Conservation Briefs is a compilation of short news stories of interest to Outdoor News Bulletin readers. The stories cover a number of issues that have developed in the past month or provide updates on issues that were featured in previous ONB editions. Each story includes links to online resources for more details on each topic.

This month:

• EPA Taking Steps to Use Clean Water Act Authority to Protect Bristol Bay, Alaska
• President Releases FY 2015 Budget Request
• Conservation Tax Incentives Included in Tax Reform Bill, President's Budget
• AFWA Announces Blue Ribbon Panel on Fish and Wildlife Conservation
• USFWS Expands Hunting and Fishing on Refuges
• Sleeping Bear Dunes is Congress' First Wilderness Designation in Five Years

EPA Taking Steps to Use Clean Water Act Authority to Protect Bristol Bay, Alaska

The Environmental Protection Agency announced on February 28 that it would initiate a process through the Clean Water Act to identify its options to protect the sockeye salmon fishery in Bristol Bay, Alaska. During this process, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will not be able to act on the permit for the Pebble Mine that is proposed for the region. The decision follows the January release of a watershed assessment that found that the development of a large open pit copper mine within the watershed could permanently impact the salmon in the ecosystem. The action, under the rarely used Clean Water Act Section 404(c), allows the EPA to prohibit activities that would have permanent effects on watersheds.

"Bristol Bay is an extraordinary natural resource, home to some of the most abundant salmon producing rivers in the world. The area provides millions of dollars in jobs and food resources for Alaska Native Villages and commercial fishermen," said Dennis McLerran, regional administrator for EPA Region 10. "The science EPA reviewed paints a clear picture: Large-scale copper mining of the Pebble deposit would likely result in significant and irreversible harm to the salmon and the people and industries that rely on them."

President Obama Releases FY 2015 Budget Request

The White House outlined its fiscal year 2015 policy and funding priorities for the federal government when it released its annual budget request on March 4. The president's budget includes spending recommendations for federal agencies and programs including a proposed $11.5 billion in discretionary funding for the Department of the Interior (DOI) and $22.2 billion for the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The budget calls for a "fundamental shift" in the way the DOI and USDA funds wildfires by dedicating funding outside of the discretionary budget for wildland fire suppression "in order to help reduce fire risk, manage landscapes more holistically, and increase the resiliency of the Nation's forests and rangelands and the communities that border them."

The budget requests a mix of mandatory and discretionary funds to provide a full $900 million for the Land and Water Conservation Fund, moving towards full mandatory funding by 2016; this includes $12.5 million specifically targeted for sportsmen's access on DOI lands. In addition, the budget includes $34.14 million for the North American Wetlands Conservation Act but includes a decrease in funding to $50 million for State and Tribal Wildlife Grants. The DOI budget also proposes $888.7 million across the department's agencies in specific funding for landscape level conservation and science to increase understanding of natural resources and the factors impacting water availability, ecosystem and species resiliency, energy development, hazards mitigation, and climate resilience, among others.

The release of the president's budget is just a starting point for the annual federal budget process and most who follow that process recognize that Congress often makes their own determinations on budget priorities and annual appropriations. However, the outline of spending and policy issues will lay the groundwork for those discussions for the remainder of this Congress.

Conservation Tax Incentives Included in Tax Reform Bill, President's Budget

In late February, House Ways & Means Committee Chairman, Dave Camp introduced a comprehensive tax reform bill that includes provisions for enhanced incentives for the donation of conservation easements. In addition, the provisions were also included within President Obama's budget recommendations. Enhanced conservation tax deductions allow landowners who donate a conservation easement on their property to deduct a portion of the fair market value of that donation from their taxes. The incentives expired at the end of 2013 and many conservation organizations have been working to restore the provisions through bills in the House (the Conservation Easement Incentive Act, H.R. 2807) and the Senate (the Rural Heritage Conservation Extension Act, S. 526). Representative Camp's comprehensive tax reform bill covers a broad spectrum of tax changes and is unlikely to gain significant traction in this Congress, and the president's budget request also requires congressional action. However their inclusion of the enhanced conservation tax incentive shows the potential for broader congressional support for the stand-alone bills this year.

AFWA Announces Blue Ribbon Panel on Fish and Wildlife Conservation

The Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies announced on March 5 that Bass Pro Shops founder, Johnny Morris, and former Wyoming governor, Dave Freudenthal will be co-chairing a national panel to develop recommendations on funding and policy options to support fish and wildlife conservation. The Blue Ribbon Panel on Sustaining America's Fish and Wildlife Resources will be made up of 20 representatives of the outdoor recreation retail and manufacturing sector, the energy industry, conservation organizations and sportsmen's groups.

"The diversity of wild species that inhabit this nation's lands and waters belong to every American to experience, use and enjoy," said Dan Forster, director of the Georgia Wildlife Resources Division and 2013-2014 president of the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies. "We owe it to the resources we manage and the public that pays our bills to not relent until we solve the fiscal predicament that looms if we don't find a more equitable funding model for fish and wildlife conservation."

USFWS Expands Hunting and Fishing on Refuges

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) will be expanding hunting and fishing opportunities on 20 national wildlife refuges this year as well as new hunting programs on six refuges. The Shawangunk Grasslands National Wildlife Refuge in New York will now be open for big game hunting, Oregon's Baskett Slough, Nestucca Bay and Siletz Bay National Wildlife Refuges will now be open for migratory bird hunting, and Pennsylvania's Cherry Valley and Wyoming's Cokeville National Wildlife Refuges will now be open for migratory bird, upland game and big game hunting.

"Hunting and fishing are time-honored ways to enjoy the outdoors and teach people to value nature," said FWS Director Dan Ashe. "Our National Wildlife Refuge System has millions of acres of public land and water to provide quality hunting and fishing experiences. We hope these expanded hunting and fishing programs will allow more Americans to experience this connection with nature."

Sleeping Bear Dunes is Congress' First Wilderness Designation in Five Years

Michigan's Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore will have 32,500 acres designated as wilderness after the U.S. House of Representatives sent a bill to the President on March 4 requesting the designation. This is the first congressional wilderness designation since 2009 when the Omnibus Public Land Management Act was enacted. The House also passed legislation to protect 430,000 acres along the north and middle forks of Montana's Flathead River from mining, oil and gas development. Members speaking on the House floor said that the passage of the Sleeping Bear Dunes legislation should open the door for other bipartisan and locally led efforts to protect public lands.

"Congress should not stand in the way of locally driven conservation initiatives," commented Nevada Representative Steven Horsford who has sponsored a bill to designate a national monument north of Las Vegas. (jas)