No matter where you live or what you do, our country's economic situation is undoubtedly affecting your life. When confronted with stressful times, many of us seek retreat and rejuvenation -- relaxing at a local park, hiking in the woods or visiting a site where history was made, to reflect on the past and summon hope for the future.

Like many of my fellow Georgians, I understand and accept that budget cuts are unavoidably necessary given the growing deficit. However, the cuts must be more equitable.

Estimates of reductions to federal agencies have hovered at about 15 percent. Yet, the current budget proposal disproportionately reduces natural-resources programs. Funding to the North Americans Wetlands Conservation Act is zeroed out, and the Land and Water Conservation Fund is slashed down to $41 million, the lowest level in its 45-year history.

This level of funding would cripple conservation efforts here in Georgia and across the country. Our national parks, forests and wildlife refuges; battlefields and other historic sites; working farms and forests; and federally assisted state and local recreation and wildlife protection projects would suffer losses that could never be recovered.

These natural-resource programs have contributed greatly to our quality of life in Georgia. Frankly, cutting or eliminating natural-resource spending is a political gimmick. Most of the funds being cut have reasonable and dedicated funding sources, yet legislators are finding ways to undo these established programs at our expense.

AS AN EXAMPLE, the Land and Water Conservation Fund already is paid for using a very small percentage of oil-drilling receipts. Offsetting the damage that drilling does to our natural resources was a promise made to the American people in 1964.

Congress should not break this long-standing commitment, yet the current budget proposal prevents revenues deposited in the LWCF account from being used for their authorized purposes.

Another example is the North American Wetland Act, which derives its funding from the sale of duck stamps. The more we hunt, the more funds generated to secure the refuges that sustain our waterfowl populations, quality of life, and time-honored traditions. NAWCA has contributed almost $872 million -- and has leveraged private funds of more than $2.64 billion -- to protect 25 million acres of wetlands critical to waterfowl.

The current budget completely removes this funding designation, a move the leaders of Ducks Unlimited say could cripple waterfowl habitat and hunting.

From tourism dollars that come to our state through the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge and many historic sites such as the Kennesaw Mountain Battlefield, to the more intangible but no-less-important benefits of clean air and water we get from intact forests and protected rivers, the value of Georgia's wild and historic places is enormous.

Outdoor recreation provides millions of jobs and contributes $730 billion annually to the U.S. economy. Hunting and fishing generate more than 1.6 million jobs and more than $76 billion in sportsmen-related activities.

OUR DISTINGUISHED decision-makers in Washington, D.C., must not let complacency, political pressure or this sluggish post-recession economy undo decades of work. It is imperative that Congress provide reasonable funding for valuable natural-resource programs such as NAWCA and LWCF so that our parks, refuges and historic places can contribute to long-term economic development and continue to deliver returns to local and state economies.

And if these dollars-and-cents arguments don't resonate with you, consider this: How much are your memories worth? Fishing in a nearby stream with your kids, hanging out with the guys in a duck blind or connecting to our country's heritage at a hallowed battlefield -- that's the stuff life is made of.

I urge Congress to take another look at the cuts they have proposed to the programs that are so important to helping maintain and improve our quality of life.

Please join me in my endeavor. Talk to your friends and colleagues, and contact your representative in Washington, D.C, and let them know natural-resource funding is important to you and all of Georgia.

(The writer is owner of Beacon Blue LLC, an Augusta-based real-estate investment and management company. He is chairman of the board of trustees for The Nature Conservancy in Georgia)