Conservation Community Prepares To Defend Mdc Funding

[Chief Grey Bear]

Spoonbill is all Fed. It was a part of deal for building Truman.

Elk? Really?? http://mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/wildlife-restoration/elk-restoration/elk-restoration-background/elk-restoration-plan

Who will pay for an elk restoration?

The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation and other partners have provided financial support for Missouri elk restoration.

Trout - all paid for with trout permits.

The Conservationist - available online and has been for years.

Stream Team - you get way more than just T-shirts for free. They have a ton of handouts for volunteers.

[drew03cmc]

Living in Kansas and not being a Missouri resident, my opinion is limited to selfish enjoyment of natural resources the state of Kansas can't or won't provide. MDC is in a small amount of danger with the powers that be wanting access to the MDC funds, but I think common sense will win out.

[Gavin]

MDC's funding is protected by the State Constitution. The legislature likes to mess with them a bit but there really is not a worry.,whatever the leg might pass is clearly not within their authority.

[Phil Lilley]

You're right but defending it, if it goes to a vote of the people, will cost MDC millions, money otherwise spent on conservation.

[Gavin]

It won't cost MDC a dime. They cannot donate to a campaign. Plenty of useless payroll to allocate time too, and all sunk cost.

[Chief Grey Bear]

No they can't donate but they will have to campaign on their behalf. Every time these jacklegs pull these political stunts it cost the MDC and the citizens. I'm not sure where you guy's get the idea that the MDC is some cash cow with money to burn. I guess it is from reading too many Douchemont columns.

The truth is every dollar is accounted for and allocated. There are many programs and research projects that sit on the self due to no funding. There is a research project for the Shadow and Ozark bass that has been on hold for three years now due to funding.

[ness]

I think the bill concerning elimination of license fees is what we're talking about. If I understand things, the fees are above and beyond the constitutionally mandated sales tax, and would be much easier to get to a vote. "No hunting or fishing license fees" would make a helluva sales pitch to the voters, and surely MDC would need to spend some cash trying to clarify what that really means.

As for how MDC spends their money -- well, I think they're pretty good stewards overall. But I see some things every now and again that make me scratch my head.

[Phil Lilley]

http://www.newstribune.com/news/2014/dec/21/driftwood-outdoors-defending-funding-mdc/

Brandon Butler

Before the 2015 Missouri Legislative Session could even begin, bills were pre-filed to repeal the conservation sales tax and to eliminate fees for fishing, hunting and trapping permits.

If this proposed legislation were to become law, conservation as we know it in Missouri would cease to exist.

Rep. Craig Redmon introduced House Joint Resolution 8. It calls for a complete repeal of Missouri’s conservation sales tax through a ballot measure. This means, “That at the next general election to be held in the state of Missouri, on Tuesday next following the first Monday in November 2016, or at a special election to be called by the governor for that purpose, the next time there is a general election held in the state of Missouri,” voters will decide whether to sustain or repeal the conservation sales tax.

First of all, it is vitally important to understand what the conservation sales tax is. In Missouri, our general state sales and use tax is 4.225 percent, which is distributed into four funds to finance portions of state government. Those are general revenue (3.0 percent), education (1.0 percent), conservation (0.125 percent), and parks, soils and water (0.1 percent).

So when you spend $8 on taxable goods, one penny of the sales tax collected goes to conservation (8.0 x .00125 = .01). Over the course of the Missouri Department of Conservation’s fiscal year 2014, those pennies added up to $107,076,440. The sales tax revenue makes up 59 percent of MDC’s funding. It provides woodlands filled with wildlife, waters teeming with fish, public shooting ranges, hiking trails, rural fire protection, native species restoration, education centers, seedlings, The Conservationist and Xplor magazines, and so much more. Without the conservation sales tax, we would lose all of this. And for what? It’s not like the money can just be redistributed. The tax would just go away. Individuals would only save a few dollars a year but would lose the conservation programs they cherish.

Most of the rest of MDC’s funding comes from permit sales and federal reimbursements. Those funding sources are also under threat of elimination.

Sen. Brian Munzlinger introduced Senate Bill 56. It reads, “The department of conservation and its permit issuing agents shall not charge a permit fee for the acquisition of a hunting, fishing, or trapping permit for a Missouri resident.”

Eliminating fees for hunting, fishing and trapping permits would strip another $40 million from the Department’s funding. MDC would not only lose the permit fees, but also associated federal reimbursements.

The Department of Conservation’s budget represents less than one percent of the entire state budget, and the Department receives no state general revenue. If HJR 8 and SB 56 were to pass, the Department would be left with basically nothing to fund the programs, places and pastimes you and your family cherish.

Here are just a few examples of losses Missouri citizens will endure if these bills pass:

• Closure of Department shooting ranges;

• Closure of Department Nature Centers;

• Elimination of partnerships with rural fire departments;

• Closure of fish hatcheries;

• Elimination of public and private fish stockings;

• Closure of Department maintained boat accesses;

• Significant reduction in habitat work on conservation areas;

• Significant reduction in resource enforcement by conservation agents;

• Most fish and wildlife research projects and monitoring will end;

• Significant reduction in efforts to control invasive species;

• Limited support for the Share the Harvest program.

Why attack our Department of Conservation? The Department is the catalyst of recreation for millions of Missourians. And hunting, fishing, trapping, outdoor recreation and forest management supports 100,000 Missouri jobs and have an economic impact of more than $12 billion dollars. Conservation works in Missouri. It is one of our most powerful economic engines in the state.

Missourians cannot stand idly by and let these catastrophic losses occur. These blatant attacks on our Department of Conservation must end. It is going to take a significant amount of citizen involvement to defend one of the greatest state conservation agencies operating in America today.

See you down the trail …

Brandon Butler, executive director of the Conservation Federation of Missouri, is an outdoors columnist for the News Tribune. Contact him at bbutler@driftwoodoutdoors.com.

[Norm M]

Fight this, in Illinois I would love to have the plan Missouri currently has. The Illinois DNR is always hamstrung because the legislature controls the purse strings. If you want to see what happens then , come on up and check things out, you will be appalled at how little public land we have, how little is ever added, the decline of wildlife and fishery related programs, the lack of staff, the lack of equipment for that staff to do their jobs and the dearth programs for non hunters and fishermen .

I have seen first hand what the lack of maintenance has done to the natural areas in the state of Illinois. You want to see stuff not work for months on end for lack of a part costing a couple bucks, I have .

Fight the miserable sob's .

[Quillback]

Here's a list of MO House reps, click on their name for their email. Probably would not hurt to shoot your rep an email and let them know what you think. And it's House Joint Resolution 8, right? Make sure you reference that in your email.

http://house.mo.gov/member.aspx?year=2014