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Washington Watch, 6/23/2010

AGO Listening Sessions Begin in Montana

House and Senate Support More Money for DOD Buffer Program

Senate Committee Approves Permanent FLTFA Reauthorization

TPL Submits Comments on DOT's Strategic Plan

Conservation Tax Incentive Extension Still Awaiting Final Action

AGO Listening Sessions Begin in Montana

The Administrations' America's Great Outdoors (AGO) initiative - to develop a conservation agenda for the 21st century - kicked off an anticipated summer season of listening sessions June 1st and 2nd in Montana. The Obama Administration plans more than a dozen such events nationwide to gather ideas on how to preserve the outdoors and get more Americans outside. President Obama and Secretary of Interior, Kenneth Salazar, announced the America's Great Outdoors initiative at a White House Conference on April 16, 2010 that will culminate in a report to the President with recommendations due next November.

Generally, four topics will be included at the sessions: what are new land conservation strategies and obstacles; how to better connect people with the outdoors and obstacles; how the federal government can work better with local public and private recreation groups; and what can make current efforts more successful.

The June first session took place in Ovando, MT and focused on community-based conservation in the Crown of the Continent, an area of western Montana spanning the Rockies with associated valleys and fronts that is considered one of the best remaining intact ecosystems in the country.

On June 2nd, 9-11 am, three simultaneous sessions were in Bozeman, Helena and Missoula. Senior officials from the Department of Interior, Department of Agriculture and Council on Environmental Quality were in attendance to hear the comments of citizens - hunters, anglers, ranchers, wildlife advocates, a diverse array of recreational users, business leaders and local officials, to name a few, -- about land conservation successes and future needs in Montana. The format included an eight-minute video introductory video about AGO and our nation's land conservation and recreation heritage. Participants then divided into break out groups to hold smaller discussions. The events were well attended with over two hundred people participating in Bozeman and in Helena and over three hundred in Missoula.

One issue of importance to The Trust for Public Land is increased and consistent funding for federal, state and local conservation. Among these, the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF), provides funding for land acquisition and protection across our national parks, forests, refuges, trails, rivers and BLM lands as well as providing grants to cities and towns for state and local park protection and development, where most Americans live. The LWCF has suffered from chronic underfunding . Full and dedicated funding for the LWCF at the congressionally authorized level of $900 million annually, is an important to meet our nation's conservation and recreation needs.

Another critical element to a successful AGO initiative is addressing the great need for federal leadership and resources to expand and better shape a national urban parks agenda. New close-to-home parks and access to healthy recreation through creating or restoring green school playgrounds, new community parks, trails, greenways, and community gardens is vital to our communities.

The next listening session will be held on June 25 in Annapolis, MD with a focus on the Chesapeake Bay Watershed.

Here is a list of other confirmed upcoming listening sessions:

June 28 - Charleston, SC
July 1 - Seattle, WA
July 8 - Los Angeles, CA

Even if you cannot attend a listening session, you can tell your stories and add your voice to the conversation at http://www.doi.gov/americasgreatoutdoors/.

Attached at the bottom of the page is TPL's America's Great Outdoors fact sheet for Montana and TPL's press release for the Montana Listening Sessions.

House and Senate Support More Money for DOD Buffer Program

Legislation seeking an increase in the amount of money proposed by the Obama Administration for the Department of Defense Readiness and Environment Protection Initiative (REPI) has passed the House and has been approved by the Senate Armed Services Committee. The House version of the Defense Authorization for FY 2011, passed by the House on May 28, includes a $10 million increase over the spending level included in the President's budget, while the Senate-committee-approved version includes an increase of $25 million.

In FY 2010, $54.7 million was appropriated for REPI, which enables the armed services to partner with state and local governments and nonprofit land conservation organizations to protect lands that would otherwise be developed. Such encroachment can endanger the mission of a defense installation as training and readiness capabilities become limited by incompatible land uses near the installation's boundaries. The program helps DOD's mission sustainability, while the partners are able to carry out their missions of habitat and open space protection.

For FY 2011, the President proposed $39.8 million, which is a substantial reduction from previous years' levels. The amount to be included in the final version of the Defense authorization will likely fall between $49.8 million and $64.8 million. The final number then becomes the ceiling for the amount appropriated. The Defense appropriations bill for FY 2011 is expected to pass both chambers by the August congressional recess. The high water mark for REPI funding was $56 million in FY 2009.

The Trust for Public Land has participated in the REPI program at places such as Camp Pendleton, Army installations in Hawaii, Naval Air Station/Joint Reserve Base New Orleans, and Beale AFB.

Senate Committee Approves Permanent FLTFA Reauthorization

On June 21, 2010, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee approved S. 1787, introduced by Committee Chairman Jeff Bingaman of New Mexico, to permanently authorize the Federal Land Transaction Facilitation Act (FLTFA). This law, first enacted in 2000, is scheduled to expire on July 24, 2010.

FLTFA provides a mechanism to use proceeds from the sales or exchanges of public lands to fund acquisitions of inholdings or important edge-holdings of America's national parks, national forest, national wildlife refuges, and certain units of the Bureau of Land Management. It has been a vital complementary funding source to the Land and Water Conservation Fund and is widely supported by conservation groups throughout the country.

A separate bill to reauthorize FLTFA has also been introduced in the House of Representatives by Congressman Martin Heinrich of New Mexico. A hearing was held on this bill (H.R. 3339) on November 17, 2009.

The Senate Committee's action greatly improves the chances that FLTFA will be reauthorized by Congress this year, but not before the July 24 expiration date. A simple one-year extension of the legislation has been inserted into the Senate version of an emergency supplemental appropriations bill. Passage of that bill had been anticipated in June, but now is more likely to be enacted in July.

TPL has used this funding source to help federal agencies acquire lands in Oregon's Rogue National Wild and Scenic River corridor (site of Zane Grey's fishing camp at Winkle Bar); the Coconino National Forest in Arizona (Packard Ranch); La Cienega ACEC and Elk Springs ACEC in New Mexico; and Zion National Park. Another important acquisition near Lake Tahoe in Nevada's Humboldt-Toiyabe NF is expected to be completed later this year using FLTFA funds.

TPL Submits Comments on DOT's Strategic Plan

On June 15, TPL submitted official comments in response to the Department of Transportation's (DOT) FY2010-FY2015 strategic Plan. DOT is planning to use this Strategic Plan to develop and implement policies and programs that will transform our transportation infrastructure into a multimodal system that provides travelers and businesses with safe, convenient, affordable, and environmentally sustainable transportation choices.

Included in the DOT Strategic Plan were several strategic goal areas that they hope will create a transportation system that addresses new challenges and investment decisions for highways, public transit, railroads, seaports, inland waterways, and airports. Among these strategic goal areas were (1) safety, (2) state of good repair, (3) economic competitiveness, (4) livable communities, and (5) environmental sustainability.

For the purpose of these comments, TPL focused on the important role that livable communities play in making communities more complete and desirable and included examples of TPL's work and how transportation funding has allowed projects such as the Bayside Trail in Portland, ME and the Santa Fe Railyard Park in NM to be possible. To view TPL's comments on the DOT FY2010-2015 strategic goal, please click here.

Conservation Tax Incentive Extension Still Awaiting Final Action

The extension of the enhanced deduction for the donation of conservation easements is caught up in the wrangling over the larger tax "extenders" bill now being debated in the Senate. While no one is arguing over the conservation tax incentive provision, its enactment will be delayed until a compromise is reached on the overall package.

Montana Session Recommendations

TPL Montana Session Press Release