America’s Anglers and Boaters Score Major Conservation Victory
by
Mary Jane Williamson
July 29, 2005—ALEXANDRIA, VA. After nearly two years of
Congressional action and three years of strategic planning and consensus
building by leading angling and boating organizations, the most significant
legislation for sportfishing and boating since 1984 is now waiting
for President Bush’s signature. The centerpiece of the legislation
is the successful capture of the federal fuel tax on motorboats and
small engines which will now be dedicated to sportfish restoration,
angler and boating access and boating safety. The Act will consolidate
the receipts of the new Sport Fish Restoration and Boating Trust Fund
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.
Formerly known as the
Aquatic Resources Trust Fund, this reauthorization will recover approximately
$110 million per year of federal fuel taxes currently being paid by
anglers and boaters which was being diverted to the general treasury.
The capture of the fuel tax will significantly boost funding revenues for
the Fund to approximately $570 million per year for important angling and
boating programs 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. State wildlife
and natural resources agencies, which receive the funds, will see an
annual increase anywhere from $1.1 to $5.5 million dollars for conservation
management. Funds are appropriated to the states for sportfish restoration
and boating programs based on license sales and water area.
“The sportfishing community owes Senator Trent Lott (R-MS) and Senator
Herb Kohl (D-WI) a debt of gratitude for introducing this legislation
that will add $110 million annually to restoring and maintaining sportfishing
in the United States,” said Mike Nussman, president and CEO of the
American Sportfishing Association. “Our members, who pay into the Fund
through the federal manufacturers excise tax on sportfishing equipment,
see this as a major victory.”
The Fund amounts to about $570 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 were directed to the Aquatic
Resources Trust Fund, a user-pay/user and resource benefit fund that
provides revenues for fishing and boating programs across the nation.
The reauthorization captures the entire amount of the fuel tax. In
addition, the Congressional action also distributes approximately $87
million of previously unappropriated revenues to various accounts within
the Sport Fish Restoration and Boating Trust Fund.
“We are truly grateful for Senators Lott and Kohl’s efforts in sponsoring
this legislation and the sportfishing community thanks them for moving it through
the Senate reauthorization process,” said Gordon Robertson, vice president
of ASA. “On the House side, we owe Representatives Don Young (R-AK)
and Clay Shaw (R-FL) our thanks for their leadership in this effort.” Robertson
added, “We also want to thank the six committees of jurisdiction and their
staff for standing with us during this two-year reauthorization process. Passage
of this legislation is testament to the ability of the sportfishing and boating
community to work together to strengthen the user-pay/user-benefit concept of
the U.S. conservation model.” In addition, Robertson said, “It has
truly been a coordinated bipartisan, bicameral effort that is a testament to
this nation’s love of sportfishing and boating.”
The Transportation Bill also included two other significant victories for
sportfishing. They are: $10 million for fish passage improvement under
the U.S. Forest Service road system; and $1 million for highway signage
to direct anglers and hunters to access points.
The Sportfish Restoration and Boating Act
The Sport Fish Restoration and Boating Trust Fund
provides America’s most significant source of funding for fisheries
conservation, sportfishing access and angling and boating education.
Since 1950, when the Sport Fish Restoration Act was first enacted, more
than $4 billion has been collected and invested in fish and habitat restoration
and the advancement of fishing and boating. The Sport Fish Restoration
and Boating Act will provide approximately $570 million per year for
fisheries management and research; fishing and boating access facilities
such as docks, piers, and boat ramps; and education and safety programs for
anglers and boaters.
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.
Aquatic Resources Trust Fund Reauthorization at a Glance
• Reauthorize the Marine Sanitary Devices pump-out program,
Boating Infrastructure Grant Program, and Outreach programs—these
programs would have expired under ARTF including the Recreational Boating
and Fishing Foundation.
• Boating Safety Grants will now have guaranteed funding—this
program will now receive 18.5% of the total, increasing 2005 funding
from $64 million to approximately $100 million in FY 2006.
• Dissolve (spend down) the Boat Safety Account—the
balance currently in the account plus the interest (approximately $87
million) will be distributed over the next five years to accounts in the
fund.
• Most programs will be funded by a percentage—All
programs, except administration and multi-state grants which remain
a fixed amount, are assigned a percentage to allow a more simple and fair
process, when the amount of funds increase or decrease so will all of the
programs based upon their percentage. Percentages are as follows:
Sport Fish Restoration
|
57%
|
Includes 15% for Boating Access
|
Boating Safety Grants
|
18.5%
|
Coastal Wetlands Act
|
18.5%
|
Boating Infrastructure
|
2.0%
|
Outreach (RBFF)
|
2.0%
|
Clean Vessel Act
|
2.0%
|
