The U.S. Senate overwhelmingly passed their version of a federal highway bill in mid-March by a vote of 74-22, reports the Wildlife Management Institute. The "Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century," or MAP-21 bill (S. 1813), authorizing $109 billion in total spending over the next two years, is more limited in scope than previous highway bills that have typically been authorized for five or six years. On the Senate floor, an amendment that added funding for Gulf Coast Restoration and the Land and Water Conservation Fund was approved by a strong vote. Inclusion of the conservation provisions has been widely hailed by sportsmen and conservation organizations, but the U.S. House of Representatives has been unable to develop and move their own version of a bill leading to questions as to whether legislation will be enacted this year.

The country's transportation system has significant impacts on wildlife populations, water quality, and access to public lands. While the federal highway bill's focus is on the national highway and transit system, previous bills have funded trails and recreational access, wildlife and fish passages, invasive species management, and other programs through the Transportation Enhancements Program (TEP). However because of shortfalls within the Highway Trust Fund, the theme of this year's reauthorization has been streamlining programs and reducing overall costs. As such, TEP funding has been lumped with several other programs into an "additional activities" account with states and localities having greater discretion on what to fund and the account has about $313 million less than 2010 levels.

Language to mitigate highway impacts on wildlife corridors was added by?Senator Max Baucus (D-MT). The bill directs some federal transportation funding towards restoring and maintaining terrestrial or aquatic habitats near roadways and to reduce hazards caused by wildlife. Also under the bill, highway safety projects can include retrofitting structures to reduce crashes with wildlife, and building highway overpasses and underpasses.

One highlight on the Senate floor was the addition of the Resources and Ecosystems Sustainability, Tourism Opportunities and Revived Economy (RESTORE) the Gulf Coast States Act of 2011 as an amendment to the Senate bill. Led by Senators Bill Nelson (D-FL), Richard Shelby (R-AL), Mary Landrieu (D-LA) and Baucus, the RESTORE Act directs 80 percent of penalties paid by BP and others responsible for the 2010 Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill towards Gulf Coast and Mississippi River Delta restoration. Seventy-six members of the Senate including all Democrats and half of the Senate's Republicans overwhelmingly supported the amendment.

"This move helps Louisiana's coast, its wildlife and fisheries and its people and communities take a big step forward in efforts to repair not only damages from the oil spill but also to begin addressing the dire coastal land loss that has plagued our state for the last 80 years," said Louisiana Wildlife Federation's Coastal Outreach Coordinator Chris Macaluso. "Louisianans have watched our coast vanish before our eyes for nearly a century, including losing some of the world's best wildlife and fisheries habitat. Now that the Senate has shown a commitment to addressing this much-needed restoration, Louisiana has hope that it can start putting the resources needed toward the projects that will help save what we have left and hopefully turn land lost into habitat gained in the coming decades."

The RESTORE Act has been an important initiative for hunters and anglers from across the country due to the 10 million migratory waterfowl that winter or stopover on the Mississippi River Delta and the very significant commercial and recreational fishery the Gulf produces. The amendment comes at a crucial time for an ecosystem that faced extreme degradation before the oil spill, which only added insult to injury. If enacted, the legislation will help rebuild the economies of Gulf Coast communities that were impacted by the spill and to restore the natural resources, ecosystems, fisheries, marine and wildlife habitats, beaches, barrier islands, dunes, coastal wetlands, that are the foundation of the Gulf Coast economy.

As part of the RESTORE Act amendment, Senate supporters added $700 million in funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) for each of the next two years and reauthorized that program through 2022. ?The LWCF program is intended to dedicate a portion of the revenues from offshore oil and gas development for conservation and recreation programs. For nearly 50 years, LWCF has helped to protect land in 98 percent of U.S. counties for public access and enjoyment, and supported millions of American jobs in the outdoor recreation and tourism industries.

In spite of the broad support for MAP-21 within the Senate, the House has had significant difficulty developing a bill that can secure enough votes to pass. Their own version of the bill tied increased energy production to funding for highway projects that has polarized Representatives. Because of their inability to act, the House passed a 90-day extension on March 30 giving them until the end of June to break the stalemate and hopefully enact a bill this year. This continued delay is generating widespread criticism.

"While we supported the extension to prevent a shutdown of essential infrastructure improvements across the nation, that support should not be confused as acceptance of inaction on a multi-year reauthorization bill," T. Peter Ruane, president and CEO of the American Road & Transportation Builders Association, and Stephen Sandherr, CEO of the Associated General Contractors of America said in a statement. "The federal highway and public transportation programs have been governed by extension for 30 months. Congress can and must do better." (jas)