Smart
Communities for Outdoor Recreation
and the Environment. House of Representatives
Resources Committee CARA vote July
25th (action needed)
As
you know, CARA long ago reached
the stage where it became a bipartisan
success story for conservation
and recreation programs by fully
funding the Land and Water Conservation
Fund (LWCF) and the Urban Park
and Recreation Recovery Program
(UPARR).
As
the fight to keep up the momentum
of a fully revitalized and reliably
funded LWCF continues this year,
it is important that organizations
interested in this effort make
their voices heard before this
vote.
Most
importantly, Nebraska's Tom Osborne
(R) is a key focus for the youth
sports organizations. This is
his first vote on CARA, he is
undecided on the issue. He is
a former college coach and professional
football player. Obviously, athletics
is a hot-button for him. The NCYS
youth sports groups have an opportunity
to influence his vote. Please
call his DC office at (202)225-6435
or fax a letter to (202)226-1385.
Ask him to support LWCF by passing
CARA out of the Committee without
any damaging amendments.
WHAT YOU CAN DO.........
Visit the NCYS Capitol Connection.
for the CARA Legislative Alert
and Pre-written letter for you
to send to your Representative.
Call
or fax your member of Congress
to "vote yes for CARA" on July
25th, but "no on any damaging
amendments." Tell the members
of the House Committee on Resources
that "CARA is landmark bipartisan
conservation and recreation and
that they should support the deal
that was constructed to gain this
status." Some members of the committee
will want to attach damaging private
property rights amendments to
the bill that will ensure its
early demise in the mark up. We
cannot let that happen.
We
need to flood the offices of these
representatives to show that there
is widespread support for parks
and recreation areas. Please take
action Monday July 23rd and Tuesday
July 24th. Thanks.
------------------------------------------
* House Interior Appropriations
Subcommittee Marks Up Spending Bill
*
CARA Hearing Announced for June
20th
FY 2002 Interior Bill is Marked
Up
The House Interior Subcommittee
marked up its FY 2002 Appropriations
Bill outlining their conservation
and recreation priorities for
the coming year. The Subcommittee
provided $1.32 billion for the
Conservation Spending Category
(Title VIII - the Land Conservation,
Preservation, and Infrastructure
Improvement Fund), a $121 million
increase from last year's bill.
LWCF receives $544 million in
funding, a $4 million increase
from last year. This proposal
narrows the funding gap between
the federal and state programs,
with $390 million earmarked for
federal land acquisition and $154
million appropriated for stateside
grants (see below for an estimate
of what each state would receive
under this proposal). Also, unlike
the President's budget, the stateside
LWCF distribution formula remains
unchanged from its traditional
method. The Subcommittee follows
the President's path in proposing
the inclusion of other conservation
and recreation initiatives under
the LWCF banner, including state
wildlife grants, competitive grants
for Indian Tribes, and landowner
incentive grant programs. As a
result, the Subcommittee reckons
that it has funded LWCF at $709
million (add the $544 million
of traditional federal and state
LWCF program funding to the funding
from the additional programs and
you get $709 million). You'll
remember the President using the
same tactic in describing his
budget as containing full funding
for LWCF at the $900 million level
when the eligible programs contained
in the proposal went beyond the
traditional use of the fund. All
in all, LWCF's funding numbers
remain stable from last year'
agreement, with its stateside
program edging out the federal
in attention, but the overall
program's identity continues to
erode in the Appropriations process.
On
a very good note, UPARR is funded
at $30 million, the same as its
FY 01 level. This differs from
the President's budget where UPARR
is not funded as a line item but
thrown into a competitive cornucopia
of programs listed as stateside
LWCF with no sense of whether
or not it would receive any funding.
Among
the other programs funded under
the emerging bill are: Forest
Legacy ($60 million); State Wildlife
Grants ($100 million); Landowner
Incentive and Stewardship Grants
($60 million); Historic Preservation
Fund ($47 million - with Save
America's Treasures receiving
$30 million on top of that); Cooperative
Endangered Species Fund ($107
million); Urban and Community
Forestry ($36 million); Payment
in-lieu of Taxes ($50 million
- with Refuge Revenue Sharing
getting $5 million on top of that);
and Federal Maintenance Programs
($156 million).
The
full House Interior Appropriations
Committee mark up is scheduled
for next Wednesday, June 13th.
CARA
Hearing Announced for June 20th
The House Committee on Resources
has announced a hearing on the
Conservation and Reinvestment
Act (CARA, H.R. 701) for June
20th. So far, more than 190 members
of the House of Representatives
have cosponsored the bill. This
is still short of what was accomplished
last year in securing cosponsors
for this widely popular bill.
Some sources on the Hill suggest
that not enough calls/faxes/letters
are making their way to their
offices. If you have not contacted
your representative on this issue,
please do so today. You can reach
your representative via the U.S.
Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121.
If they have cosponsored the bill,
then thank them for their support.
If they have not signed on, urge
them to do so at once.
I'll
keep you posted on further actions
affecting LWCF.
Estimated FY 2002 Land
and Water Conservation Fund Appropriation
of $150 Million Allocation to
States 40% Equal / 30% Population
/ 30% Urban Population
($4 million is used for NPS administrative
purposes)
