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SD public defense duties shift from counties to state; SCOTUS appears skeptical of restricting government communications with social media companies; Trump lawyers say he can't make bond; new scholarships aim to connect class of 2024 to high-demand jobs.

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The SCOTUS weighs government influence on social media, and who groups like the NRA can do business with. Biden signs an executive order to advance women's health research and the White House tells Israel it's responsible for the Gaza humanitarian crisis.

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Midwest regenerative farmers are rethinking chicken production, Medicare Advantage is squeezing the finances of rural hospitals and California's extreme swing from floods to drought has some thinking it's time to turn rural farm parcels into floodplains.

WYO Group Protests “De-funding” of Recreation Projects

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Tuesday, July 26, 2011   

CHEYENNE, Wyo. - The U.S. House is set to make a budget decision this week that could mean less money for Wyoming recreation and tourism projects. The Interior Department budget bill "de-funds" the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF), bringing it to its lowest level ever.

Neil Thagard, a hunter who is also a project manager at the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership in Wyoming, says it's important to understand the connection between that funding and state economics. More than $70 million has come to Wyoming from the fund over the years for parks, hunting and fishing access, and wildlife habitat.

"Our fish and wildlife-related activities provides this economy over $1 billion a year. We must continue to work to sustain our fish and wildlife, and our recreational opportunities, which include hunting and fishing."

A new national poll by the Land and Water Conservation Fund Coalition shows that 88 percent of Americans support the funding, with no significant difference in that opinion by party affiliation or region.

Thagard points out that the bill has another downside. It has several riders attached that he says take aim at all sorts of outdoor attributes, such as clean air and water.

"That Interior appropriations bill certainly undermines Wyoming's fish and wildlife, as well as the hunting and angling opportunities that we have here."

The House bill would put the LWCF at 61-million dollars, which Wyoming's Republican Congresswoman Cynthia Lummis approved last week. Full funding would be $900 million.

The LWCF is not tied to taxpayer dollars; the money comes from a small percentage of fees from offshore oil and gas drilling. The House plan up for a vote would use those funds elsewhere in the federal budget.

The LWCF poll results are at www.lwcfcoalition.org Neil Thagard is at 208-861-8634.




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