As the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate grapple with funding levels for Fiscal Year 2011, President Obama released his budget request for FY 2012. Federal agencies and programs responsible for managing and conserving natural resources are slated to be beneficiaries of the proposal, according to the Wildlife Management Institute.

Natural resources and environment spending within the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is proposed to receive an increase for conservation operations within the Natural Resource Conservation Service and Farm Bill conservation programs (proposed at $4.5 billion?an increase of $650 million from what was enacted in FY10). The U.S. Forest Service is proposed to receive $1.7 billion for the National Forest System, $341 million for State and Private Forestry, and $296 million for forest and rangeland research. This would represent a total increase of $171 million for these combined programs over FY10 levels.

The budget proposal recommends an overall spending level for the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) comparable to the FY10 enacted amount of $12.2 billion. Within this is $5.5 billion in programmatic increases intended to fund implementation of the proposals within the Administration's America's Great Outdoors (AGO) initiative, which was released early this month. This includes maintaining $4.6 billion for core operations of land management agencies to provide for increased visitation to federal public lands. Another priority is engaging America's youth in the outdoors through allocation of $46.8 million (an increase of $7.6 million from FY10).

In addition, the DOI budget proposal includes $175 million in funding for efforts associated with its landscape management strategy, an increase of nearly $44 million. This includes $62.5 million for its Landscape Conservation Cooperatives, which are intended to allow the DOI agencies to work collaboratively with local, state and regional partners to address the challenges of climate change through adaptive management techniques. The proposed budget will fund advanced climate variability science through targeted increases to complete the network of eight Climate Science Centers. These centers provide scientific information, tools and techniques that land, water, wildlife and cultural managers can apply to anticipate, monitor and adapt to climate and ecologically driven changes at regional and local scales.

The AGO initiative also calls for full funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund at $900 million, which includes land conservation and outdoor recreation efforts within both the DOI and USDA.

"We must be wise in how we spend taxpayer dollars, and also recognize the significant economic benefits produced by protecting and restoring our natural and cultural heritage and by promoting outdoor recreation and land stewardship," the AGO report states. "Today, Americans recognize that pitting a healthy environment against a healthy economy is a false choice?we must and can have both. By investing in our natural wealth and heritage, we can create jobs associated with recreation and land stewardship, while passing on a vital natural legacy to our children and grandchildren. Most profoundly, Americans have called for a new vision of conservation for the 21st century?one that builds on the traditions of the last century but also recognizes the challenges and changing circumstances of the new century."

While the President's budget is considered as a benchmark from which Congress should work to develop the FY 2012 appropriations bills, members of Congress have indicated they are unlikely to consider many of the provisions. Given there is such difficulty reaching agreement on how to fund the government for the remainder of the current fiscal year, the only certainty is that the funding debates for FY 2012 also will be contentious. (jas)