grants: January 2012 Archives
(from Rob Grant) Dear Members of the CRT Council of Advisors:
The Recreational Trails Program is in very deep trouble. The U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee has approved transportation reauthorization legislation known as MAP-21 that would effectively eliminate the RTP by stripping the program of its dedicated funding.
But all hope is not lost.
CRT and its member organizations have been working to identify key Champions in the Senate with the aim of having an amendment to restore dedicated funding for the RTP added to the bill before it is considered by the full Senate.
Reaching this goal will not be possible without your help.
Now is the time for all organizations and individuals who support RTP to tell their Senators to protect dedicated funding for this absolutely essential program.
The key messages are simple:
· Unless the bill is changed, MAP-21 will effectively eliminate the Recreational Trails Program; and
· Please amend MAP-21 to include dedicated funding for RTP.
Other helpful messages include:
· For the last two decades, RTP has received a portion of the gas taxes paid by users of off-highway motorized vehicles to fund trail building, maintenance and other trail-related projects. More than 13,000 projects have been funded across the country for all kinds of trail uses. This is a very successful program.
· At its current level of annual funding - $85 million - RTP receives less than 42% of the Federal Highway Administration's conservative estimate of the federal gas taxes paid by America's nonhighway recreationists. The Senate bill would reduce that percentage to zero and represents a substantial new tax on motorized recreation enthusiasts.
· The return of gas taxes to trail users through the RTP is in keeping with the user-pay, user-benefit philosophy of the Highway Trust Fund. Ending dedicated funding for RTP takes these gas taxes away from the people who pay them. Ending dedicated funding for RTP is bad public policy and just plain wrong.
· The RTP is the foundation of state trail programs. If the RTP loses its dedicated funding, organized trail planning and development will simply vanish in many areas of the country.
Now is the time to act. Write, email or call your two Senators. Here's a link if you need it: http://www.senate.gov/. Make sure your entire grassroots organization is engaged as well.
We need to show the United States Senate just how many Americans are committed to the Recreational Trails Program. If we don't act, the very backbone of trails in America may be forever lost.
Please be sure to send us a copy of your message. Thank you for your help.
Marianne Fowler, Co-Chair, Coalition for Recreational Trails
Derrick Crandall, Co-Chair, Coalition for Recreational Trails
1225 New York Avenue, N.W., Suite 450
Washington, D.C. 20005
(202) 682-9530 Fax (202) 682-9529
cahern@funoutdoors.com
The Recreational Trails Program is in very deep trouble. The U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee has approved transportation reauthorization legislation known as MAP-21 that would effectively eliminate the RTP by stripping the program of its dedicated funding.
But all hope is not lost.
CRT and its member organizations have been working to identify key Champions in the Senate with the aim of having an amendment to restore dedicated funding for the RTP added to the bill before it is considered by the full Senate.
Reaching this goal will not be possible without your help.
Now is the time for all organizations and individuals who support RTP to tell their Senators to protect dedicated funding for this absolutely essential program.
The key messages are simple:
· Unless the bill is changed, MAP-21 will effectively eliminate the Recreational Trails Program; and
· Please amend MAP-21 to include dedicated funding for RTP.
Other helpful messages include:
· For the last two decades, RTP has received a portion of the gas taxes paid by users of off-highway motorized vehicles to fund trail building, maintenance and other trail-related projects. More than 13,000 projects have been funded across the country for all kinds of trail uses. This is a very successful program.
· At its current level of annual funding - $85 million - RTP receives less than 42% of the Federal Highway Administration's conservative estimate of the federal gas taxes paid by America's nonhighway recreationists. The Senate bill would reduce that percentage to zero and represents a substantial new tax on motorized recreation enthusiasts.
· The return of gas taxes to trail users through the RTP is in keeping with the user-pay, user-benefit philosophy of the Highway Trust Fund. Ending dedicated funding for RTP takes these gas taxes away from the people who pay them. Ending dedicated funding for RTP is bad public policy and just plain wrong.
· The RTP is the foundation of state trail programs. If the RTP loses its dedicated funding, organized trail planning and development will simply vanish in many areas of the country.
Now is the time to act. Write, email or call your two Senators. Here's a link if you need it: http://www.senate.gov/. Make sure your entire grassroots organization is engaged as well.
We need to show the United States Senate just how many Americans are committed to the Recreational Trails Program. If we don't act, the very backbone of trails in America may be forever lost.
Please be sure to send us a copy of your message. Thank you for your help.
Marianne Fowler, Co-Chair, Coalition for Recreational Trails
Derrick Crandall, Co-Chair, Coalition for Recreational Trails
1225 New York Avenue, N.W., Suite 450
Washington, D.C. 20005
(202) 682-9530 Fax (202) 682-9529
cahern@funoutdoors.com
The Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries Division (WFF) of the Alabama
Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (ADCNR) is currently
accepting applications through its Landowner Incentive Program (LIP) to
continue longleaf pine restoration efforts in Alabama. The grant was
awarded through a partnership with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
(USFWS), and will be made available to qualifying landowners for
longleaf pine restoration on private lands.
Landowners are encouraged to submit applications to receive assistance with the site preparation, seedlings, planting, native grass restoration and/or exotic control costs. For landowners to be considered eligible to receive funding, the property must be within the historic range of longleaf pine in Alabama, or contain suitable soils to support longleaf pine. Program details include: cost share at 50 percent, no minimum acreage is required, and cutover sites and agricultural sites are eligible.
The LIP funds are administered to complement habitat restoration goals of the longleaf pine ecosystem. This program provides financial and/or technical assistance to private landowners to conserve, manage or enhance the habitats of species in greatest conservation need associated with Alabama's longleaf pine ecosystem. The deadline for applications is March 1, 2012. For application information contract Traci Wood at 334-353-0503 or Traci.Wood@dcnr.alabama.gov.
The Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources promotes wise stewardship, management and enjoyment of Alabama's natural resources through five divisions: Marine Police, Marine Resources, State Lands, State Parks, and Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries. To learn more about ADCNR, visit www.outdooralabama.com.
Landowners are encouraged to submit applications to receive assistance with the site preparation, seedlings, planting, native grass restoration and/or exotic control costs. For landowners to be considered eligible to receive funding, the property must be within the historic range of longleaf pine in Alabama, or contain suitable soils to support longleaf pine. Program details include: cost share at 50 percent, no minimum acreage is required, and cutover sites and agricultural sites are eligible.
The LIP funds are administered to complement habitat restoration goals of the longleaf pine ecosystem. This program provides financial and/or technical assistance to private landowners to conserve, manage or enhance the habitats of species in greatest conservation need associated with Alabama's longleaf pine ecosystem. The deadline for applications is March 1, 2012. For application information contract Traci Wood at 334-353-0503 or Traci.Wood@dcnr.alabama.gov.
The Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources promotes wise stewardship, management and enjoyment of Alabama's natural resources through five divisions: Marine Police, Marine Resources, State Lands, State Parks, and Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries. To learn more about ADCNR, visit www.outdooralabama.com.
