The final
appropriations bill signed by President Clinton includes a keystone
measure that will provide $50 million this year directly to state
wildlife agencies for wildlife conservation.
"This is the first major step in delivering in full on the
promise of long-term funding for wildlife conservation at the state
level," said National Wildlife Federation President Mark Van Putten.
"Congress passed this measure following an outpouring of grassroots
support to dedicate funding for state wildlife conservation. It is a
down payment on the provisions of the Conservation and Reinvestment
Act (CARA) that Congress failed to pass. We will work with the new
Congress to make substantial, long-term wildlife funding a reality."
The measure President Clinton signed is significant on two
fronts.
First, at $50 million, it is the first time Congress has approved
a substantial appropriation devoted exclusively to state wildlife
management agencies. The struggle to secure funding that state
agencies can use to manage all wildlife species started with the
Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act which has been on the books since
1980, but has never received any funding.
Second, the measure creates a new account under existing state
wildlife funding law expressly for "species of the greatest
conservation concern," language that is intended to target funds to
non-game wildlife, the great majority of species that are neither
hunted or fished nor threatened or endangered. In addition, funds
from the new account will flow directly to the states under an
equitable formula basis, instead of having the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service apportion them as grants based on complicated
guidelines.
"We've set a vital precedent in getting these funds approved,"
said Jodi Applegate, NWF Conservation Funding project coordinator.
"The $350 million for state agencies that CARA would have provided
annually on a long-term basis remains our goal. We know there is
strong bipartisan interest among members of the incoming Congress to
complete important elements of CARA that the last Congress left
undone. With renewed support from the grassroots, we believe that
completing that work can become a conservation priority for the
107th Congress."
