Responding to grassroots demand before adjournment, the 106th
Congress approved enhanced funding for state wildlife conservation
but failed to enact the guaranteed long-term conservation
investments that would have been provided by the Conservation and
Reinvestment Act (CARA), despite overwhelming support among
individual legislators and an unprecedented constituency of local
groups and conservation organizations across the country.
"We got as much as we did only through the dedication and hard
work of the citizens who demanded that their representatives provide
for the future of America's natural heritage," said NWF President
Mark Van Putten. "Now we're letting them know that the job isn't
done yet."
As Congress completed work, a one-year $50 million appropriation
for state wildlife agencies, to be equitably distributed among the
states, was included in Commerce, Justice, State appropriation bill.
This additional funding came in direct response to grassroots
demand.
However, President Clinton has threatened to veto the bill over
issues not related to wildlife funding.
The agreement reached on the Commerce bill, combined with the
Lands Legacy Trust measures passed earlier in the session constitute
what Congress substituted for CARA. In May, CARA was overwhelmingly
passed by the House but was never brought to a vote in the full
Senate.
"Let no one doubt that the reason wildlife funding for the states
has come this far is due to the grassroots demand for it after the
states were shortchanged in the Lands Trust measure and CARA was
pushed aside in the Senate," Van Putten said. "We didn't give up. We
kept fighting. The grassroots response to Congress for wildlife
funding has been tremendous. We haven't won everything we set out
for in CARA, but we've made an important stride forward."
CARA would have guaranteed nearly $3 billion annually for the
next 15 years for conservation investments, including $350 million
each year for wildlife conservation at the state level.
"We've supported CARA because our goal will always be long-term,
reliable funding to invest in this nation's conservation
priorities," Van Putten said.
"What we achieved this year is only the beginning," said Jodi
Applegate, Conservation Funding project coordinator. "We have
established an important precedent for wildlife funding to be
equitably distributed among the states. We couldn't have done it
without grassroots support. We will continue the fight to build on
this precedent to achieve the goal of substantial and guaranteed
funding to protect and restore America's natural heritage."
CARA was the culmination of a 14-year public process that
organizations like NWF have been involved in every step of the way.
It earned the support of all 50 state governors, and more than 5,000
conservation, civic, business and religious organizations. After
numerous public hearings, CARA passed the House of Representatives
by a 315 to102 bipartisan majority in May. After more hearings, the
Senate Energy & Natural Resources Committee approved a companion
version of CARA that was endorsed by 63 members of the Senate and
both the Senate Majority Leader and Minority Leader.
Both the Lands Trust and Commerce bill funding measures were
written over several days, behind closed doors, by congressional
appropriators.
Taken together, the measures constitute a $1.67 billion
conservation appropriation for this year, with authorization to
consider additional funding of $10.4 billion in the succeeding five
years.
"These new appropriations can serve excellent conservation
goals," Van Putten said. "But we see this legislation as a
foundation on which to build toward the guaranteed investments,
especially at the state level, that are essential to our nation's
conservation future."
