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Conservation
Funding
Protected lands are an important way of preserving a state's biodiversity
and ecological integrity. Everyone benefits from the improved air,
soil, and water quality; expanded opportunities for outdoor recreation;
improved wildlife habitats; and, pristine waterways these areas
provide. Many state and local governments, nonprofit organizations,
and others are in the process of strategically identifying those
natural areas that would provide the most ecological benefit if
placed under some level of protection -- common conservation mechanisms
include outright acquisition, conservation easements, retained life
estates, and rights-of-first-refusal. While these groups have the
scientific expertise to make such decisions, they often lack the
financial resources to make formal protection of unique lands a
reality. With the escalating pressures of population growth, rising
property values, and rampant development, the issue of funding for
land conservation is growing ever more urgent. For more information
on how your state can fund conservation projects to protect its
land, visit: http://www.serconline.org/conservationfunding/index.html. |
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Montana:
Environmentalists Fight Plan to Repeal Cyanide Ban (Billings
Gazette 5/7)
http://www.billingsgazette.com/index.php?id=1&display=rednews/2004/05/07/build/state/45-cyanide-fight.inc
An environmental group dropped plans last week for a proposed constitutional
initiative to ban cyanide leach mining of gold and silver. Instead,
Montanans for Common Sense Water Laws intends to focus its energy
on defeating a proposed mining industry ballot measure, Initiative
147, to repeal the current state ban on future cyanide leach mining.
In 1998, Montana voters approved the ban, Initiative 137, by 52
to 48 percent. Cyanide leach mining is a process of extracting gold
and silver embedded in large amounts of rock. Cyanide is drizzled
over piles of crushed rock, which dissolves the precious metals
for later extraction. Leading the effort to repeal the current ban
is a group called Merchants and Montanans for Jobs and Economic
Opportunity, For Initiative 147, being mostly financed by Canyon
Resources, which sought to mine gold near Lincoln before the passage
of I-137. Tammy Johnson of Whitehall, who heads the group, has said
Montana voters are ready to consider the economic benefits that
the use of cyanide in mining could bring to the state. Environmentalists
contend there is still strong support for the ban, and believe Initiative
147 will not succeed. For information on how your state can ban
cyanide mining, visit: http://www.serconline.org/mining/index.html. |
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International
Trade Agreements Threaten State Sovereignty
Recently negotiated free trade agreements (FTAs), if signed onto
by governors, will severely undermine states' procurement or purchasing
policies. A letter, sent by U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Robert
Zoellick in September 2003, encouraged governors to commit to the
procurement policies in both current and future trade agreements.
The agreements currently under negotiation include the Central American
FTA (CAFTA), the U.S.-Australia FTA, and the U.S.-Morocco FTA. If
your governor's signature remains on an agreement once it has been
passed by Congress, your state will be prevented from establishing
any procurement policies or altering existing policies that conflict
with the agreement. The agreements would prevent states from enacting
policies that encourage living wages and the purchase of goods from
their state; they also would be devastating for green procurement
policies, such as those that require recycled content, fuel efficiency,
and renewable energy. It is important for states to maintain their
ability to enact green procurement policies, in order to maintain
a healthy environment and reduce fossil energy consumption. The
U.S.-Australia FTA will be signed on May 18, 2004, while the CAFTA
could be signed soon after May 20, 2004. At this stage, all 23 governors
whose names remain on the agreements can remove their names and
their state from the list. Recently, the governors of Iowa, Minnesota,
Missouri, and Pennsylvania removed their signatures after questioning
the procurement provisions. If the agreements are passed by Congress,
signatory states will be locked into the procurement policies and,
at that point, it will be virtually impossible to be removed. Contact
your state legislators and governors to ensure that your state's
environmental (and other) policies will not be hindered by international
trade agreements. For more information on this issue, visit: http://www.tradewatch.org. |
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Maryland
County Leads Group in Wind Power Purchasing (Washington
Post 5/14)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A25285-2004May13.html
Montgomery County, Maryland, has taken the lead in a group,
planning to purchase wind-generated electricity as a percentage
of total energy supply. The group includes Montgomery and
Prince George counties, six county agencies, and 11 municipalities,
who have pledged to purchase 5 percent of their electricity
from Community Energy Inc., a company with wind power turbines
in West Virginia, beginning July 1. The group is looking to
the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to allow the use
of wind energy to count as part of a pollution reduction plan,
for the purpose of bringing the area in compliance with federal
air quality standards. The decision represents the largest-ever
purchase of wind power by local government buyers, said Mike
Tidwell of the nonprofit Chesapeake Climate Action Network,
who calculates that the environmental benefit is equivalent
to the planting of 2.9 million trees. The decision is expected
to cost members of the buyers group about $575,000 more per
year than it would have using only traditional energy sources.
Montgomery plans to pay for the added costs by requiring county
employees to conserve energy by turning off lights and powering
off computers and office equipment when not in use. All participants
expect the health and environmental benefits to more than
offset the higher costs. Environmental groups and others are
hailing the move as a big step toward reducing the nation's
reliance on fossil fuels. For more information on how states
can develop a Renewables Portfolio Standard, whereby localities
pledge to obtain a portion of their energy from renewable
sources, visit: http://www.serconline.org/RPS/pkg_frameset.html. |
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Georgia
to Draft Statewide Water Plan (Atlanta Journal-Constitution
5/13)
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/0504/14water.html
Gov. Perdue signed HB 237 into law last week, requiring the
state to develop a plan to devise how water will be allotted
between the state's many users. The plan is intended to balance
the needs of an increasing population with the needs of recreational
users, farmers, and the paper mills. The new law requires
the Environmental Protection Division to submit a statewide
water plan by July 1, 2007, and creates a council of state
department heads, political appointees, and legislators to
oversee the work. The General Assembly will be able to vote
on the plan in 2008. For more information on how your state
can address its water needs, visit: http://www.serconline.org/waterconservation/pkg_frameset.html. |
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Don't
Mess with Texas Endangered Species (Austin-American
Statesmen 5/12)
http://www.statesman.com/metrostate/content/auto/epaper/editions/wednesday/metro
_state_041acc79a0e0406c00dc.html?urcm=y
Conservation group Environmental Defense revealed a plan called
"Back from the Brink," intended to apply Texas-style
private initiatives nationwide to help imperiled species recover.
Environmental Defense pioneered Texas' "Safe Harbor"
program, which was designed to encourage state landowners
to preserve and improve wildlife habitat in exchange for a
break on some technical requirements of the Endangered Species
Act. The new program will be designed to restore private land
habitat for endangered species in at least 20 states. The
plan comes as the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which administers
the listing of federal endangered species, is coming under
increased scrutiny to protect listed species and make decisions
on others that have been under review for listing for a long
time. For more information on state action to protect endangered
species, visit: http://www.serconline.org/esa/index.html. |
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MA
Introduces Plan to Increase Housing, Decrease Sprawl
(Boston Globe 5/12)
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2004/05/12/measure_would_encourage_housing/
In an effort to boost affordable housing and curb suburban
sprawl, Senate leaders in Massachusetts have introduced a
plan to encourage dense construction of new homes in downtown
areas near public transportation. The plan, included in the
Senate budget recommendations, would offer local communities
financial incentives to create "smart growth zoning"
areas, where at least 20 percent of new homes would be designated
affordable housing. Communities would receive a $2,000 "density
bonus" for the construction of each new multi-family
unit and $4,000 for each single-family home. In addition,
the communities would be entirely reimbursed for educational
costs incurred by children who move into the new districts,
and would receive priority for state public works projects.
The Senate's budget proposal included $2 million in appropriations
for the plan. The cost of the plan is expected to rise to
$78 million per year by 2015, by which time proponents hope
to have created 33,000 units in "smart growth" districts.
The new resolution is intended to complement the state's affordable
housing law, and proponents hope that it will allow communities
more flexibility in anti-sprawl initiatives. For more information
on the effects of sprawl and smart growth solutions, visit:
http://www.serconline.org/urbanissues.html.
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MS
Gov. Signs Off-Shore Drilling Bill (Sun Herald 5/8)
http://www.sunherald.com/mld/thesunherald/news/local/politics/8618211.html
Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour recently signed into law a
bill to promote offshore drilling in state waters. The bill,
supported by the oil and natural gas industry, takes oil and
gas lease authority away from the state Department of Environmental
Quality and gives it to the Mississippi Development Authority.
The state predicts that reserves in the state could be worth
at least $1 billion over the next several decades. Approximately
three-quarters of the tax and lease proceeds from subsequent
offshore drilling will be required to go to the state education
trust fund, with the remainder given to local county governments.
A House amendment will require local county governments to
use 50 percent of the proceeds to reduce property taxes. The
bill has been widely criticized by environmental organizations
and coast governments concerned about the environmental and
economic effects of drilling. Drilling poses a threat to water
quality and marine life, most notably by the discharge of
drilling fluids and drill cuttings. |
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Michigan:
Scientists Say Beach Grooming Will Hurt Shorelines
(Ann Arbor News 5/12)
http://www.mlive.com/news/statewide/index.ssf?/base/news-4/1084356746194650.xml
Members of the Michigan Senate Natural Resources Committee
were surprised to learn that a law passed last June, designed
to make it easier for owners of Great Lakes shoreline property
to remove weeds and debris from former lake bottom exposed
by near-record low water levels, is actually resulting in
harm to shoreline habitats. Government and university scientists
said plant growth that results from low water levels is vital
to the health of the lakes. The law lets shoreline owners
do such minor beach-grooming as leveling sand or mowing weeds
without a permit, and it creates pilot areas in Saginaw and
Grand Traverse bays where more extensive work, including mechanical
tilling, is permitted with a letter of approval from the Department
of Environmental Quality. Lakes Michigan and Huron seem to
rise and fall in cycles of about 30 years. The recurring low-water
periods allow the coastal wetlands to rebuild themselves.
Coastal wetlands filter out nutrients that would otherwise
run into the lake, while the plants' roots hold onto sand
that would otherwise be blown inland. The committee will wait
to take action on this issue until a study examining the impact
of grooming on lake shorelines is completed this summer. |
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Georgia
Gov. Signs Land Trust into Law (Atlanta Journal-Constitution
5/11)
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/0504/12land.html
Governor Sonny Perdue signed into law this week a host of
environmental bills, including the Forest Heritage Trust Act
of 2004, which will permanently preserve up to 40,000 acres
of state forest land. Another bill in the package will grant
landowners, who own smaller parcels, tax breaks for agreeing
not to develop their property. SB 460, the stream buffer bill,
will require the Board of Natural Resources to establish new
rules to allow development next to streams. Environmentalists
had opposed the bill, but ultimately supported the weakened
version. SB 356 establishes a pollution credit system in which
farmers and foresters can sell carbon credits to industries.
HB 1103 gives landowners with temporary conservation easements
a 60-day notice to renew. HB 1416 will continue tax breaks
on former conservation easements that are preserved as fish
or wildlife habitats, and SB 568 will regulate grease collectors
to ensure proper disposal. Before the ceremony, the governor's
land conservation advisory council discussed more radical
tax incentives. The most far-reaching would be overhauling
the way government taxes property. With few exceptions, land
in Georgia is taxed, based on its potential value rather than
its current use. In rapidly developing areas, that type of
taxation encourages landowners to sell or develop their properties. |
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Alaska
Panel Kills Bear, Game Bills (Fairbanks Daily News-Miner
5/11)
http://www.news-miner.com/Stories/0,1413,113~7244~2141082,00.html
A bill that proposed loosening bear and game hunting laws
in Alaska was killed by the House Resources Committee. The
bill, which passed the Senate last month, would make a number
of changes to state law to make it easier to hunt bears in
areas where the state Board of Game has identified them as
a cause of declining numbers or productivity of game, such
as moose and caribou. According to the bill, people who are
issued a state "bear control permit" would be allowed
to take a non-resident hunting for bears, as long as the permit
holder is 21 and has hunted big game for at least two years.
This would be a major change from present state law, under
which people are only allowed to bring a non-resident along
if they are a close relative or spouse. Several big-game guides
testified that the law changes could jeopardize Alaska's entire
big-game guide system. The Alaskan guide system has stood
up in court, they said, because guide requirements have been
billed as an important way of ensuring hunter safety. Any
easing of those requirements could leave the entire guide
system open to court challenges. The committee will also not
be acting on a bill that proposes reinstituting the Big Game
Commercial Services Board, a panel that the legislature allowed
to dissolve in 1995. The board was in charge of regulating
the activities of the state's roughly 550 registered and master
guides and 230 transporters. |
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New
Jersey Plan to Protect Highlands Faces a Key Test
(Philadelphia Inquirer 5/10)
http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/news/local/8629245.htm
The fate of a bill that would preserve 800,000 acres of forestland
in the Highlands area of North New Jersey lies in the hands
of a state senate environmental panel. Governor McGreevey
has gathered wide support for the legislation throughout his
state, touting that the land proposed to be protected houses
a watershed that provides water to 4 million state residents.
A few members of the panel are concerned that funding channeled
for the Highland will divert money away from open space preservation
in South Jersey. The 100-page bill has undergone 80 pages
of amendments so far, and may require further changes before
the panel approves it. |
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