Got this press release from DU today. The proposed government shutdown really woulda hurt our waterfowl conservation dollars to the tune of over $40 million dollars lost in 2011.

We will have to settle for 37 million, but thank God we didn't get totally shot down.

CONGRESS POISED TO RESTORE PARTIAL FUNDING TO NAWCA

Work remains to obtain funds in FY 2012

WASHINGTON, D.C., April 12, 2011 - After facing elimination of funding in the House-passed version of the current year’s legislation to pay for the federal government, the North American Wetlands Conservation Act is poised to receive $37.5 million in funding for the remainder of the current fiscal year. A vote is expected later this week. For more than 20 years, NAWCA has served as a bipartisan, cost-effective way to conserve vital wetlands across the nation. For every dollar invested in the program, an average of 3.2 additional dollars is raised to match the federal share by non-federal entities.

“Many Ducks Unlimited supporters are pitching in to convey to Congress NAWCA’s positive impact on both conservation efforts and our nation’s economy,” DU CEO Dale Hall said. “I’m glad to see NAWCA received funding for the rest of this fiscal year and that DU’s efforts were somewhat successful. We must continue to educate Congress in order to obtain funds for the fiscal year that starts October 1. Partners in bird conservation are playing a role in outreach efforts by expressing their support for this valuable program,” Hall said. “Together we are demonstrating that if enough supporters of wildlife conservation speak up, Congress will listen.

“Ducks Unlimited members understand that tough budget decisions need to be made in order to reduce the deficit, but it is equally important that programs that truly pay for themselves, such as conservation programs, are properly funded. While I am disappointed that NAWCA received less funding than it did last year, I commend Congress for understanding the importance of this program and the economic benefits it provides.”

Scott Sutherland, director of DU’s Governmental Affairs Office, was pleased about the NAWCA funding, “especially after Congress initially threatened to eliminate all congressional funding.” Sutherland acknowledged DU should be proud of the work done to help restore NAWCA funding, but he also warned, “We shouldn’t celebrate this development for too long. The need to offset massive habitat loss far outstrips the ability of NAWCA to keep up. We have to remember that due to the match, for every dollar cut in this program, it means that the ducks lose nearly four dollars worth of habitat conservation.”

In order to ensure NAWCA’s funding is not eliminated in FY 2012, Ducks Unlimited is conducting a campaign to highlight the importance of NAWCA’s conservation efforts and its economic benefits.

For more information on NAWCA and other Ducks Unlimited public policy efforts, visit http://www.ducks.org/conservation/public-policy.

great post thanks for the info.

The DU guys had it together on this. I went to "express my concern" based on an email they sent and with basically one click and filling out my address they emailed all my reps. It was cool.

our national debt = 45,000 per person, we have to cut it somewhere, DU should have been cut. We need to set our priorities, such as not going to war all the time and eat fast food all day long, this country has a 14 trillion dollar debt, and we all gonna have to pay for it one day, so yeah, start cutting.

It may never happen again, but being fiscally as conservative as one can get I agree with beaversnipe.

However, I have no idea how fast food fits into this argument - unless you're talking about Mallards (old Uncle Ted quote).

the fast food i am refering to was to implicate teh fact that people are no longer eating healthy (also cause it's cheap) and our health care costs are skyrocketing

just listen to

www.endofamerica13.com

it is facinating

This funding is for the North American Wetlands Conservation Act not Ducks unlimited. People pay taxes on fast food. We need to cut the spending not the Tax income.

Winner winner chicken dinner (or turkey dinner from what I say in the Turkey forum )! We don't have a revenue problem, we have a spending problem... not just a slogan, it's true.

And beaver, as long as we continue to dominate GDP I'm not all that worried. China has actually fallen back a bit...

true copper, and china are spending our interest on our lending back to usa, since they are getting rid of the mighty dollar by buying all kinds of us companies. Very smart of them, that way they dont devaluate the dollar...

Conservation program funding is not coming from average "taxes."

Most of it is coming from American produced oil and what not (a lot is actually from fines from spills and environmental impacts). As well as taxes coming directly from hunting products (Pittman Robertson act) and other programs such as the duck stamp act.

Sure, spending needs to be cut somewhere but not from conservation programs where government funding is being matched and in the long run saves this country money, reources, wildlife and current and future Americans opportunities at outdoor activities.

I am glad that DU was able to step up to the plate on this one, and am proud to support them exactly for potential reasons such as this. In all reality DU made a difference because they are the (or close to) largest wetland conservation organization, and strength comes in numbers when approaching congress.

true, but we need a leader who has the guts to force a general 15% cut on every program out there, defence, medicare, social security, education, etc... time is running out

when i worked for a trucking company and when times were really bad, our ceo proposed a very simple thing, you either will loose your job, or we can all take a 20% paycut tomorrow, its that urgent, the truckdriver as well as the ceo will get 20% less pay, no time to vote and wine and defend your argument, just do it.

of course we americans can always keep on printing money, what a luxury...

printing money, the biggest cancer of the american dream...

You are now off topic and rambling...back to point please.

No, I think he hit the point on the head. We can't have any sacred cows in the budget, everything needs to be reviewed and while an across the board cut may be the fastest way to do it, with something as complex as the budget may need a little more surgical precision applied.

Wow, I can't believe I am listening to a bunch of duck hunters concede that NAWCA's funding should have been cut.

Keep in mind that if we lose the $37.5 million from this year, it's actually closer to $130 million of dollars lost. Because the partners in this program match the government dollars on a scale of about 4 donation dollars to every federal dollar given.

So $130 million of conservation dollars lost in a year? Ya'll are off your rockers. This program has given 87 million dollars to Texas alone. And another 23 million in multi-state projects that benefits Texas waterfowl habitat.

IF THEY CUT THIS PROGRAM WE MAY NEVER GET IT BACK. SHAME ON YOU GUYS. I AM REALLY DISSAPOINTED.

As much as I love waterfowl and hunting, I'd rather my children and their children not inherit a giant mess than get a limit 20 years from now. Spending HAS to be reined in and everything HAS to equally be on the chopping block.

Now, do I think there are a ton of other things I'd rather see cut first? Hell yeah, but would that be a rational solution? No.

Have to disagree with you. Don't look at it as getting a limit 20 years from now, look at it as your kids having nothing but empty skies 20 years from now. I think it makes perfect sense to cut other things first. What doesn't make sense about that?

Conservation dollars should be one of the last things to be cut, don't see that as irrational at all. We are supposed to be good stewards of the resources that we have and axing those funds is doing the exact opposite.

I agree to disagree.

I agree we should be stewards of the land, but ducks won't go extinct without the full conservation funds. On the flip side, 20 years from now the thousands of teachers that are being laid off across the state will have a huge impact on the education of our youth.

Everyone has their own agenda, and I'm a father first and foremost over being a hunter. Like I said, I would love to see a lot of other things get cut first if need be. I'm not proposing cutting all the conservation funds, but reiterating what was said earlier that everything should be on the table and take an equal hit.

Agree to disagree then, we are not talking about a cut on conservation dollars, we are talking about going from almost $200 million NAWCA dollars in 2010 (only 47 million from federal funding) to ZERO dollars in 2011. It wasn't on the table to be cut, it was on the table to be axed completely. THank God people made enough of a fuss that we got the 37.5 million in federal funding. And if those funds were cut completely and didnt come back (which is always hard to do once you take something away). What the hell would we do if we couldnt hunt? That isn't how life is supposed to be. It's the most primal and natural thing a person can do. Been that way since the beginning of time. I understand that as a father your perspective is different than mine. But I don't really look at hunting/fishing as something I do for fun. It's more of a lifestyle that I live. I can't imagine a world without it. That world is not one I am interested in being a part of.

Too much to go over in a forum.

Maybe after a hunt we can drink a few beers and explain our points a bit better...

Sounds good

Cable, I really think we can cut funding across the board and make some fairly big cuts if it is done right. When most government programs and agencies are put under a microscope it doesn't take long to figure out that pennies on a dollar are actually going to support programs such as conservation, the rest is going to feed the beast. I think with the correct approach, the government can be pruned back into shape and never touch funding for conservation programs; if anything, should be able to provide more funding once the enormous amount fat has been removed. My two cents....

I agree, cut whatever you want. But don't touch conservation.

What a joke. How much would the needle move if we cut this? Not at all. If you want to move the needle, look towards bigger pieces of the pie. Cutting conservation isnt going to do anything. Thats like saying your going to watch what you eat so you no longer eat silantro on your 8 tacos from the taco shack. A lot of good thats going to do you.

YES. +1