The budget crisis in Washington may seem far away, but it has real impacts on our game and fish here in New York. The House of Representatives has proposed cutting conservation programs by 90 to 100 percent, an unfair cut to sportsmen.
One program slated to be eliminated is the North American Wetlands Conservation Act, a 22-year-old law that sets aside wetlands for waterfowl and drinking water. It has helped protect the Lake Champlain watershed lands, Tug Hill Wildlife Management Area and Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge. Another program on the chopping block is the Land and Water Conservation Fund, created in 1965 to set aside natural and historic lands and waters. In New York, it has helped protect the Fire Island National Recreation Area, Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreational River and even Theodore Roosevelt's birthplace.
The cuts to Land and Water Conservation Fund are especially senseless because funding does not come from taxes, but from fees paid by oil companies that drill off America's shores.
According to the Outdoor Industry Association, our New York outdoors supports 130,000 jobs in tourism, manufacturing and services. We need the outdoors for our economy and way of life.
We urge our congressional representatives to defend the Land and Water Conservation Fund and other crucial game and fish programs in the 2011 federal budget.
We need to tighten our belts, but we do not need to target sportsmen unfairly in doing so.
ANTHONY WILKINSON
Deputy director
Eastern New York Chapter
The Nature Conservancy
Albany