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Landmark
Legislation for North Carolina Wildlife
North Carolina's wildlife
and wildlife habitats will benefit from an exponential increase in funding
for management, research and conservation education thanks to federal
legislation that recently passed through Congress. CARA, the Conservation
and Reinvestment Act (H.R. 701), will reinvest $3 billion annually in
federal outer continental shelf oil and gas revenues back into natural
and cultural resources conservation throughout the nation. The legislation
is divided into eight program areas:
- State Coastal Impact
Assistance and Conservation ($1 billion)
- Land and Water Conservation
Fund Revitalization ($900 million)
- State-level Wildlife
Conservation and Restoration Fund ($350 million)
- Urban Parks and
Recreation Recovery ($125 million)
- Historic Preservation
Fund ($100 million)
- Federal and Indian
Lands Restoration ($200 million)
- Conservation Easements
and Species Recovery (federal) ($150 million)
- Payment In-lieu
of Taxes and Refuse Revenue Sharing ($200 million)
The North Carolina
Wildlife Resources Commission will receive millions of dollars annually
for wildlife, habitat conservation, and outdoor recreation and education
activities from CARA. Most of these funds would come from three program
areas:
State
Coastal Impact Assistance and Conservation
Creates a coastal conservation fund for coastal states and eligible local
governments to mitigate the various impacts of outer continental shelf
activities and for the conservation of coastal ecosystems. These program
funds will support state and local projects to conserve, restore and enhance
marine and coastal habitats and the species living there.
Land
and Water Conservation Fund Revitalization
Increases allocations to the Land and Water Conservation Fund for
the planning, development and/or acquisition of open space, parks, wildlife
refuges and wildlife conservation lands. The total fund will be equally
split between federal agencies and states. The state share will be distributed
for state and local projects. The acquisition portion of this program
contains provisions and safeguards to protect the rights of private land
owners.
State-level
Wildlife Conservation and Restoration Fund
Provides funds to state wildlife agencies for "non-game" conservation,
education and recreation programs. Activities approved for funding including
species and resource management, monitoring and enhancement; habitat acquisition;
wildlife-associated recreation which includes building viewing towers,
trails, and photo blinds; and wildlife-associated education which includes
classroom programs, building education labs and outdoor classrooms, and
providing educational services on public lands. Current language limits
spending on recreation projects to ten percent of the state allocation.
All funds in this category require a 25 percent state match.
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