TRCP Pleased with Wetlands Action in Senate
Press Room
Press Release
For Immediate Release
June 22, 2006
For more information contact:
Lynn Tjeerdsma, (202) 654-4617
TRCP Pleased with Wetlands Action in Senate
Restoration Gets Boost from Subcommittee; Wetlands Reserve Program Funding for Fiscal Year
WASHINGTON - In what is being seen as a vote of confidence for conservation, a Senate Subcommittee this week established a 250,000-acre target for wetlands preservation and restoration.
The Senate Appropriations Subcommittee for Agriculture, Rural Development and Related Agencies today voted to restore funding for the Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP) for Fiscal Year 2007 (FY07) to 250,000 acres. This authorization level matches the WRP FY07 authorization levels established by both the 2002 Farm Bill and the Bush Administration.
The WRP is very popular among farmers and ranchers in all 50 states and is successfully preserving and restoring fragile wetlands and surrounding areas on more than 1.6 million acres. In fact, demand is so high that in 2004 and 2005 applications to enroll more than a million acres in restoration projects remained unfunded.
Bart James, Ducks Unlimited, co-chair of the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership (TRCP) Agriculture and Wildlife Working Group (AWWG) commented, “The backlog of applications and the documented conservation and wildlife benefits attributed to the WRP provide substantial proof that the 250,000-acre WRP authorization level is needed. I appreciate the Senate’s sensitivity to these needs and to the messages of support for WRP they received from literally thousands of grassroots constituents.”
“Those of us who are committed to ensuring the future and viability of conservation programs such as the WRP are highly appreciative of this Senate Subcommittee’s action today,” said Jen Mock, Farm Bill coordinator of the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies and AWWG co-chair. “The WRP is a critical component of nearly every state’s portfolio of conservation and wildlife habitat programs.”
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The Agriculture and Wildlife Working Group includes representatives from Pheasants Forever, the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, Ducks Unlimited, The Wildlife Society, The Nature Conservancy, Trout Unlimited, National Association of Conservation Districts, Ruffed Grouse Society, Quail Unlimited, North American Grouse Partnership, American Sportfishing Association, Max McGraw Wildlife Foundation, Izaak Walton League of America, Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, Conservation Fund, Wildlife Management Institute, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, and the National Wildlife Federation.
The Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership is a coalition of leading conservation organizations and individual grassroots partners, working together to:
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conserve fish and wildlife and their habitat,
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increase funding for conservation and management, and
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expand access to places to hunt and fish.
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