NWF shares your
disappointment that CARA was not enacted in the 106th Congress. The
federal legislative process is purposely deliberative. Many times
legislation takes several sessions of Congress to be finalized. What
is phenomenal about our efforts with CARA is that we actually had
legislation introduced, pass committees, pass the House by a huge
margin, and have 65+ senators on record supporting the concept.
Finally, the President of the United States publicly supported CARA.
This is an amazing accomplishment for one congressional session,
particularly for such a substantive bill. We aimed for the stars,
and to everyone's amazement, got very close to realizing our goals.
Together, however, we accomplished several other significant
achievements:
- $100 million in new state wildlife grants funding: $50 million
in the Interior Appropriations, and then an additional $50 million
for wildlife allocated directly to the states using the key
"authorizing" language (original CARA-like language/dsbn formula)
that, importantly, will provide the basis for future funding (this
additional funding is still pending in Congress);
- Increases in other conservation programs including North
American Wetlands Conservation Act, Land and Water Conservation
Fund, coastal conservation, endangered species conservation, and
others;
- Raised tremendous awareness of the need for state-level
wildlife conservation, education and recreation;
- Built a coalition unprecedented in its size and diversity -
5000 conservation and related organizations and businesses, 50
governors, 1100 mayors, numerous editorial boards that represents
the support of millions of Americans;
- Created a national campaign with state-based leadership for
broadened wildlife funding. These state coalitions developed and
trained activists (rallies in DC, tel/fax campaigns, editorial
board meetings, etc.); this was the beginning of an effective
grassroots wildlife conservation movement!; and
- Established excellent and ongoing relationships with key
Members of Congress that are important for future CARA efforts and
other wildlife conservation legislation.
All of our accomplishments are truly historic. But the job is not
yet finished. It is important that we continue to build upon our
accomplishments. We must get back into the ring because we have
another round ahead of us. And we are glad to hear from so many of
you that you are still willing to fight on.
We want to assure you that we will be taking our message to the
107th Congress. Indeed, we are currently arranging meetings with our
Congressional champions and other leaders on the Hill over how best
to proceed to meet our long-term wildlife funding goals.
It is essential that all elements of our coalition thank our
supporters and renew a commitment to accomplishing the goals of
assured wildlife funding. By "supporters" we mean the individuals
and organizations that have been with us for the long haul - those
who have been carrying on the Teaming with Wildlife message for
months, or years. We also mean the opinion makers and public
servants (city and county officials, statewide policy makers, and in
particular, Members of Congress) who identified with our vision of
secure and flourishing wildlife for the future and adopted it as
their own.
Two final reminders and requests are important. First, if you
have new Members of Congress representing you, it's important to
brief them immediately about the importance of adequate and reliable
wildlife funding and seek their active support. Because of the
importance of the role of the governors, it's essential that any new
governors and their key staff also be briefed on the status and
importance of wildlife conservation, education and recreation
funding.
Rest assured that we will stay in contact with you as
developments unfold for the 107th Congress. As always your
suggestions are most welcome and valued.
*The Teaming with Wildlife National Steering Committee
includes representatives from the American Birding Association,
American Fisheries Society, International Association of Fish and
Wildlife Agencies, Izaak Walton League of America, National Audubon
Society, National Association of State Park Directors, National
Wildlife Federation, National Wild Turkey Federation, The Wildlife
Society, and the Wildlife Management Institute. See the IAFWA's
Teaming with Wildlife web site (www.teaming.com) for information on
how to contact members of the Steering Committee.
Learn
more details about the Conservation and Reinvestment Act (CARA) of
the 106th Congress.
