Number: 1991-02
WHEREAS, over the past decade Congress has continued to add important fisheries conservation programs to the responsibilities of the four primary federal fisheries management agencies, National Marine Fisheries Service, Fish and Wildlife Service, Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management, without commensurate increases in funding to implement these programs adequately; and
WHEREAS, in the past year the Fish and Wildlife Service alone has been required by Congress to conduct new programs under the Chehalis River (Washington) Fisheries Restoration Act, the Great Lakes Fisheries Restoration Act, and the New England Rivers Fisheries Restoration Act; and
WHEREAS, the Sport Fish Restoration and Boating Safety Enhancement Act (Wallop-Breaux), which supplies the state fisheries and boating agencies with over $200 million each year to enable the states to address their own growing management responsibilities, is likely to be threatened by Congressional proposals for diverting these funds to programs not contemplated by the Act; and
WHEREAS, the need continues unabated for a massive restoration effort to address the continuing decline of wetlands and fish and wildlife populations nationally, for example in California’s Central Valley and the Great Lakes Region, due to ecologically unsound water management programs; and
WHEREAS, by June 1991 the National Marine Fisheries Service must make listing determinations on five populations of Pacific salmon found in the Columbia River basin while facing tremendous political pressure not to list these species as threatened or endangered;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation in annual meeting assembled March 21-24, 1991, in Memphis, Tennessee, calls upon Congress to appropriate additional monies, commensurate with the funding needs of their growing fisheries program responsibilities, to the agencies primarily responsible for federal fisheries management, the National Marine Fisheries Service, Fish and Wildlife Service, the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation urges Congress to maintain the integrity of the Sport Fisheries Restoration and Boating Safety Enhancement Act by resisting proposals to divert Wallop-Breaux funds to programs that are inconsistent with the goals and objectives of the Act; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation calls upon Congress to address fisheries restoration needs by enacting and beginning implementation of legislation that requires a comprehensive national wetlands, fish and wildlife restoration program; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation urges the National Marine Fisheries Service to implement its listing decision responsibilities for the Columbia River salmon listing petitions in a scientifically-sound manner that is fully consistent with the policies and standards of the Endangered Species Act.