[at-l] Preservation 2000/Florida Forever funds being raided (again) NON AT RELATED

[lparker@cacaphony.net (L. Parker)]

If you are a Florida resident please read below and contact your Senator.


For your information and action. Keeping these land acquisition funds for
land acquisition is important to the protection of the Florida National
Scenic Trail. This diversion of funding would reduce by one-third the
funds available to acquire lands for conservation and recreation purposes.
With lesser funding, it will only make it more difficult for state agencies
to acquire lands that we need to complete the Florida National Scenic
Trail. At this moment, the FDEP has not identified specific tracts of land
that are currently targeted for acquisition that would help complete the
FNST and would not be acquired, but there are many areas along the route of
the trail that are within a proposed state acquisition area that could help
complete the FNST. One thing is sure, if these funds are raided there will
be fewer lands acquired for conservation and for the FNST. Thank you for
your help. Please contact me if you have any questions.
Kent
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Kent L. Wimmer, AICP
Florida National Scenic Trail Liaison
Florida Trail Association, Inc.
kwimmer@fs.fed.us
(850) 523-8576 (w)
(850) 523-8578 (fax)
(850) 386-8442 (h)
Mailing address:
USDA Forest Service
National Forests in Florida
325 John Knox Rd, F-100
Tallahassee, FL 32303-4160
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----- Forwarded by Kent Wimmer/NONFS/USDAFS on 03/18/2002 12:19 PM -----

Subject: Housing and Environmental Trust Funds Being Raided




1000 Friends of Florida
Growth Management Alert
Monday, March 18, 2002

Environmental Trust Funds Being Raided

As we enter the last week of the 2002 Session, there are serious challenges
to funding for land acquisition. The Senate is raiding Preservation
2000/Florida Forever trust fund dollars. 1000 Friends supports upholding
the public trust, and using trust fund dollars for the purpose for which
they are intended. Your immediate calls are needed!

The Senate is still deliberating its appropriations bill, while .
Please call your Senator and say you oppose its raid on funding for
Preservation 2000 and Florida Forever. You can find your Senator's name and
number at:
http://www.leg.state.fl.us/legislators/index.cfm?Members=By+County.

Please also contact the lead Senate Budget Negotiator, Senator Clary
(R-Destin) at (850) 487-5009 or (850) 833-9159 and tell him you oppose the
current Senate position on funding for Preservation 2000/Florida Forever
and support the House's appropriation bill on that issue.

Environmental Funding Background:

An 11(superscript: th) hour budget amendment inserted into the Florida
Senate Appropriations proposal without public notice or discussion seeks to
transfer $100 million from dedicated conservation funding to
non-environmental purposes. The Senate's proposal would take money from the
debt reserve fund--a fund that secures the bonds for Florida's land
conservation programs, Preservation 2000 and Florida Forever. The proposal
would instead use this money reserved for debt payment for purposes other
than conservation or the environment.

As was the case in last year's senate raid on Preservation 2000, this
year's maneuver uses fiscal slight of hand to get around conservation
promises made to the people of Florida. The Florida House does not have a
similar provision in its budget proposal.

Last year's raid, which was carried out despite broad public and editorial
opposition, took $75 million from Preservation 2000 funding to pay for
Everglades restoration instead of providing for the Everglades out of
general funds. That raid disrupted and delayed the state's conservation
land acquisition programs.

The current senate amendment draws money out of a special reserve fund that
is held to secure payment of Preservation 2000 and Florida Forever bonds.
Preservation 2000, which lasted from 1990 to 2000, and its successor
Florida Forever are both funded by the sale of bonds paid back by revenue
from the state's documentary stamp tax. A portion of those bond proceeds
are held in reserve to pay debt service on the bonds, but this money would
ultimately be used for additional conservation investments and to live up
to the promise of conservation funding made in the Preservation 2000 and
Florida Forever legislation.

In simple terms the Senate proposal would now add another $100 million
taken from conservation and the environment to the $75 million taken last
year with both actions being accomplished through last minute, backroom
actions in a state that faces grave environmental problems.

In addition, the Senate proposed a $20 million raid on the state's
Conservation and Recreation Lands Trust Fund, which is the account that
pays for conservation land management and state park operations. In all,
$120 million that would have funded conservation is set to be used for
other programs, a raid that has outraged environmentalists since only one
half of one percent of the state budget is currently spent for land
conservation.

The following organizations are against this raid:

1000 Friends of Florida
The Nature Conservancy
Audubon of Florida
Trust for Public Land
Florida Wildlife Federation
Defenders of Wildlife
Sierra Club
Florida League of Anglers
Environmental & Land Use Law Center
Florida Consumer Action Network
Florida League of Conservation Voters
Conservancy of SW Florida
Florida PIRG
Save the Manatee Club

1000 Friends of Florida
Phone -- 850.222.6277
Fax -- 850.222.1117
Web Site -- www.1000friendsofflorida.org


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