Policy News | The Wildlife Society News

TWS Testimony to House and Senate Appropriation Subcommittees on Interior
The Wildlife Society provided written testimony to both the House and Senate Appropriations Subcommittees on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies in support of strong funding for federal programs that benefit wildlife and their habitats. In addition to written testimony, TWS Executive Director, Ken Williams, testified on Public Witness Day for the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies.

The written testimony focused on the importance of sustained or increased funding to several programs within the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Geological Survey, and Bureau of Land Management. Recommendations from TWS included strong funding for the State and Tribal Wildlife Grants Program, North American Wetlands Conservation Act, and Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act Grants Program; increased funding for the National Wildlife Refuge System, the Bureau of Land Management?s endangered species program, and US Geological Survey?s Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Units; as well as continued funding for other programs supporting threatened and endangered species management.

Submitted testimony also stressed the importance of science-based decision making. TWS?s written testimony to the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies is available for more information regarding specific funding level requests.

Outside Testimony by TWS to Senate Appropriation Subcommittee on Agriculture ?The Wildlife Society provided written testimony to the Senate Appropriations Subcommittees on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies in support of strong funding for federal programs that benefit wildlife and their habitats on agricultural and other private lands.

Testimony pointed to the importance of sustained or increased funding to several programs within the U.S. Department of Agriculture that provide funding for wildlife control and habitat enhancement. TWS urged the Senate to include strong funding for programs such as Wildlife Services, The Renewable Resources Extension Act, the Conservation Reserve Program, and Farm Bill conservation programs like the Wildlife Habitat Incentive Program and the Voluntary Public Access and Habitat Incentives Program.

TWS strongly recommended that Congress fund Wildlife Service?s Methods Development at $18 million and return funding for Natural Resources Conservation Service?s (NRCS) Conservation Operations Technical Assistance to the fiscal year 2011 level of $755 million. Wildlife Service?s Methods Development carries out research critical to state wildlife agencies while Conservation Operation?s Technical Assistance (TA) sub-activity provides funding for NRCS to support implementation of the various Farm Bill programs.

Endorsement of the Invasive Fish and Wildlife Prevention Act of 2013
The Wildlife Society, along with other member organizations of the National Environmental Coalition on Invasive Species, endorsed the proposed Invasive Fish and Wildlife Prevention Act of 2013 (HR 996). The proposed legislation would strengthen the Federal government?s ability to make rapid, science-based decisions on whether a non-native species should be classified as injurious; reducing the time to declare a non-native species as injurious from the current average of four under the provisions of the Lacy Act.

Additional benefits of the Invasive Fish and Wildlife Prevention Act of 2013 include providing the Fish and Wildlife Service with clear regulatory authority, including ?emergency? authority, placing some of the financial burden of risk analysis on live animal importers through the creation of a user fee, providing funds to assist states with their invasive species monitoring and risk analysis programs, and allowing qualified zoos, aquaria, research facilities and other institutions to hold species not suited as private pets or aquarium species without the need for a Federal permit.

Testimony Supporting Funding of Fire Suppression Accounts for USFS and DOI
In 2009, the FLAME Act was signed into law with overwhelming bipartisan support from the House and Senate to ensure adequate funds were available to cover annual wildfire suppression costs, avoiding the need to transfer funds from other agency programs. Annual suppression costs were to be calculated using predictive modeling that included the ten-year average and other indicators. The FLAME accounts were to be funded at levels beyond annual suppression and not at the expense of other agency programs. However, in fiscal year 2012, a transfer of funds from non-suppression programs were required to cover the cost of fire suppression, with the same projected to happen in fiscal year 2013.

The Wildlife Society joined members of the Fire Suppression Funding Solutions Partner Caucus in submitting written testimony to the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies, recommending that the US Forest Service and Department of Interior FLAME accounts be funded separately from the ten-year suppression levels in order to avoid transfers in FY 2014. Additionally, the caucus requested that any remaining balance in the FLAME accounts at the end of fiscal year 2013 is carried over into fiscal year 2014. Finally, the testimony suggested that annual suppression levels should be funded using the ten-year average, along with any added factors that may improve predictive modeling, including current weather conditions, fuel loads and other data that contribute to wildland fire risk.

Letter to Congress Supporting the FRESHER Act
The Wildlife Society joined with other sportsman and conservation organizations in thanking Representative Matthew Cartwright (D-PA) for introducing the Focused Reduction of Effluence and Stormwater runoff through Hydrofracking Environmental Regulation (FRESHER) Act of 2013. The FRESHER Act fills an important gap in Clean Water Act regulation, and will help to reduce the amount of sediment entering rivers and streams as a result of construction activities related to oil and gas development.

Sedimentation has direct and indirect impacts on aquatic life, including stress, altered behavior, reductions in growth and direct mortality. Several studies in the east have demonstrated increased erosion and turbidity in areas where natural gas development has occurred. The FRESHER ACT will help to address sedimentation loading in streams, by requiring oil and gas operators to obtain authorization under a permit to discharge stormwater runoff from their sites, and require operators to develop and implement a Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan for construction activities.

ESA Resources Provided to House Interior Appropriations Subcommittee
Following discussions concerning Endangered Species Act reform during Public Witness Day for the House Interior Appropriations Subcommittee, The Wildlife Society provided each subcommittee member with resources on the history and accomplishments of this key piece of legislation. The spring 2013 issue of the Wildlife Professional, an issue that highlighted 40 years of the Endangered Species Act, and TWS?s position statement on ESA were among the items provide for each committee members.

In the letter that accompanied the ESA resources, The Wildlife Society expressed their belief that ESA is a strong and useful tool for wildlife conservation while also acknowledging that there are commonsense ways to strengthen it. The letter also pointed out that while many species have been listed and only a small percentage have been recovered, it must be keep in mind that in many cases it took decades for a species to become endangered and it will almost certainly take decades to recover them.? However, TWS feels that with the innovative work of the wildlife professionals who are members of The Wildlife Society and with the support of Congressional authorizers and appropriators, recovery of listed species can be accomplished.

Source: http://news.wildlife.org/the-wildlifer/the-wildlifer-2013-may/policy-news-12/

roses april fools Good April Fools Jokes Dumpster Diaper the beach Fear