More Opposition To Conservation Funding Cuts

[Tim Smith]

From the AFS message board:

American Fisheries Society * American Sportfishing Association *Association

of Fish and Wildlife Agencies * Berkley Conservation Institute, Pure Fishing

* Boone and Crockett Club Conservation Force * Congressional Sportsmen's

Foundation * Dallas Safari Club * Delta Waterfowl Foundation * Ducks

Unlimited * Izaak Walton League of America * North American Bear Foundation

* North American Grouse Partnership * Orion the Hunter's Institute

Pheasants Forever * Pope and Young Club * Quail Forever * Rocky Mountain

Elk Foundation Ruffed Grouse Society * Texas Wildlife Association * The

Conservation Fund * The Nature Conservancy * The Wildlife Society * Theodore

Roosevelt Conservation Partnership

Tread Lightly * Trout Unlimited * Whitetails Unlimited * Wildlife Forever

Wildlife Management Institute

March 17, 2011

The President

The White House

Washington, DC 20500

Dear President Obama:

Our organizations, representing the hunting, fishing and conservation

community, are writing to encourage your strong support for several

long-standing conservation programs in the Fiscal Year 2011 budget

negotiations.

The Continuing Resolution approved by the House of Representatives (H.R. 1)

strikes directly at America's highly successful tradition of federal support

for conservation and management of fish, wildlife and their habitat. HR 1

includes the elimination of funding for State and Tribal Wildlife Grants,

the elimination of funding for the North American Wetlands Conservation Act,

significant cuts to Farm Bill Conservation Programs, the drastic reduction

or elimination of funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund, Forest

Legacy, the Cooperative Endangered Species Conservation Fund and the

National Fish Habitat Action Plan. The Senate substitute has programmatic

reductions in some of these programs, but we believe that any cuts beyond

this level will have lasting impact on our ability to ensure the successful

conservation agenda for the 21st Century called for in your America's Great

Outdoors report.

While we fully acknowledge that conservation programs should shoulder a fair

and proportional burden of reductions to the Federal budget as required to

address the budget deficit, these provisions of HR 1, in our view, represent

a deliberate move away from America's long conservation tradition and,

specifically with respect to the interests of the hunting, fishing and

outdoor community. We are very disappointed that the House considered these

actions without consultation with the hunting, fishing and conservation

community, and appeal to you to please give significant and favorable

consideration to our perspectives. These vital conservation programs with

clear track records of measurable success are foundational to fish, wildlife

and habitat conservation, good for the economy in creating jobs particularly

in rural communities, and critical to providing opportunities for access to

and enjoyment of fish and wildlife resources by America's sportsmen and

sportswomen.

Given the importance of these programs in your conservation, recreation and

environmental agenda, we urge you to protect them in ongoing budget

discussions. We fully expect that the final funding levels included in a

final FY 2011 Continuing Resolution will greatly influence the FY 2012

process. We strongly urge you to hold the line on any cuts that go further

than those in the Senate substitute. Thank you for your sincere

consideration of our views.