Coalition Calls on Congress to Better Fund NOAA Programs to Open and Restore Rivers and Streams
Press Room
Press Release
For Immediate Release
June 14, 2006
For more information contact:
Tim Zink, (202) 654-4625
Coalition Calls on Congress to Better Fund NOAA Programs to Open and Restore Rivers and Streams
Organizations call for greater commitment to fish passage, grassroots-driven cleanups
WASHINGTON - As Congress begins considering the annual budget for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, a coalition of fishing and conservation groups is calling for greater-than-proposed funding levels for two key programs, the Open Rivers Initiative and the Community-based Restoration Program.
Issuing the call is the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership’s Fisheries Working Group, which includes representatives from the American Sportfishing Association, Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, BASS/ESPN Outdoors, Berkley Conservation Institute, the Izaak Walton League of America and Trout Unlimited.
“Every day we hear from people across the country who want to make their home waters better, and these two NOAA programs can help them do it,” said working group co-chair Noreen Clough, Conservation Director for BASS/ESPN Outdoors. “Congress has a chance to show its commitment to these folks, and we hope it seizes the opportunity.”
The Open Rivers Initiative is new and was created to remove obsolete small dams and culverts that block fish passage, an estimated 2.5 million of which can be found across the country. The Bush Administration has proposed funding the program at $6 million annually. The Marine Conservation Working Group believes $10 million is necessary to imbue the program with momentum that will carry it forward.
“The Open Rivers Initiative can generate demonstrable results for years to come, but it needs adequate funding to start the show,” said Gordon Robertson, Vice President of the American Sportfishing Association and a working group co-chair.
The Community-based Restoration Program empowers grassroots-level groups to undertake multiple types of restoration projects, including those designed to reduce erosion, increase vegetation along stream banks, and enhance in-stream habitat for fish. The administration has proposed funding this program at $12.8 million. Bearing in mind that NOAA currently turns away about $15 million in worthy projects each year at its current funding level, which is close to the administration’s proposed level, the working group believes that the program needs at least $20 million annually to fulfill its charge.
“We’ve seen countless examples of the good that can be done with funding from the Community-based Restoration Program – and we’d like to see a whole lot more,” said Steve Moyer, Trout Unlimited Vice President of Government Affairs.
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The Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership is a coalition of leading conservation organizations and individual grassroots partners, working together to conserve fish and wildlife and their habitat, increase funding for conservation and management, and expand access to places to hunt and fish.
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