spectr17
07-31-2002, 09:59 PM
DNR scrambling for CWD money
Wetlands, prairies likely to lose out in fight for funds
By Bill Novak, Capital Times (Madison)
July 30, 2002
The Department of Natural Resources will have to gut the state's wildlife management budget to pay for the chronic wasting disease eradication and sampling effort this fall.
The move could make $6.2 million available to the DNR in the battle against the disease, at the expense of habitat development.
"The money we have that we can reallocate is the vast amount of money we spend on habitat development," said Linda Freitag, DNR budget specialist for wildlife management.
"That's money for planting trees, restoring wetlands and restoring habitat for wildlife. Those are the activities that will suffer the most. We will restore fewer wetlands and fewer prairies."
The DNR is looking at the drastic reallocation of funds because it can't rely on federal help, Freitag said. In fact, she said, the DNR is not planning on getting any U.S. Department of Agriculture funding this year for the fight against chronic wasting disease.
DNR operations chief Carl Batha told a group of officials from a dozen south-central and southwest Wisconsin counties Monday that wildlife management programs will have to be cut "across the state" in order for the DNR to pay for the deer disease eradication program.
That includes sampling up to 500 deer in each of Wisconsin's 72 counties this fall to see if the disease has spread outside the 361-square-mile killing zone centered near Mount Horeb in western Dane County.
Freitag told The Capital Times that a DNR statewide policy team meeting is set for Wednesday to take up the reallocation.
While the total wildlife management budget is not available for reallocation because of various commitments, there is $12 million available, Freitag said. However, $5.8 million of the $12 million is for salaries and fringe benefits, so $6.2 million could be used in the chronic wasting disease program.
Wildlife management has 13 funding sources, but some of the funding is specific and most be spent on specific programming - for example, revenue from the pheasant stamp must be used for the pheasant program.
The DNR might also temporarily reassign wildlife management personnel to help fight chronic wasting disease.
"There might be some temporary reassignments but we are not going to move people around the state," Freitag said. "The big push is during the fall deer hunt. Once the hunt is over we will have a good sense of what we need to do in the future. I don't anticipate permanent reassignments or reallocation of staff time."
The $15 million in USDA funding for chronic wasting disease, which is to be awarded this week, will be spent mostly by other federal agencies, with whatever is left split up among various states. Federal officials said this week the money would be given to states that are a top priority in the fight against the disease, but Freitag isn't banking on help from the federal government.
"There are three ways to fund the CWD eradication program," she said. "Reallocate our own DNR money, and we already spent $1.2 million; have the Legislature allocate money, and they already gave us $2 million but we can ask for another $2 million; or we can get federal money, if and when it does appear."
The $15 million from the USDA, spread between federal agencies and state governments, won't go far in Wisconsin, Freitag said.
"Some of the money will come to the states, but the Wisconsin portion is largely unknown," she said. "We are not planning on any of that money this year."
Wetlands, prairies likely to lose out in fight for funds
By Bill Novak, Capital Times (Madison)
July 30, 2002
The Department of Natural Resources will have to gut the state's wildlife management budget to pay for the chronic wasting disease eradication and sampling effort this fall.
The move could make $6.2 million available to the DNR in the battle against the disease, at the expense of habitat development.
"The money we have that we can reallocate is the vast amount of money we spend on habitat development," said Linda Freitag, DNR budget specialist for wildlife management.
"That's money for planting trees, restoring wetlands and restoring habitat for wildlife. Those are the activities that will suffer the most. We will restore fewer wetlands and fewer prairies."
The DNR is looking at the drastic reallocation of funds because it can't rely on federal help, Freitag said. In fact, she said, the DNR is not planning on getting any U.S. Department of Agriculture funding this year for the fight against chronic wasting disease.
DNR operations chief Carl Batha told a group of officials from a dozen south-central and southwest Wisconsin counties Monday that wildlife management programs will have to be cut "across the state" in order for the DNR to pay for the deer disease eradication program.
That includes sampling up to 500 deer in each of Wisconsin's 72 counties this fall to see if the disease has spread outside the 361-square-mile killing zone centered near Mount Horeb in western Dane County.
Freitag told The Capital Times that a DNR statewide policy team meeting is set for Wednesday to take up the reallocation.
While the total wildlife management budget is not available for reallocation because of various commitments, there is $12 million available, Freitag said. However, $5.8 million of the $12 million is for salaries and fringe benefits, so $6.2 million could be used in the chronic wasting disease program.
Wildlife management has 13 funding sources, but some of the funding is specific and most be spent on specific programming - for example, revenue from the pheasant stamp must be used for the pheasant program.
The DNR might also temporarily reassign wildlife management personnel to help fight chronic wasting disease.
"There might be some temporary reassignments but we are not going to move people around the state," Freitag said. "The big push is during the fall deer hunt. Once the hunt is over we will have a good sense of what we need to do in the future. I don't anticipate permanent reassignments or reallocation of staff time."
The $15 million in USDA funding for chronic wasting disease, which is to be awarded this week, will be spent mostly by other federal agencies, with whatever is left split up among various states. Federal officials said this week the money would be given to states that are a top priority in the fight against the disease, but Freitag isn't banking on help from the federal government.
"There are three ways to fund the CWD eradication program," she said. "Reallocate our own DNR money, and we already spent $1.2 million; have the Legislature allocate money, and they already gave us $2 million but we can ask for another $2 million; or we can get federal money, if and when it does appear."
The $15 million from the USDA, spread between federal agencies and state governments, won't go far in Wisconsin, Freitag said.
"Some of the money will come to the states, but the Wisconsin portion is largely unknown," she said. "We are not planning on any of that money this year."