Budget Shortchanges Environment Again

"Shell Game" Contradicts Upbeat Talk on Conservation Funding

(02/03/2003) - WASHINGTON --Analysis of today's budget documents by Defenders of Wildlife points to an ongoing pattern of shortchanging the environment and conservation, with cuts in overall funding for natural resource and environmental protection of $1.6 billion below fiscal year 2002, and $2.2 billion (7.3 percent) below the level that would be needed to keep up with inflation. Congress has not yet finalized spending levels for FY 2003. Between 2004 and 2008, the Bush budget falls $12.9 billion (8 percent) short of the level needed to maintain current services.

Budgets for the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF), endangered species protection, State Wildlife Grants, and other programs will fall short when compared with current levels and demonstrated needs.

Defenders analysis pointed to huge discrepancies in the White House's claim of "full funding" of the LWCF; in fact, the budget proposed today is $225 million below the FY 2002 budget of $573 million, and $552 million below the authorized, "fully funded" budget of $900 million. The budget documents rationalize the LWCF full-funding claim by inclusion of a host of important but unrelated programs and their budgets under the LWCF umbrella, which Defenders of Wildlife President Rodger Schlickeisen called "a ham-handed bait and switch."

"Fully funding the Land and Water Conservation Fund was one of the precious few environmental promises by the Bush Campaign, and they can't even seem to keep that one," said Schlickeisen. "It's become a sad routine for this administration to go out of its way to undermine wildlife and environmental protection, so it's unsurprising that their budget springs from the same mold."

Defenders called "bittersweet" the modest increases in the National Wildlife Refuge system budget, which coincide with the Refuge System's centennial this year, as the administration kept up its push to drill for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and made large cuts in Refuge land acquisition funding. The refuge system has a huge backlog of needed land acquisitions. For example, the Balcones Canynonlands National Wildlife Refuge outside Austin, Texas, where land is being rapidly lost to development, has an unmet acquisition need of $90.5 million. This refuge is critical to the survival of the endangered golden cheeked warbler, which breeds only in central Texas.

"By including the speculative revenues from proposed lease sales in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in his FY 2004 budget blueprint, the President has signaled a stubborn unwillingness to accept the clear opposition of the American people and bipartisan defeat of this scheme by the Senate last April. Instead, this budget tracks the fondest wishes of the Administration's Big Oil constituency," said Schlickeisen.

Defenders pointed to other environmental program cuts in the budget, including:

* Federal Land Acquisition programs are cut by $240 million (56% below FY 2002), which will hamstring programs to protect important wildlife habitat offered by willing sellers.

* Endangered Species Recovery activities are cut by $1.6 million below FY 2002, even though US Fish and Wildlife Service cites more than 200 endangered species that could go extinct within the next five years without adequate recovery funding. While the ESA listing budget is up slightly, largely due to a series of court decisions forcing the federal government to protect critical habitat for listed species, the budget proposal of $12.3 million falls far short of the Fish and Wildlife Service's listing backlog of $137 million. Some 250 candidate species, including the Washington ground squirrel, the northern sea otter, black-tailed prairie dog, Hawaii creeper, and a host of other imperilled species are awaiting protection under the Act.

* State Wildlife Grants come in $25 million (29 percent) below the FY 2002 level of $85 million. This program gives states critically needed funds to protect declining species before protection under federal laws becomes necessary.

* Agriculture Conservation programs would fall well below the levels authorized by the current Farm Bill, including an $18 million shortfall in the Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program, a $150 million shortfall in the Environmental Quality Incentives Program, a nearly $100 million shortfall in the Wetlands Reserve Program, and a $13 million shortfall in the Farmland Protection Program.

These cuts contrast sharply with increased largess toward oil and gas leasing programs, including increased funding and a budget pledge by the Bureau of Land Management to process 90 percent more applications for drilling permits and an additional 400 leases for oil and gas development.

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Defenders of Wildlife is one of the nation’s most progressive advocates for wildlife and habitat, and was named as one of America’s Top 100 Charities by Worth magazine. With more than 430,000 members and supporters, including nearly 100,000 in California, Defenders is an effective voice for the environment. To learn more about Defenders of Wildlife, please visit www.defenders.org.

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Contact(s):

Brad DeVries, (202) 772-0237