Recent compromise by the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works on one of a dozen climate change bills currently in Congress may lead to significant funding for wildlife conservation, reports the Wildlife Management Institute. The Warner-Lieberman "America's Climate Security Act of 2007" (S. 2191) is focused on capping greenhouse gas emissions through a variety of market techniques. These include trading, banking, borrowing and offsetting carbon credits, and auctioning carbon credits to generate substantial federal funds. This wide-ranging and comprehensive legislation would provide both federal and state resource management agencies with billions of dollars to monitor, assess and adapt to climate change impacts.

If approved by Congress, state fish and wildlife agencies could expect to receive upwards of $3.5 billion annually to assist their fish and wildlife management programs. Federal resource agencies could receive $4 to 5 billion annually. S.2191 would provide major funding for the Wildlife Conservation and Restoration Account of the Pittman-Robertson Fund administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. These dollars would be used for adaptation to climate change impacts as identified in current and future versions of comprehensive State Wildlife Action Plans. In addition, state agencies may benefit by the bill's intent to fund the Land and Water Conservation Fund fully at the $900 million authorized level.

On the federal side, enactment of the bill would deliver funding through a detailed apportionment to the departments of the Interior, Agriculture and Commerce, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Army Corps of Engineers. These funds would address climate change impacts to federal public lands and to freshwater, estuarine, coastal and marine habitats.

Popular cooperative grant programs, such as the North American Wetlands Conservation Act (NAWCA), Endangered Species Conservation Fund, National Fish Habitat Plan (NFHP), Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Fund and Partners for Fish and Wildlife, also would be beneficiaries.

In addition to supplementing these existing programs, S.2191 would authorize the establishment of the Science Advisory Board and Climate Change and Natural Resource Science Center, under the auspices of the Secretary of the Interior. Annual appropriations (up to $50 million) for it would be used to fund programs dealing with the climate-change adaptations of endangered species, migratory birds, fish and wildlife, refuges, and other public lands and waters under Interior's jurisdiction. Taking its cue from the State Wildlife Action Plan planning process, the Warner-Lieberman bill would require federal agencies to develop a national strategy for climate-change adaptation in order to qualify for funding under its provisions. A national strategy would need to take into consideration information contained in comprehensive State Wildlife Action Plans, NAWCA, NFHP, Coastal Zone Management Plans, the Pew Oceans Commission and the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy.

There appears to be widespread acceptance and agreement of the adaptation funding apportionment section of the act by the conservation community. Because climate change impact origins, prediction, monitoring, assessment and adaptation are complex issues, vigorous and lengthy debate within both the House and Senate is expected.