03-03-2006, 05:15 AM
This letter was circulated to conservation groups from the DWR;
To: All Conservation Organizations and Members
From: Jim Karpowitz, Director
Utah Division of Wildlife Resources
Date: March 2, 2006
The 2006 legislature is now finished and I wanted to take a minute to tell you how things turned out. I also want to express my appreciation to each of you and the members of your organizations for helping throughout the session. I firmly believe that things would not have turned out as well as they did without the many individuals and organizations who took the time to contact legislators and ask them to support funding for wildlife.
The legislature did some great things for wildlife this session. An unprecedented amount of general funds were appropriate to various wildlife projects and to the DWR budget. The following list identifies nearly $11,000,000 in funding for wildlife:
1. $5,000,000 to rebuild the Midway Hatchery. Construction will begin this coming late summer or early fall. This Hatchery will produce nearly 250,000 lbs. of fish when completed.
2. $2,000,000 one-time dollars and $500,000 on-going dollars for wildlife habitat and watershed projects. This will allow DWR to enhance and improve well over 100,000 acres of wildlife habitat again this fall. The on-going dollars will secure this program for many years to come.
3. $2,200,000 on-going funds for the DWR base budget. This will provide the necessary funding to maintain existing programs and employees. Because this funding was received, it will not be necessary to raise license fees in 2007 and much smaller increases will be needed in the future.
4. $280,000 on-going funding for “oil and gas biologists” who will work closely with the oil and gas industry to plan for drilling activities and to mitigate impacts to wildlife habitat.
5. We also have been told that there will be nearly $900,000 available for capital improvements for various division facilities around the state including Farmington Bay, the Springville Hatchery, and Hardware Ranch.
All in all it was a great year for wildlife. We all need to take the time to contact each of the legislators we asked for help and express our appreciation for their support and hard work. There were many legislators that worked hard for wildlife including the members of the Natural Resources Appropriations Committee and the Executive Appropriations Committee. We should especially let Sen.Tom Hatch and Rep. Brad Johnson, the Co-Chairman of the Natural Resources Appropriations Committee, know how much we appreciate their hard work and support.
We are also pleased to report that House Bill 328, the bill eliminating the age requirement for small game hunters was passed by the legislature. This will greatly help in recruiting young hunters in the future. We owe a special thanks to Rep. Curt Oda and Sen. Tom Hatch for sponsoring this important bill in the House and Senate. Unfortunately, House Bill 329, the big game hunting age bill did not make it to the Senate for a vote. We will run the bill again next year and hope for a better result.
Thanks to all of you for your help and support throughout the legislative session. I really appreciate your interest and active support for wildlife. Together we can get great things done for wildlife.
###
Comments;
1. Line item #3, There will be no license increase next year. The money received from the state surplus covers the DWR's previously projected shortfall! It is now apparent that the proposed license fee increases were a mechanism to get the legislature to come through with some more cash. While I still have long term concerns about a wholesale shift from license revenues to State general funds for the bulk of the DWR budget, it sounds like everyone is pleased with this outcome, and we won't be getting hit with big near term fee increases.
2. Money for the Springville and Midway hatcheries is sorely needed and will be a boon to anglers for years to come.
3. Look at the names of the legislators at the bottom. Sen. Hatch has been a DWR nemesis for some time. If the DWR and their political opponents have achieved a sort of rapprochement, then the sportsmans interests in the legislature will be more likely to be served, and the painful and unreasonable budget cuts of the past will be less likely.
4. Line #4, With oil and gas leases granted in the Strawberry valley, these programs will help protect the great fishing at the 'Berry that many of us enjoy.
Tight lines
[signature]
To: All Conservation Organizations and Members
From: Jim Karpowitz, Director
Utah Division of Wildlife Resources
Date: March 2, 2006
The 2006 legislature is now finished and I wanted to take a minute to tell you how things turned out. I also want to express my appreciation to each of you and the members of your organizations for helping throughout the session. I firmly believe that things would not have turned out as well as they did without the many individuals and organizations who took the time to contact legislators and ask them to support funding for wildlife.
The legislature did some great things for wildlife this session. An unprecedented amount of general funds were appropriate to various wildlife projects and to the DWR budget. The following list identifies nearly $11,000,000 in funding for wildlife:
1. $5,000,000 to rebuild the Midway Hatchery. Construction will begin this coming late summer or early fall. This Hatchery will produce nearly 250,000 lbs. of fish when completed.
2. $2,000,000 one-time dollars and $500,000 on-going dollars for wildlife habitat and watershed projects. This will allow DWR to enhance and improve well over 100,000 acres of wildlife habitat again this fall. The on-going dollars will secure this program for many years to come.
3. $2,200,000 on-going funds for the DWR base budget. This will provide the necessary funding to maintain existing programs and employees. Because this funding was received, it will not be necessary to raise license fees in 2007 and much smaller increases will be needed in the future.
4. $280,000 on-going funding for “oil and gas biologists” who will work closely with the oil and gas industry to plan for drilling activities and to mitigate impacts to wildlife habitat.
5. We also have been told that there will be nearly $900,000 available for capital improvements for various division facilities around the state including Farmington Bay, the Springville Hatchery, and Hardware Ranch.
All in all it was a great year for wildlife. We all need to take the time to contact each of the legislators we asked for help and express our appreciation for their support and hard work. There were many legislators that worked hard for wildlife including the members of the Natural Resources Appropriations Committee and the Executive Appropriations Committee. We should especially let Sen.Tom Hatch and Rep. Brad Johnson, the Co-Chairman of the Natural Resources Appropriations Committee, know how much we appreciate their hard work and support.
We are also pleased to report that House Bill 328, the bill eliminating the age requirement for small game hunters was passed by the legislature. This will greatly help in recruiting young hunters in the future. We owe a special thanks to Rep. Curt Oda and Sen. Tom Hatch for sponsoring this important bill in the House and Senate. Unfortunately, House Bill 329, the big game hunting age bill did not make it to the Senate for a vote. We will run the bill again next year and hope for a better result.
Thanks to all of you for your help and support throughout the legislative session. I really appreciate your interest and active support for wildlife. Together we can get great things done for wildlife.
###
Comments;
1. Line item #3, There will be no license increase next year. The money received from the state surplus covers the DWR's previously projected shortfall! It is now apparent that the proposed license fee increases were a mechanism to get the legislature to come through with some more cash. While I still have long term concerns about a wholesale shift from license revenues to State general funds for the bulk of the DWR budget, it sounds like everyone is pleased with this outcome, and we won't be getting hit with big near term fee increases.
2. Money for the Springville and Midway hatcheries is sorely needed and will be a boon to anglers for years to come.
3. Look at the names of the legislators at the bottom. Sen. Hatch has been a DWR nemesis for some time. If the DWR and their political opponents have achieved a sort of rapprochement, then the sportsmans interests in the legislature will be more likely to be served, and the painful and unreasonable budget cuts of the past will be less likely.
4. Line #4, With oil and gas leases granted in the Strawberry valley, these programs will help protect the great fishing at the 'Berry that many of us enjoy.
Tight lines
[signature]