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FOLLOWING IS THE TEXT OF A LETTER SENT TO THE CONGRESSIONAL LEADERS ON THE HOUSE AND SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEES: August 16, 2000 The Honorable C.W. Bill Young, Chairman The Honorable David Obey, Ranking The Honorable Ted Stevens, Chairman The Honorable Robert C. Byrd, Ranking (TEXT OF THE LETTER) We realize that the current budget resolution greatly constrained the ability of Congress to provide new funding to address in the Interior and Agriculture appropriations bills critical needs in the West that arise out of implementation of the Endangered Species Act. We urge you, however, to incorporate three important provisions to fund state conservation agreements and land owner incentives when you negotiate a final budget and spending agreement with the Administration. The first provision would provide $2 million in new funding through the Landowner Incentive Program of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and was developed by a team of the High Plains Partnership. The provision would continue the success of the High Plains Partnership in Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas and expand the program to the five states that occupy the northern portion of the High Plains. The partnership brings landholders, community leaders, state, federal, and local soil and range scientists and fish and wildlife experts, Western governors and conservationists together in a process that develops trust and respect as participants identify and implement voluntary, locally defined, on-the-ground strategies to improve the economic and ecological health of their High Plains communities. The second was collaboratively developed by the members of the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (WAFWA) and the directors of the Western states that do not belong to WAFWA. It would provide $8 million in new funding through the ESA Section 6 State Grants program for state demonstration projects to benefit at-risk species in Western Grasslands, Shrub Steppe, Hawaiian Islands, and Sierra Nevada Foothills. Funding will allow Western states to aggressively pursue proactive, broad-scale and interstate conservation efforts with willing landowners and public, state, tribal, and other land management agencies. The third pilot program was developed collaboratively by the members of the Western Association of State Departments of Agriculture (WASDA) and the directors of the Western states that do not belong to WASDA. The provision provides $5 million dollars for pilot projects in Western States under the Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program to assist landowners with the development and implementation of Candidate Conservation Agreements, Habitat Conservation Plans, and Safe Harbor Agreements. It would enable the U.S. Natural Resources Conservation Service or conservation districts to provide technical assistance, cost-share assistance to achieve long-term conservation practices, and incentive contracts to producers to provide habitat for species for a defined period of time. Reauthorization of the Endangered Species Act is the highest legislative priority of the Western Governors= Association. While Congress is engaged in that process, it is critical to properly fund the Act to enable states and private land owners to be partners in meeting the goals of the Act and to demonstrate new ways to effectively meet them. Incorporation of these provisions in the final budget and appropriations agreement is compatible with legislation like the Conservation and Reinvestment Act. Enactment of that legislation is also an important objective of the Association, but funding under those bills will not reach the states for several years. Therefore we respectfully urge your support and leadership in adding these provisions to the final budget and appropriations agreement. Thank you for considering and acting on these recommendations.
(THE LETTER WAS SIGNED BY THE FOLLOWING GOVERNORS:
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Page last updated 08/28/2000 |