Washington Watch, 4/26/2010
White House Conference on America's Great Outdoors
Community Forest Program Grants
Conservation Tax Incentive Extension Awaits Congressional Action
House and Senate "Dear Colleague," Letters on LWCF and FLP
Public Testifies on Land Conservation Funding
White House Conference on America's Great Outdoors
On Friday, April 16th, the White House sponsored a conference on America's Great Outdoors, describing the event as a way to "address the challenges, opportunities and innovations surrounding modern-day land conservation and the importance of reconnecting Americans to the outdoors." The event was held at the Department of the Interior.
The Trust for Public Land (TPL) was pleased to have been invited to attend the conference and sent several representatives to the conference including TPL's President Will Rogers and California State Director Sam Hodder. There were approximately 500 people in attendance including other conservation organizations, sportsmen, and private landowners. There were opening speeches from Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, Secretary of Interior Ken Salazar, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson, and Council on Environmental Quality Chair Nancy Sutley.
The highlight of the event was President Obama's speech to the assembled crowd and his signing of a Memorandum to his lead conservation agencies establishing the America's Great Outdoors Initiative. His speech made many references to the conservation leadership and legacy of President Theodore Roosevelt. The President specifically mentioned the need for more urban parks and wildlife corridors, and he commended the work of land trusts in every part of the country.
The crowd then listened to two panel discussions. The first panel was moderated by Secretary Tom Vilsack and included Newark Mayor Cory Booker, Indiana farmer Ray McCormick, Nez Perce tribal member (and former TPL Tribal Lands Director) Jaime Pinkham, LTA Western Policy Director, and family rancher Lynne Sherrod and historian, and author Douglas Brinkley.
The second panel was moderated by Secretary Salazar and included New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, University of Wisconsin professor and historian (and TPL Board Member) Bill Cronon, REI CEO Sally Jewell, Gary Myers - former Executive Director of the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency and Ernesto Pepito, Youth Program Director at Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy.
Both panels were asked to address the current challenges and possible solutions to conservation in the 21st century with a particular emphasis on connecting children and urban residents to the outdoors. All in all, it was an exciting day and the conference demonstrated the commitment of the Administration to strengthening conservation work around the country.
In terms of next steps, the agencies tasked with leading the AGO Initiative will be shifting into gear to hold "listening sessions" in various locations around the country, still to be formally announced.
See TPL's press release applauding the Administration for holding the conference.
TPL has joined the recently-formed Urban Park Coalition, spearheaded by the National Park and Recreation Association (NRPA), whose aims are to engage with Congress on urban park legislation. TPL is working on several fronts to advance knowledge about and consideration of the role of parks in addressing healthy communities. Click here to learn more about the coalition.
As reported in Washington Watch 1/22/09, on October 6, 2009, the Urban Revitalization and Livable Communities Act (H.R. 3734) was introduced by Rep. Albio Sires (NJ). Since its introduction, there are now 114 co-sponsors on the legislation. H.R. 3734 has been referred to both the House Financial Services and the House Education and Labor Committee, where the Subcommittee on Healthy Families and Communities will consider it.
The legislation would create an "urban revitalization and livable communities program" within the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to administer four grant programs. Three of the grant programs are for innovative delivery practices that are cost-effective and augmentative to existing opportunities, at-risk youth recreation activities to reduce juvenile crime through recreation, and recovery action programs to produce plans and strategies that improve "overall recreation system recovery." The fourth grant program is for rehabilitation and construction grants for "the purpose of rebuilding, remodeling, expanding, or developing existing or building new recreational areas and facilities, including improvements in park landscapes, infrastructure, buildings, and support facilities," and for public safety measures.
Even without this legislation, HUD is moving forward under the Obama Administration's Sustainable Communities Initiative to implement the initiative through improvements on regional planning efforts.
The Trust for Public Land (TPL) submitted comments in support of this HUD program and recommended that any integrated planning include setting regional land conservation priorities, and that access to and the creation of parks, trails, and public spaces be addressed, especially in low-income, historically underserved and densely populated areas. This will help increase quality of life and promote equity among different developed areas.
To view TPL's comments, click on the attachment "HUD's Sustainable Communities" at the bottom of the page.
Urban Park Briefing
On April 20th, the U.S. House of Representative's Urban Caucus/Urban Parks Taskforce held a forum sponsored by U.S. Congressmen Chaka Fattah (PA-2), Albio Sires (NJ-13), Michael Turner (OH-3), and Jerry Lewis (CA-41), that focused on urban parks and their role in creating jobs, redeveloping neighborhoods, and providing space for children to be active and stay healthy. TPL staff attended the forum. Panelist who participated in the forum included Susan Wachter, Professor, Wharton School of Economics, Dr. Joe Huges, Professor Georgia Institute of Technology (and author of "Red Fields to Green Fields: Parks Solve the Urban Real Estate Crisis), Eddie George, Former NFL Player and Landscape Architect, and Salin Geevarghese, Office of Sustainable Housing and Communities, Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Let's Move Using Urban Parks
Peter Harnik, The Trust for Public Land's Director of the Center for City Park Excellence submitted comments on behalf of TPL in support of First Lady Michelle Obama's Let's Move initiative, a campaign to solve the epidemic of childhood obesity in this country. TPL's comments explicitly connect the need for healthier and greater access to parks and schoolyards-- the nation's most widely-used resources for physical activity -- as well as an increased supply of community gardens for fresh produce and active living.
To get more information about how connecting communities to parks can help tackle the challenge of childhood obesity, view the attachment "Let's Move Using Urban Parks" at the bottom of the page.
Community Forest Program Grants
The Community Forest and Open Space Conservation Program, authorized in the 2008 Farm Bill, is a new program that will provide matching federal grants for purchase of local forestlands by local governments, tribes, and qualifying nonprofits. The program will ensure funding for the creation or expansion of community forests that can meet local needs for recreation, economic development, watershed protection, and other ecosystem services.
In March 2010, The Trust for Public Land worked with partner groups and the congressional Land Conservation Caucus to hold a congressional briefing on community forests in March 2010, which featured speakers who manage community forests in California and Kentucky, in addition to Forest Service staff. The briefing was well attended by members of the conservation community, forest service staff and representatives of numerous House and Senate offices.
The Forest Service is currently developing a more detailed set of guidelines on implementation of the program. They expect to release those guidelines for public comment by August 30, 2010. After public comments are considered and any revisions are made, it is expected the program will be ready for consideration of grant applications in the fall of 2010.
Conservation Tax Incentive Extension Awaits Congressional Action
The enhanced tax deduction for donations of conservation easements expired at the end of 2009. Despite the bipartisan support of well over half of the members of the House of Representatives and forty-one senators, a permanent extension of the provision has not yet been enacted.
There has been some action on a temporary extension, however, but even that has been caught up in the cumbersome legislative machinery of Congress. On March 10, the Senate passed a bill (H.R. 4213), the "American Workers, State and Business Relief Act," that included a one-year extension retroactive to January 1. The House initially passed this bill in December, but differences related to other provisions in the legislation have led to further delay.
The best solution to the uncertainty surrounding the future of the tax incentive would be enactment of a permanent extension, as repeated temporary extensions fail to provide landowners with the confidence they need to move forward on easement donations. Permanent renewal of the incentive remains the goal of a broad coalition of conservation groups, and The Trust for Public Land is proud to be a part of that effort. The broad bipartisan congressional support for a permanent extension provides some encouragement, but such a bill is not likely to be passed in 2010. In the short term, a temporary extension is more probable, but it remains to be seen whether it will be enacted as part of the tax legislation that recently passed the Senate or whether it will be attached to a completely different bill with a greater likelihood of becoming law. Stay tuned.
House and Senate "Dear Colleague," Letters on LWCF and FLP
With the congressional appropriations process underway for FY 2011, Members of the House and Senate have written to the chairmen and ranking members of the respective appropriations subcommittees that oversee the Interior Department and the Forest Service to demonstrate their support for the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) and the Forest Legacy Program.
In the House of Representatives, five congressmen spearheaded a letter to Interior Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman James Moran and Ranking Member Michael Simpson dated March 22, 2010. The leaders of the letter were Reps. James McGovern of Massachusetts, Peter King of New York, Rush Holt of New Jersey, Jim Gerlach of Pennsylvania, and Chris Murphy of Connecticut. In addition to the five sponsors of the letter, 111 of their colleagues signed on to the letter. The 116 total signers represent a total of 37 states, plus the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and three territories. The House letter requested a total of $425 million for Federal LWCF, $175 million for Stateside LWCF, and $150 million for the Forest Legacy Program.
In the Senate, three senators issued a letter to Interior Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Dianne Feinstein and Ranking Member Lamar Alexander dated March 26, 2010. The leaders of the letter were Sens. Patrick Leahy of Vermont, Olympia Snowe of Maine, and Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire. In addition to the three sponsors of the letter, 40 of their colleagues signed on to the letter. The 43 signers represent a total of 32 states. The Senate letter requested a total of $384 million for Federal LWCF, $50 million for Stateside LWCF, and $100 million for the Forest Legacy Program. These amounts are equal to the levels submitted in the FY 2011 President's Budget request.
The letters are attached below.
Public Testifies on Land Conservation Funding
Every year the House and Senate Interior Appropriations Subcommittees invite the public to submit written testimony in advance of the writing of the annual Interior spending bills. The process allows the public to comment on important issues and to support various programs and projects before the subcommittees.
This year the House Interior Subcommittee accepted written testimony until March 19. The Subcommittee also held a Public Witness Day session on March 25 in which participants delivered spoken testimony to the subcommittee. Several organizations spoke in favor of funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF), the Forest Legacy Program, and other important federal conservation programs, including the Partnership for the National Trails System, The Nature Conservancy, the National Wildlife Federation, and the National Audubon Society. Congressman Brad Sherman of California also testified in support of LWCF funding at Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area. The House Interior Appropriations Subcommittee has published the list of participants and their testimony for the hearing on its website.
Kathy DeCoster, Vice President and Director of Federal Affairs, submitted written testimony on behalf of The Trust for Public Land in support of LWCF, the Forest Legacy Program, and other important federal conservation programs. TPL also signed on, along with 52 other national, regional, and local conservation organizations, to testimony submitted by the LWCF Coalition.
The Senate Interior Appropriations Subcommittee will not have a Public Witness Day session. However, the subcommittee is still accepting written testimony for the record through May 14. Instructions on submitting testimony are available on the Senate Interior Appropriations Subcommittee website.
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