Statement of Bonnie Galvin, Director of Budget & Appropriations, The Wilderness Society, On Release of Bush's Budget for FY04 2/3/2003
From: Bonnie Galvin, 202-429-2681, Pete Rafle, 202-429-2642 both of the Wilderness Society WASHINGTON, Feb. 3 -- Following is a statement by Bonnie Galvin, director of Budget and Appropriations, The Wilderness Society, regarding President Bush's budget for FY 2004: "The president's budget is a comprehensive expression of his vision for the nation, and in that context, this budget shows that this Administration, in the end, places a relatively low priority on real land conservation and solving pressing natural resource problems. While we appreciate the Administration's efforts to allocate scarce fiscal resources efficiently, we must note that the budget proposes deep cuts in land protection, using 'bait and switch' budget tricks to mask this fact; would open a premiere wildlife refuge to oil and gas drilling; and fails to improve protection for our communities from wildfire threats. It appears the Administration puts tax cuts for the rich above an adequate investment to meet our nation's most pressing natural resource needs." -- Degrading the Land and Water Conservation Fund "For decades, Americans have considered the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) to be our nation's premier tool for safeguarding special places and for adding critical lands and habitat to the America's public lands. Paying lip service to one of the president's key campaign promises, the Administration's budget makes a pretense of fully funding the LWCF at $900 million. This claim, however, is a serious distortion of the facts. At the time President Bush promised to fully fund LWCF, it for many years had been used to finance a total of five fundamental conservation programs supporting land acquisition and recreation. This year, in an attempt to make LWCF funding look 'full,' the Administration shoehorns an additional fifteen federal programs under the fund's umbrella. This 'shell game' masks what are, in reality, deep cuts of over 50 percent in federal land acquisition funding, which will substantially weaken the ability of the Park Service, Fish and Wildlife Service and Forest Service to protect special places already set aside, and cripple efforts to protect additional places from new threats." -- A Cynical Arctic Ploy "The president's budget also includes speculative revenues from oil and gas drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. In a cynical move, the Administration has suggested in the press that any revenues from drilling would be earmarked for research into alternative, renewable sources of energy. Assuming revenues for what is today prohibited by law doesn't change the facts: drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge would ruin one of America's last great places for a scant six months' worth of oil that even oil companies concede would take ten years to bring to market." -- Little to Increase Wildlife Security "Within the Forest Service, the Administration's proposal for wildfire fuels reduction is a pittance. A less than one percent increase in funding for "hazardous fuels reduction" will provide few new resources to protect people's lives, homes and communities from wildfire. In a more welcome development, however, it appears that the Administration is attempting to recognize the needs to give fire fighters the resources they need for wildfire suppression over the next year by increasing this funding for the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management." --- For more information, contact: Bonnie Galvin, (202) 429-2681 or Pete Rafle, (202) 429-2642 | |