ASA Supports Senators’ Bipartisan Effort to Boost Aquatic
Resources Trust Fund
by
Mary Jane Williamson
February 18, 2005—ALEXANDRIA, VA—Senators Herb Kohl
(D-WI) and Trent Lott (R-MS), this week, introduced legislation to
restructure the Aquatic Resources Trust Fund, which distributes federal
funds to state fish and wildlife agencies for boating and fishing programs.
The bill would consolidate the fund’s receipts and distribute
them according to a simpler and more equitable formula supported by
the American Sportfishing Association and a coalition of 33 other fishing
and boating organizations.
Kohl and Lott also introduced a second bill that would recover approximately
$110 million per year of excise taxes currently being paid by anglers
and boaters. Under current law, only 13.5 cents per gallon is sent
to the Aquatic Resources Trust Fund, which is only a portion of the
18.3 cents per gallon that is collected on motorboat and small engine
fuels. Restoring the remaining excise taxes will significantly boost
funding for important programs under the Sport Fish Restoration Act,
such as fisheries monitoring; habitat conservation and restoration;
fishing and boating access facilities such as docks, piers, and boat
ramps; and education and safety programs for anglers and boaters.
“The legislation Senator Kohl and Senator Lott introduced
would add $110 million annually to the Aquatic Resources Trust Fund,
which will mean at least an additional $1.1 million for each state’s
fishing and boating programs each year,” said Mike Nussman, president
and CEO of the American Sportfishing Association. “These funds
will greatly enhance the states’ ability to provide essential
services to the angling and boating public.”
The Sport Fish Restoration Act set up the Aquatic Resources Trust
Fund as the collection point for motor boat fuel taxes and other excise
taxes on fishing gear. Altogether the fund amounts to about $450 million
per year, which is ultimately parceled to state fish and wildlife agencies
as a primary source of their overall funding. For more than 10 years,
only a portion of anglers and boaters' federal motor boat fuel taxes
have been directed to the Aquatic Resources Trust Fund, a user-pay
fund that provides revenues for fishing and boating programs across
the nation.
“The fishing and boating community is extremely pleased that
Senators Kohl and Lott have joined forces to introduce this legislation,” said
Gordon Robertson, vice President of the American Sportfishing Association. “This
is a great example of how partnerships in the conservation arena can
and do work.”
The American Sportfishing Association is the sportfishing industry’s
trade association, uniting more than 600 members of the sportfishing
and boating industries with state fish and wildlife agencies, federal
land and water management agencies, conservation organizations, angler
advocacy groups and outdoor journalists. The American Sportfishing
Association safeguards and promotes the enduring social, economic and
conservation values of sportfishing.
