funding should be available for acquisition of high-priority lands without arbitrary geographically-based limitations on location or !and management agency. Restricting purchases to inholdings or Congressionally designated areas could sometimes direct federal attention and funding away from the most important and significant conservation opportunities for protection of the nation's biodiversity.
12. APPROVAL OF LWCF ACQUISITIONS IN AN EXPEDITIOUS MANNER:
The Congress should not require approval of land acquisitions by multiple committees. Land acquisition programs should be designed to minimize the risk of increased costs and lost conservation opportunities to the people of the United States. They should also avoid unreasonable burdens and delays on private !and owners who wish to sell their land to government.
13. THE NATIONAL PARK PRESERVATION ACT
The Nature Conservancy has long-supported funding to restore the Everglades and the South Florida ecosystem. The magnitude of the restoration efforts necessary to ensure the long-term viability of the South Florida ecosystem, including the Florida Keys, requires the sustained investments provided by Senator Graham's legislation. Programs to ensure the ecological integrity of many other National Parks would also benefit from the dedicated funding provided in S. 819.
14. BUDGET ISSUES:
The funding levels called for in these hills will not be achieved without changes to the existing budget caps. Although we understand that this Committee does not have jurisdiction over the budget process, we urge members of the Committee to raise these issues with the leadership of the Senate and members of the Budget Committee. This Congress will fail to realize the full promise of the important legislative proposals under consideration by this Committee if the Budget Committee fails to allocate, or the Appropriations Committee fails to appropriate, the necessary funds.
CONCLUSION
The Nature Conservancy wishes to express its gratitude to Senators Murkowski, Landrieu, Boxer, Feinstein, Graham and the cosponsors of their respective legislative proposals for bringing historic legislation to the Committee. In addition, numerous state and local government agencies and non-governmental organizations deserve enormous credit for developing broad-based public support for land conservation and biodiversity. This Committee can respond to that support and forge a lasting legacy by passing legislation that incorporates the principles described above.
The Nature Conservancy welcomes the opportunity to work with the Committee as it crafts legislation that will be signed into law. 1 1997 Species Report Card: The State of U.S. Plants and Animals, The Nature Conservancy (1997). 2 Rivers of Life: Critical Watersheds for Protecting Freshwater Biodiversity, The Nature Conservancy
END

LOAD-DATE: April 29, 1999

Document 38 of 92.


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