[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 15]
[Senate]
[Page 22569]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                     SUPPORT WILDLIFE CONSERVATION

  Mr. JOHNSON. Mr. President, I rise today to request that the 
provisions of Title III of H.R. 701, the Conservation and Reinvestment 
Act be included in the Commerce-Justice-State Appropriations conference 
report. The Interior Appropriations conference report passed last week 
included increased funding for land, water and wildlife conservation 
programs. While the bill is a positive first step towards providing 
permanent funding for these programs, I would have preferred to see 
enactment of the Conservation and Reinvestment Act, CARA, especially 
the wildlife conservation provisions in Title III of the bill. To this 
end, I am requesting that Title III of H.R. 701 be included in the 
conference report of the Commerce-Justice-State Appropriations bill. I 
was a strong supporter of CARA when it was reported out of the Senate 
Energy and Natural Resources Committee, of which I am a member. It is 
the most important conservation and wildlife measure that Congress has 
written in the last 50 years. In particular, I am very pleased with 
Title III of the bill, which addresses wildlife conservation. I was 
actively involved early in the process and worked with the Committee to 
see that the wildlife provisions were included in the final product.
  Title III would provide funding for a diverse array of fish and 
wildlife species, with an emphasis on preventing species, both game and 
non-game, from becoming endangered. These goals would be achieved by 
conserving important wildlife habitat, funding wildlife inventories to 
design better management plans, and working cooperatively with private 
landowners in a non-regulatory, incentive-based manner. Moreover, it 
gives the States the flexibility to set their own goals to meet their 
needs in a way that works for them. In addition, the emphasis on 
preventing species from becoming endangered will go a long way to help 
private property owners. Addressing concerns for endangered species on 
their lands is a costly process. Preventing species now from becoming 
endangered later is an investment that will save landowners valuable 
time and money that would occur after the species have been depleted. 
In addition, CARA will make it easier on hunters and anglers---more 
than 90 percent of all State fish and wildlife agency funding is from 
user fees. The passage of Title III and of CARA would create more 
equity in funding preservation efforts.
  I am concerned that the language in the Interior bill, while 
providing funding for a new wildlife conservation fund'' does not 
provide enough funding for the States to meet their needs and leaves 
discretion to the Fish and Wildlife Service without giving States the 
proper flexibility to administer the programs. Wildlife conservation 
efforts have been chronically underfunded over the years. Including 
Title III of CARA would help to guarantee that sufficient resources are 
available so that States and the Nation can meet these important needs.

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