The Arizona Game and Fish Commission is making the public aware of a looming threat to crucial conservation funding by the federal government’s proposed sequestration of conservation trust funds, an action that could reduce Arizona’s wildlife conservation funding by several million dollars.

“The Greatest Story Never Told” is the mantra extolled by the nation’s wildlife conservation community in the 75th anniversary of the Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration (WSFR) programs being celebrated this year. Far-sighted, forward-looking sportsmen worked with Congress in 1937 to pass the Pittman-Robertson Act, whereby excise taxes on certain hunting equipment are collected by the Internal Revenue Service in a trust fund and apportioned by the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service to state fish and wildlife agencies for wildlife conservation.

Funds Are Backbone

The program was so successful that subsequent amendments and additional acts (Dingell-Johnson Act of 1950 and Wallop-Breaux Act of 1984) were enacted to expand the excise tax to include fishing equipment, archery gear and motorboat fuel. These funds are the backbone of state wildlife funding, along with the dedication of license revenues.

Since 1939, states have integrated these funds into the core financing for wildlife conservation. Success of the program has been monumental, achieving restoration of elk, bighorn sheep and other wildlife populations, constructing and operating shooting ranges and boat ramps, providing hunter education to hundreds of thousands of youngsters, developing a modern fish hatchery program, conserving of our wildlife heritage, while contributing more than $2 billion dollars annually to the economy (more than either golf or professional sports) in Arizona.

Each state and territory made binding commitments through assent legislation that these trust funds (and license fees) would be used only for wildlife conservation or outdoor recreation benefit. The federal government only administers these funds in trust, passing them through to the state wildlife agencies.

Sets The Stage

Under previous administrations, the WSFR funds and boating safety funds were exempt from sequestration in the Graham-Rudman-Hollings Act [Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985]. The Act specifically provided that “payments to trust funds from excise taxes or other receipts properly creditable to such trust funds” are “exempt from reduction.”

Ironically, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has now ruled that a portion of these funds must be sequestered (or withheld) under provisions of the Budget Control Act of 2011. While this action only sequesters funds from being apportioned to state wildlife agencies, and does not, in and of itself, divert the funds, it does set the stage for a future congressional “sweep” of these funds from the trust accounts into the federal treasury.

The fact that this diversion could occur is the ultimate irony and a breach of trust — federal agencies charged with the fiduciary protection of these trust funds could become the architects of the only successful diversion in the fund’s history.

Under OMB’s decision, excise taxes would still be collected from manufacturers of hunting and fishing equipment. Excise taxes would still be paid by hunters, anglers, archers, boaters and shooters. Interest would still accrue in the various accounts.

A Critical Concern

However, the proposed action denies the full apportionment of funds to states for fish and wildlife conservation and boating safety beginning Jan. 2, 2013. Sequestration is a critical concern to all sportsmen and conservationists. Every state could see severe reductions in administration, boating safety, and WSFR, directly affecting programs, permanent agency jobs, agency resources, and agencies' ability to provide public access for hunting, fishing, boating and shooting.

“Conservation of wildlife, public safety and our outdoor recreation heritage are at risk,” said Larry Voyles, director of the Arizona Game and Fish Department. “In Arizona, the impact could be as much as several million dollars annually, with cuts to wildlife restoration, sport fish restoration, boating safety, and other important programs.”

State wildlife agencies are working diligently with the federal administration to remove state Trust Funds from sequestration, currently to no avail. “This is an important issue that has received little publicity to date,” said Director Voyles. “All who cherish their wildlife heritage and are concerned with the future of wildlife management must be made aware of these issues. No alternative federal or private funding is available to fill this gap.”

Editor’s Note: E.M. Brookes of Queen Creek, Ariz., received the following reply to his note that WSFR funds are needed in Arizona to continue conservation efforts.

Mr. Brookes,

Thank you for your concern about the potential impacts of the sequestration process on the Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Fund — and on wildlife conservation across the nation. The Fish and Wildlife Service shares those concerns, but Congress has ultimate authority to determine what impact sequestration will have on these funds in the event an agreement cannot be reached in time.

Congress has not included the Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Fund among the list of programs it exempted from sequestration. In fact, Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration funds were affected by previous sequestrations in 1985 and 1989, although in both instances Congress restored lost funding once budget agreements were reached. We recognize the unique history of WSFR and the essential role it plays in state management hunting opportunities and for fish and wildlife, and with the Department of the Interior have unsuccessfully requested discretion to protect WSFR from sequestration.

Our hope is that an agreement can be reached. But in the event that Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration funds are subject to sequestration, we will work closely with the hunting and fishing community to see that any lost funds are restored as quickly as possible by Congress once the sequestration issue is resolved.

Sincerely,

Customer Service Center - Tier II

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

If you have any further questions, you may prefer to contact us by telephone,

we encourage you to call our Customer Service Center at 1-800-344-WILD,

Monday through Friday from 8:00 am to 8:00 pm eastern time.