On February 14, 2011, President Obama
submitted a proposed federal budget for fiscal
year (FY) 2012 to Congress. This marks the
beginning of the annual budget and
appropriations process in Congress. The
president’s budget request frames the debate
about spending decisions that will follow. With
the intense focus on dramatically cutting the
federal budget, the 2012 request is
particularly important because it is likely
represents the highest level of funding that
could be provided. We’ve summarized elements
of the proposed 2012 budget that relate to
League priorities.
AGRICULTURAL
CONSERVATION
Conservation Reserve Program
(CRP): This program helps reduce soil
erosion, protect water quality, and enhance
wildlife habitat across the country through
long-term contracts with landowners to convert
highly-erodible cropland to more sustainable
vegetative cover. The administration’s budget
is strongly supportive of CRP. The budget
proposes to allow landowners to enroll up to 6
million acres in FY 2012, on top of the 3.95
million acres sought in the FY 2011 general
signup. It is encouraging to see the effort
being made to ensure farmers and ranchers are
able to achieve the maximum allowable
enrollment for their most sensitive lands and
most important habitat.
Wetlands Reserve Program
(WRP): This program provides technical
and financial assistance to landowners to
restore and protect wetlands on their
properties. Wetlands are generally conserved
through permanent or 30-year easements
purchased by the U.S. Department of
Agriculture. Unfortunately, the president
proposes to permanently reduce the Farm Bill
authorization for WRP by 158,895 acres. This
proposal arbitrarily rewrites the Farm Bill’s
multi-year obligation as signed into law in
2008. The League opposes this cut and urges
Congress to uphold the binding, five-year
commitment made to WRP.
Grassland Reserve Program
(GRP): This program focuses on
limiting conversion of pasture and other
grasslands to cropland or development while
allowing landowners to continue grazing and
other operations that align with this goal. The
president’s budget proposes to permanently
cut the mandated total acreage for GRP by
165,684 acres. The League opposes this
reduction because it will undermine efforts to
protect one of the country’s most threatened
natural resources through FY 2012 and
beyond.
Conservation
Stewardship Program (CSP): This is a
comprehensive approach to conserving soil,
water, and other natural resources across a
range of lands, including cropland, prairie,
and forests. CSP makes conservation the basis
for a producer to receive federal financial
support – rather than limitless subsidies for
intensive production of a few crops. It is
troubling that the administration’s FY 2012
budget proposes to cut the number of acres that
could be enrolled in CSP by 764,204. The League
opposes this cut because CSP is a
comprehensive, whole-farm approach to
conservation that can maximize benefits to
natural resources, fish and wildlife, and
producers alike.
Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program
(WHIP): This program helps
agricultural landowners develop habitat for
upland and wetland wildlife and threatened and
endangered species. The president’s FY 2012
proposal seeks to permanently reduce the
mandatory commitment established for WHIP in
the Farm Bill and cut FY 2012 funding by $12
million. The League opposes this damaging cut
to a program with the central goal of
supporting wildlife resources in rural America.
CLEAN
WATER
Clean
Water Infrastructure: The
administration requests more than $2.5 billion
to upgrade and modernize waste water and
drinking water treatment systems nationwide.
Outdated sewage treatment plants are major
sources of water pollution and many public
water supply systems require significant
investment to improve treatment technology and
replace deteriorating pipes. The League
supports this request.
Great Lakes Restoration:
The president requests $350 million to continue
the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI).
This request builds on the $475 million
Congress appropriated for FY 2010 and $300
million requested for FY 2011. Funding supports
efforts by the Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Army
Corps of Engineers, states, localities, and
nonprofit groups to tackle some of the most
pressing problems in the region, including
contaminated sediment, invasive species, and
habitat degradation and loss. The League
supports this request, particularly in light of
numerous studies that estimate that $5 billion
is required to restore the Great Lakes
ecosystem.
Chesapeake
Bay Recovery: The budget requests more
than $67 million – $17 million more than
appropriated for FY 2010 – for the
Environmental Protection Agency’s Chesapeake
Bay programs. The additional funding will help
EPA implement the Chesapeake Bay Total Maximum
Daily Load (TMDL), which was finalized in
December 2010. The TMDL establishes enforceable
pollution limits for nitrogen, phosphorus, and
sediment from point and non-point sources. As
pollution reduction and water quality goals
continue to go unmet throughout the region, the
League supports this request.
Non-Point Source Pollution
Control: The administration requests
approximately $165 million for grants that
support state efforts to control and reduce
non-point source pollution. This is about $36
million less than Congress appropriated in FY
2010. Non-point source pollution – including
run-off from lawns, fields, and parking lots
– is the greatest threat to water quality
nationwide. Based on the seriousness of
non-point source pollution, the League opposes
the proposed cut and supports providing $200
million for state grants, which is equal to the
amount Congress has appropriated for the past
several years.
FISH AND
WILDLIFE
National
Wildlife Refuges: The budget requests
nearly $503 million – approximately the
amount in FY 2010 funding – to operate and
maintain 553 national wildlife refuges across
the country. National wildlife refuges conserve
fish, wildlife, and their habitat; provide
incredible opportunities for hunting, fishing,
and outdoor recreation; and support local
economic growth. These refuges face serious
budget challenges, including a $3.6 billion
backlog of operations and maintenance projects.
As a member of the Cooperative Alliance for
Refuge Enhancement (CARE), the League supports
providing $511 million for refuge system
operations and maintenance in FY 2012. This
amount will partially cover inflation that
erodes the system’s budget by as much as $20
million annually.
State Wildlife Action
Plans: The budget requests $95 million
– about $5 million more than the FY 2010
appropriation – for State Wildlife Action
Grants. These grants help states and tribes to
conserve a broad array of wildlife, including
non-game species, based on priorities they
established in State Wildlife Action Plans. The
League supports this request.
Open
Fields: The budget requests
approximately $17 million for the Open Fields
program within the U.S. Department of
Agriculture. Open Fields, which the League
helped to include in the 2008 Farm Bill,
provides funding to states with programs that
support access to private lands for hunting and
fishing. The League supports this request.
Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration
Funding: The Department of the
Interior manages the annual allocation of
excise taxes that hunters, anglers,
recreational shooters, and others pay when they
purchase firearms, ammunition, fishing
equipment, and motorboat fuel. These taxes
support wildlife and sport fish restoration
efforts by state departments of natural
resources and fish and wildlife. The budget
reflects total amounts the Department of the
Interior expects to allocate to states based on
excise taxes collected in 2011. In FY 2012, the
allocation for sport fish restoration is
estimated to be $461 million, while
approximately $403 million would support
wildlife restoration.
PUBLIC
LANDS
Land and Water Conservation Fund
(LWCF): The president requests $900
million for the Fund, which is the full amount
authorized for it. LWCF funds would be
allocated to the Departments of Interior and
Agriculture for land acquisition across
national parks, forests, wildlife refuges, and
other federal public lands and to support
outdoor recreation at the state and local
levels. Fully funding LWCF is a major goal for
the League and a broad cross-section of
national conservation, hunting, angling, and
outdoor recreation groups. The League supports
this request.
National Forests:
The president’s budget request for the U.S.
Forest Service totals $5.1 billion, which is a
decrease of $178 million compared with the FY
2010 appropriation. It will allow the agency to
maintain and in some cases increase commitments
for programs directed toward key outcomes and
shared priorities, including President
Obama’s America’s Great Outdoors (AGO)
initiative. Programs with increased budgets for
FY 2012 to implement AGO recommendations
include the Forest Legacy Program; the
Community Forest and Open Space Conservation
Program; Urban and Community Forestry; land
acquisition via LWCF (from $64,822,000 in FY
2010 to $91,182,000 – a 41% increase); and
Recreation, Heritage, and Wilderness (from
$285,117,000 in FY 2010 funding to $290,498,000
in FY 2012, a 2% increase). The League
particularly supports the increases in land
acquisition and for Recreation, Heritage, and
Wilderness, which supports outdoor recreation
and wilderness stewardship across national
forests.
RIVER
RESTORATION
Missouri River: The
president requests nearly $73 million for the
Missouri River Recovery Program, which is about
$5 million less than requested for FY 2011. The
Recovery Program, which the League actively
supports through its Missouri River Initiative,
focuses on habitat 
and
other river restoration projects – including
recovery of the pallid sturgeon, interior least
tern, and piping plover, which are listed as
threatened or endangered under the Endangered
Species Act – and recreational opportunities
along the river. Although the Recovery Program
is beginning to make tangible progress on the
ground, much more work needs to be done. With
this in mind, the League strongly supports the
president’s request.
Upper Mississippi River:
For the Upper Mississippi River, the budget
requests $18 million for the Environmental
Management Program (EMP), which is administered
by the Army Corps of Engineers. EMP focuses
exclusively on implementing and evaluating
restoration projects. As a leader in protecting
the upper Mississippi since the 1920s, the
League supports this request and is working to
significantly expand restoration throughout the
region.
SUSTAINABLE
DEVELOPMENT
In our interconnected environment, how
natural resources are used, managed, and
protected 
half-way
around the world often impacts us here at home.
Rapid population growth in the world’s
poorest countries is frequently one of the most
significant threats to natural resources and
the environment. Growing families clearing
forests to grow food contribute to
deforestation and millions of fishermen with
small boats and nets deplete fish that migrate
worldwide. Improved access to healthcare,
family planning information, education, and
economic development opportunities all
contribute to smaller families. The
administration’s budget requests $769 million
for family planning, healthcare, and integrated
development programs around the world. The
League supports this request.
YOUTH AND
THE OUTDOORS
The
budget request continues the administration’s
focus on connecting children and families with
the outdoors. Significant funding is requested
for agencies within the Department of the
Interior. In FY 2012, the administration
requests nearly $47 million for youth and the
outdoors initiatives, including more than $15
million for the Fish and Wildlife Service and
$19 million for the National Park Service.
Funding for the Fish and Wildlife Service, for
example, would support environmental education
at national wildlife refuges and provide summer
and temporary job opportunities to young people
on refuges. The League and our members across
the country share the goal of connecting
children and their families with nature,
hunting and angling, and conservation.