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CAPITOL FLYER
Wednesday, June 1,
2005
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Capitol
Flyer is intended to keep you abreast of the latest developments
in Washington affecting the National Wildlife Refuge System.
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Table
of Contents:
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Public
Access at National Wildlife Refuges Discussed at Congressional Hearing
On
May 26, the House Resources Subcommittee on Fisheries Conservation,
Wildlife and Oceans held a hearing on public access to the National
Wildlife Refuge System. Although the hearing did not address specific
legislation, the groups testifying included Ham radio operators,
model airplane enthusiasts, and veterans from the battle of Midway.
Conservation groups were not asked to testify.
Special
interest groups testified that they are unfairly denied access to
national wildlife refuges to pursue their activities. The U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service (FWS) testified in the last witness panel.
According to the FWS, the National Wildlife Refuge System Improvement
Act of 1997 clearly defined compatible uses on refuges. The Act
designates six priority "wildlife-dependent" uses on refuges: hunting;
fishing; wildlife observation and photography; and environmental
education and interpretation.
In
a press release distributed at the Congressional hearing, the National
Wildlife Refuge Association (NWRA) urged Congress to stand behind
the Refuge Improvement Act and support FWS management decisions.
In
January, House Resources Committee Chairman Richard Pombo (R-CA)
and Ranking Member Nick Rahall (D-WV) introduced a bill that would
allow access to refuges closed to public use. The bill, H.R. 298,
specifically called for access to Farallon (CA), Navassa (Caribbean)
and Desecheo (PR) NWRs. After meeting strong opposition from local
scientific and conservation organizations and Rep. Tom Lantos (D-CA),
who represents the Farallones, Reps. Rahall and Pombo dropped their
support for the bill. Mr. Rahall has since introduced new legislation,
H.R. 1183, which only provides public access to Navassa and Desecheo.
Ham
radio operators have been pushing the legislation to gain access
to refuges where they will set up temporary broadcasting stations
to communicate with radio operators in other states and countries.
The
NWRA opposed H.R. 298 and H.R 1183 and will continue to oppose any
efforts to change the Refuge Improvement Act for the benefit of
special interest groups.
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Appropriations
Update
After
a May 4 markup in the Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, the
House passed its FY06 Interior Appropriations bill on May 19. The
House bill allocates $394,394,000 for refuge O&M, $13,375,000 more
than the FY2005 enacted level, and an increase of $500,000 over
the administration's FY2006 request. The $13 million increase is
good news considering current budget cuts. For example, the overall
funding level for the Interior appropriations bill decreased by
2% from the FY2005 enacted level.
The
House bill also cut $7.6 million from the Secretary's Cooperative
Conservation Initiative (CCI) (the President's request was for $12
million). The reallocation benefited many programs endorsed by the
NWRA, including $1 million "for cooperative projects with [F]riends
groups on invasive species control." This allocation is a result
of the successful Volunteer Invasives Monitoring Program coordinated
by the NWRA and efforts by Friends groups who communicated with
their elected representatives to request invasive species funding
projects.
Also
related to invasive species work, in the U.S. Geological Survey
(USGS) budget, $150,000 was included for invasive species database
coordination with the FWS. This funding was requested by the NWRA
to enable the USGS to integrate a number of different databases
used by the FWS.
The
Senate Interior Appropriations Subcommittee is scheduled to mark
up their bill funding the Department of the Interior and other agencies
on June 7, and the full committee plans to take up the bill two
days later.
If
you would like further information or have questions on the FY06
budget or appropriations, please contact Michael Woodbridge, Assistant
Director of Government Affairs, at
mwoodbridge@refugenet.org or (202) 333-9073.
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Transportation
Update
The
Senate passed their version of the legislation, the "Safe, Accountable,
Flexible and Efficient Transportation Equity Act of 2005." The Senate
bill includes just over $29 million per year for refuge roads.
The
House and Senate are conferencing on the bill to work out differences
between the two chambers. It is unclear what the final authorized
funding level for refuge roads will be. However, the NWRA, along
with the Cooperative Alliance for Refuge Enhancement, is urging
Congress to fund refuge roads at the proposed Senate level or higher.
The
Refuge Roads Program funds construction and maintenance of roads
and trails within the National Wildlife Refuge System. Every dollar
for refuge roads from the Department of Transportation is a dollar
that the FWS doesn't have to take away from wildlife management.
According
to the Federal Highway Administration (FHA), the Refuge System currently
has a transportation backlog of needs of $2.1 billion. In fact,
the FHA has classified over 37% of Refuge System roads as being
in "poor to failed" condition.
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Rep.
Case Introduces National Marine Refuge Bill
On
May 16, Rep. Ed Case (D-HI) introduced legislation that would create
"the largest marine protected area in the world" in the waters of
the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. The proposed area stretches across
1,200 miles of the Pacific Ocean from Nihoa Island to Kure Atoll,
an area larger than Australia's Great Barrier Reef.
Case's
bill, the Northwest Hawaiian Islands National Marine Refuge Act,
would assign management of the new refuge-the first of its kind
in the country-to a new Office of National Marine Sanctuaries and
Refuges within the Department of Commerce's National Ocean Service.
Most
of the proposed region is similar in outline to areas currently
being considered for a national marine sanctuary. However, while
a marine sanctuary would allow some extraction of resources, Case's
proposed refuge would not.
The
legislation calls for cooperative management of the area with the
Hawaiian Islands National Wildlife Refuge, Midway Atoll National
Wildlife Refuge, other Federal agencies, and the State of Hawaii.
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Congressional
Departures
HOUSE
VACANCIES:
Rep.
Robert Matsui (D-5th District-CA); died January 1 (replaced by Rep.
Doris Matsui (D))
Rep. Rob Portman (R-2nd District-OH); resigned to become U.S. Trade
Representative
RETIRING
SENATORS:
Mark Dayton (D-MN)
Bill Frist (R-TN)
James Jeffords (I-VT)
Paul Sarbanes (D-MD)
RETIRING
HOUSE MEMBERS:
Michael Bilirakis (R-9th District-FL)
Henry Hyde (R-6th District-IL)
Major Owens (D-11th District-NY)
RUNNING
FOR THE SENATE:
Rep. Benjamin Cardin (D-3rd District-MD)
Rep. Harold Ford, Jr. (D-9th District-TN)
Rep. Mark Kennedy (R-6th District-MN)
Rep. Bernard Sanders (I-At Large-VT)
RUNNING
FOR GOVERNOR:
Rep. Bob Beauprez (R-7th District-CO)
Sen. Jon Corzine (D-NJ)
Rep. Jim Davis (D-11th District-FL)
Rep. Jim Gibbons (R-2nd District-NV)
Rep. Mark Green (R-8th District-WI)
Rep. Jim Nussle (R-1st District-IA)
Rep. Tom Osborne (R-3rd District-NE)
Rep. C.L. "Butch" Otter (R-1st District-ID)
RUNNING
FOR OTHER OFFICE:
Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-9th District-NY) (mayor of New York)
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Take
Action!
If
you received this issue of Capitol Flyer directly from the NWRA,
your e-mail address is registered with the Refuge Action Network.
But have you taken action on refuge issues? Help make a difference
on refuge issues by utilizing the NWRA's
RAN e-advocacy tool. It's fast, easy and effective!
Please
visit the NWRA Web site or contact Michael Woodbridge, Assistant
Director of Government Affairs, at 202.333.9073 or mwoodbridge@refugenet.org
for more information.
(return to table of contents)
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Capitol
Flyer, a monthly e-newsletter from the NWRA, is prepared by Michael
Woodbridge, NWRA's Assistant Director of Government Affairs.
For additional information, please contact mwoodbridge@refugenet.org.
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