PR/DJ funding

[Doc]

It sounds like there may be a huge disaster on the horizon for the DEC. $21 million of pittman-Robinson and Dingle-Johnson federal funds distributed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are in serious jeopardy as far as the NYS portion is concerned. I know we talked about this a long while back, but I assumed that since the news on this issue went dead that the legislature did the proper thing and amended the language in the budget that would allow the general budgeting to raid these funds. I just read tonight that they have not solved this problem, and that a deadline is nearing that is only 2 or 3 weeks away where we could lose this year's allocation.

For those that are unaware of what is happening, there are some very strict strings attached to the use of those excise taxes that sportsmen and women have been paying with each purchase of hunting and fishing equipment. The money is to be used only for approved fish and wildlife projects, and cannot be stolen by the state government for general use in balancing state budgets or being spent on general government favorite projects. However the language in Cuomo's budget permits the State Department of Budget to go into the various Conservation Fund dedicated accounts that hold the PR/DJ money and take whatever funds it desires for any reason it states.

The long and short of it is that the fed is not going to allow that and will redistibute NYS's share to other states very soon. $21 million is apparently a very significant portion of the DEC's operating revenues, and apparently the loss of those funds will in effect drive the final nail into the DEC's coffin.

Like I said, we talked about this a long time ago, and the fact that the issue has not been resolved over all this time kind of sounds like they are basically saying "the hell with the DEC, we want that money to spend". It also sounds like the state may not be done with the Conservation Fund raids and want to leave the language in place that allows them to do that at will.

[WNYBuckHunter]

Yeah they ran a story in NYODN about this a few issues ago. As far as I know they havent fixed anything, but you never know, they always seem to wait till the last minute to get stuff like this done.

[Doc]

According to the Canandaigua Daily Messenger just the other night, they still have not made any changes. As I understand it, it is written into law, so I don't know how fast they can actually change anything and according to the article, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service is digging in their heels on this issue and may not be in any mood to issue any extensions. They claim that there is some sort of deadline in 2 or 3 weeks.

I have to say that if they insist on playing chicken with those funds, we may wind up not actually have any fish and wildlife activities within the DEC or personel to carry them out. According to the article That $21 million forms the lion's share of funding for those kinds of activities within the DEC.

[mike rossi]

TheUSFWS periodically audits every state, doing a few states a year or something like that. If a state diverts any wildlife restoration money, that is PR and/or DJ funds; the USFWS suspends that state's annual share, indefinetly, until the state complies with the conditions of recieving these funds. This is an excellent policy- its not about the USFWS spending NY's cut. Its about checks and balances. Wildlife and Fisheries money should not be diverted, and state goverments do try to misuse this money.

The funds can also be suspended if the state's wildlife and fisheries agency is not doing its job in some way or another.

The organizations that represent us to the DEC are purportedly functioning to spend (our) money "wisely" and manage (our public PR/DJ lands) "wisely". The fact is, mention the word "habitat", or explain the issues of lead shot, and those sort of things to our voices to the DEC and you dont get the response of a "conservationist". The DEC does listen to sportsmen, perhaps even when sometimes it should not. Wise use is wise use; wise use is not what a group of people want.

I am interested in what the suspension (really) is for.

[bkln]

Damn politics.....

[Doc]

There is a little side issue that bothers me too. If Cuomo (and other politicians) are so blatant and bold about pilfering such high visibility U.S. funds, one has to wonder how much of the less visible DEC funding is being misappropriated.

[mike rossi]

There is a little side issue that bothers me too. If Cuomo (and other politicians) are so blatant and bold about pilfering such high visibility U.S. funds, one has to wonder how much of the less visible DEC funding is being misappropriated.

I am sure alot of people are wondering the same thing. With the PR/DJ funding, being as you said, high profile, in addition to it being an act of congress with specific language prohibiting the diversion of funds.

Mere speculation is that the funds didnt go directly into the general fund.... Maybe the money was not dumped into the General Fund; but non wildlife/fisheries programs were misclassified as wildlife/fisheries. This is the same thing as diverting funds, its just less obvious.

The public, including sportsmen, are termed "stakeholders". Each state does discretion on how to use the funds as long as it is within guidelines. If, we, sportsmen, want roads built on WMAs instead of wetland restoration, the DEC might do that. Then an audit may find that a problem.

I am not sure if the funding of staff is relevant here either. I dont believe these funds are supposed to be for staffing. If the state is using it for payroll, that may be diversion.

Broadly the funds are for:1) habitat enhancement, aquisition and maintenance. Maintenence is not trash pickup and such, but it may be prescribed burning; water level management, brush hogging. 2) Wildlife and Fisheries scientific study 3) And a small percentage the amount I am not sure of, for hunter education, mainly printed material, because instructors are volunteers. Most states have a paid sportsman education coordination staff, but I dont know the guidlines regarding that.

$21 million, every year, is alot of money. I just dont see where all these habitat projects are. I do see our WMAs being made into park like facilities however. If we put some part of the $21 mill into habitat annually where is it?

And that isnt even the only source of money for habitat. One example is wetland mitigation. If for example Wallmart builds on a wetland, Wallmart is responsible, by law, the creation of a wetland of the same size within so many miles of the impacted natural wetland. Wallmart, not PR/DJ funds. This is a fairly recent law, and it is enforced, so before you assume its your PR/DJ funds, consider it may be some private entity.

I just gave you alot of speculation. But one thing is for sure, we hunters must start walking our talk about being stewards and conservationists. I have encountered numerous sportsmen call someone a "tree hugger" because he mentions habitat or disagrees with a road etc.... If that mentality exists in our ambassadors to the DEC, it will enable the diversion of wildlife restoration funds.

[Early]

Good stuff, Mike....Thanks! There is yet another downside to the diversion of PR/DJ funds: Such could, in relatively short time, negatively impact the quality of hunting and fishing in NYS. That, in turn, could result in a decrease in license sales. Since the amount of money we get from the Federal Fish & Wildlife Restoration Fund(s) is tied to numbers of licenses sold....Less licenses means less money if/and when the money flow is restored.

Coupla notes: The Pittman-Robertson Act was passed in 1937...on the heels of the first North American Wildlife Conference of 1936. Sportsmen stepped forward and suggested that they be taxed in some way to support wildlife resources...hence the excise taxes on sporting arms and ammo that ensued. Fishermen acted similarly in 1950 (circa) to get the Dingell-Johnson Act passed. There is no question that hunters and fishermen have been the greatest contributors to resource conservation in America. (It really frosts me to meet cross country skiers using roads and trails in our local WMA as I walk along with my shotgun over my shoulder...and the skiers give me dirty looks, because I hunt. Mostly, I keep my mouth shut...Sometimes, I "educate them!")

Second note: The PR/DJ grants have, since their inception, funded state conservation efforts on a 75:25 (Fed:State) cost sharing basis....far superior to most Fed. cost sharing grant programs.

Take a bow, hunters and fishermen: You have (and will) carry our valuable resources on your broad backs!

[mike rossi]

Very true. The part about the relationship between license sales and quality of hunting has already arrived if you consider small game and waterfowl hunting.

This is meant to be productive, not to bash them... And it may be a bad example because NY wild turkey populations are good... On the DEC website there is or was; a statement that hunters should consume dairy products because dairy farms create turkey habitat. It may be true that dairy operations create favorable conditions for wild turkey; but is that the management plan for turkeys, to ask hunters to use dairy products?

[Doc]

Mere speculation is that the funds didnt go directly into the general fund.... Maybe the money was not dumped into the General Fund; but non wildlife/fisheries programs were misclassified as wildlife/fisheries. This is the same thing as diverting funds, its just less obvious.

As I understand it from several articles, the claim is not that the state has absconded with the funds ...... yet. The mis-use that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is alledging is that language has been written into the NYS budget bill that would allow the misappropriation of those funds and the pilfering of those funds for addition to the general fund for use of general budget balancing. Even such language when written into law is a breaking of the rules for these funds to be allocated to the DEC and hence the promise to withold the funds.

[mike rossi]

As I understand it from several articles, the claim is not that the state has absconded with the funds ...... yet. The mis-use that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is alledging is that language has been written into the NYS budget bill that would allow the misappropriation of those funds and the pilfering of those funds for addition to the general fund for use of general budget balancing. Even such language when written into law is a breaking of the rules for these funds to be allocated to the DEC and hence the promise to withold the funds.

I realized I jumped the string after I posted, however, newspapers are not always accurate and I find it hard to believe (but not impossible to believe) that elected officials would be stupid enough to believe they could pull that off. Or incompetent enough to make such a mistake. Sorry to get off track but I still think what I said is worth examining.

Regarding another comment I made please follow the link and read the last two sentences. http://www.dec.ny.gov/animals/7288.html