COLUMBUS, Ohio - Conservation groups are not giving up their fight to continue a program that supports some of Ohio, and the nation's most crowned jewels.

Congress allowed the Land and Water Conservation Fund to expire last week, a fund that protects national parks and other lands, including the Cuyahoga Valley National park and the Wayne National Forest. The Wilderness Society's director Amy Lindholm says one of the reasons it's been successful for the past 50 years is because it's not funded by taxpayer dollars.

"It's funded by a small portion of offshore oil and gas royalties in a very kind of elegant arrangement of drawing down one asset that belongs to the American public and reinvesting a small piece of the profit from that in a permanent asset for the American public," says Lindholm.

The fund also prevented private development inside the borders of national parks and forests, and provided support for many state and local projects. Some opponents of extended funding say the program placed too much priority on federal projects and land acquisition, and should be reformed to focus on other needs such as lands management.

The fund was originally signed into law in 1965 and reauthorized for another 25 years in 1990. Lindholm says it only became a subject of disagreement just a short time ago.

"It has become a political football in recent years because of a very small minority of folks who basically have an ideological opposition to federal land in general and who have seized upon the Land and Water Conservation Fund as a way to talk about the federal government owning too much land," says Lindholm.

Ohio has received about $329 million from the Land and Water Conservation Fund over the past 50 years. Ohio's Senator Sherrod Brown (D), and Representatives Michael Turner (R-OH), Joyce Beatty (D-OH) and U.S. Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-OH 11) have expressed support for the fund.


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As the Sunshine State grapples with rising temperatures and escalating weather events such as hurricanes, a new study sheds light on the pivotal role of Florida's Wildlife Corridor in mitigating the effects of climate change coupled with a surge of new residents.

The report is trumpeted as a first-of-its-kind study showcasing how the 18 million acres of the Wildlife Corridor, which runs throughout the entire state, ease the worst impact of climate change. It paints a picture of investing in resources supporting cohabitation to be mutually beneficial with nature and the economic growth coming from people who flock to the state to enjoy it.

Colin Polsky, professor and founding director of the School of Environmental, Coastal and Ocean Sustainability at Florida Atlantic University, and the study's lead author, said the corridor benefits the state.

"It's an attempt to welcome the 1,000 people a day approximately who move to Florida, but to do so in a way that allows for the wildlife to continue to thrive," Polsky explained.

About 10 million of the 18 million acres of corridor are permanently conserved. The report calls on state leaders to keep working on investing the remaining 8 million. In March, the governor and Cabinet touted the state's largest investment in decades, a 25,000-acre acquisition within the Caloosahatchee-Big Cypress Corridor.

Joshua Daskin, project manager and director of conservation at the Archbold Biological Station, said since the corridor effort was steering billions of dollars toward land conservation in the state, the report's focus is on showing the science behind it all.

"Climate resilience is one area in which land conservation can help both nature and people," Daskin pointed out. "But no one had assembled the state of the science for all of the ways that climate resilience can be impacted by land conservation."

The report shows 24% of all Florida properties have a more than one in four chance of being affected by flooding in the next 30 years. To combat it, one solution is to keep floodplains undeveloped. The corridors have 10 million acres of floodplain. The report also recommends mixed-use development to minimize habitat fragmentation and keep working lands in production.


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Ballots are due back in the Montana Secretary of State's office later this week, as lawmakers decide
whether to override Gov. Greg Gianforte's veto of a high-profile funding bill that would reapportion money from the state's marijuana sales tax.

Gianforte vetoed Senate Bill 442 after the Montana Senate had adjourned last session, which left lawmakers no chance to override it.

It would fund veterans' services, provide permanent property tax relief for vets & Gold Star families, invest in county road maintenance, and support land conservation and habitat management.

Montana Wildlife Federation Executive Director Frank Szollosi said the legislation has received broad support inside and outside the capitol.

"That's why agricultural interests have supported 442," said Szollosi. "Counties have supported 442, and the conservation & sporting communities have supportted 442, and local governments."

Gianforte said in his veto note that using state funds for local responsibilities such as road improvements is a "slippery slope."

A veto override requires the approval of two-thirds of lawmakers. Ballots are due back in the Secretary of State's office on Thursday.

Twenty percent of the sales tax revenue would be used specifically for habitat conservation - but equally important, supporters say, is the money that would be spent to improve veterans' programs and rural infrastructure.

The bill's sponsor, state Sen. Mike Lang - R-Malta - said S.B. 442 would provide services for groups that have not historically shared common interests.

"I just want to bridge the gap," said Lang, "between recreationists and hunters, and private landowners."

Critics of SB 442 have argued the funding distribution formula isn't equitable, while supporters say it directs resources towards those who need them most.

The bill passed the Legislature with 130 of 150 votes in last year's session.

More than $11 million in federal grant money will go to improve land and water conservation in the upper Verde River Watershed and Big Chino Grasslands in north central Arizona.

The grant requires a 50% non-federal match, which The Nature Conservancy Arizona and partners will provide - bringing the total to $23 million.

Kimberly Schonek - Arizona water director for the conservancy - said the Verde River is one of the state's last free-flowing rivers, and calls it a "critical water supply" for not only the Phoenix metro area but for the biodiversity around the river, which starts just north of Prescott.

She said the conservancy in Arizona will be using the money to purchase easements from willing landowners to ensure land preservation and limit groundwater use.

"The landowner will continue to ranch and farm their property into the future," said Schonek, "but it'll restrict that ability for them to develop it, and what that does is keep the water use on the land what it is now."

Schonek said as Arizona thinks about its future, it's important to limit the amount of water use in what she calls a "critical area."

She added that her organization has been enacting conservation easements and other measures along the Verde River since 2012.

Schonek said no landowners are required to participate, but adds many find value in being compensated and reinvesting those funds onto their properties.

Schonek said over the last 20-years, with drought, they've noticed river levels drop - and have also seen land usage around the river change.

She added that while certain areas of the river have less flow, others are now experiencing more water due to the collaborative work the conservancy and agricultural partners have fostered.

"So the future looks good, so long as the community continues to engage, and everybody has a part to play," said Schonek. "And so we are really excited and optimistic to continue partnering with rural communities and agriculture in protecting this river for the future."

Schonek said it is exciting to see this level of investment as they've been working on conservation efforts for decades.

She added that this is by the far the largest amount of money that'll be dedicated to the Verde River.




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