House Passes Best Conservation Budget in More Than a Decade - July 2007

Dear Friends,

          The House of Representatives earlier this month passed the Interior and Environment Appropriations bill containing $15 million for the EPA’s Puget Sound restoration program, increased funding for the operations of our National Parks, and a substantial increase in our government’s commitment to climate change research.  As the Chairman of the subcommittee that crafted this bill, I am proud that it begins to reverse years of budget neglect and disinvestment in our public lands and resource agencies.

          Between 2001 and 2007, funding for the Interior Department fell 16 percent, EPA by 29 percent and the Forest Service’s non-fire budget fell by 35 percent, when adjusted for inflation.  These cuts have had devastating effects on our forests, parks and wildlife, so I was especially committed to restoring environmental funding to responsible levels in the 2008 Interior Appropriations bill.

          This bill also takes a more aggressive stance on global warming, following a series of hearings held this spring to explore the impact of altered climate conditions on public lands and wildlife.  For next year the bill provides a total of $267 million for climate change activities -- $200 million in EPA’s budget and $67 million for Interior agencies.  And for the first time, the bill requires the EPA to propose and publish a regulation for reducing greenhouse gases.  This requirement follows the recent Supreme Court ruling that EPA has the authority to regulate greenhouse gases from mobile sources.  The Interior bill also adds $44 million to existing climate change programs in EPA and the U.S. Geological Survey and it establishes a two-year “Commission on Climate Change and Adaptation” to begin to address the question of strategies for addressing global warming.  The Commission will be headed by the President of the National Academy of Sciences, and it will include officials from federal agencies with major climate change responsibilities.

          I believe this is the best conservation budget in years and it provides funding for many of my top priorities, including:

• A $199 million increase for the operations of National Parks, including Mount Rainier, Olympic and North Cascades National Parks in Washington.  I have fought in recent years for additional funding to cover personnel and other fixed cost increases that have eaten into operation budgets and forced a reduction of hiring of rangers and seasonal park staff.  In addition, $85 million is included in the bill for critical repair and maintenance projects and $50 million for the Centennial Challenge Program, which will be matched by private donations to provide another $100 million for projects of national significance within the National Park System.

• $65 million for Legacy Road and Trail Remediation in the Forest Service Budget to fix roads in environmentally sensitive areas, roads damaged by recent storms and roads which may harm community water systems.  Washington State has a large backlog of washed out roads on Forest Service lands, and the creation of this national program is expected to have a substantial impact there next year and in coming years.

• $2 million for a wastewater treatment plant for the City of Belfair and a $500,000 grant for wastewater facility construction on the Skokomish Indian Reservation – both of which have an impact on the health of Hood Canal.

• $200,000 through the U.S. Geological Survey to study low oxygen levels that have led to fish kills in Hood Canal.

• An increase of $56 million for National Wildlife Refuges, a 14 percent increase above the current year to help counter a severe staffing shortfall.   National Wildlife Refuges have lost 600 full-time equivalent personnel in the last three years, including in the Pacific Northwest.

• An increase of $200 million for wildfire management at the outset of what appears to be an active forest fire season.  The Bush Administration budget proposal for the next fiscal year included a cut of more than $100 million for fire protection activities.

• The bill honors our obligations to Native American communities, making investments in better tribal education and healthcare, with a total of $3.38 billion for the Indian Health Service.  This is an increase of $204 million over current levels and $113 million beyond the President’s request.

• The bill renews our nation’s support for the arts and humanities by increasing funding for the National Endowments for Arts and the Humanities in the next fiscal year, with each endowment’s budget rising to $160 million. The bill also includes a historic preservation program – Save America’s Treasures – from which $150,000 was secured for the restoration of the Bremerton Public Library, a 1938 WPA structure built in the art-deco style.

• The bill also recommends a boost in appropriations for the Land & Water Conservation Fund, increasing next year’s spending by $70 million over the current year and $183 million over the Bush budget proposal.  The Fund is used to purchase critical additions to national parks and for preservation of environmentally-significant land for recreational uses.

• Three other programs important in Washington and other western states are the Forest Legacy program, boosted by 10 percent to $62.79 million, the Cooperative Endangered Species Program, funded at $81 million, and the State Wildlife Grants program, which is boosted by $17 million to $85 million for the next fiscal year in the bill.

          I am proud of the work we have been doing in the House to exert greater oversight and to realign the spending priorities for natural resource programs in the federal budget.  After serving for my entire career on the Interior Subcommittee, it is an honor to have the opportunity to play a more prominent role in setting the environmental agenda in Congress as Chairman and producing what I believe is the best conservation budget in more than a decade.

          The Senate now takes up consideration of the Interior spending bill, and as the House and Senate meet to craft a final bill in the coming months, I will work to maintain appropriate funding levels and key investments in our country’s natural resources.

          As always, I welcome your comments.

Sincerely,

NORM DICKS

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