The Fish and Wildlife Service's acting Director Rowan Gould will again be on the hot seat Wednesday, defending a proposed $47.9 million increase over the service's current budget at a time when legislators are sharpening their scalpels for cuts.
Gould and his deputies likely will face questions about their requested hefty increase for land acquisition when they appear before Rep. Mike Simpson's (R-Idaho) House Interior and Environment Appropriations Subcommittee. As part of President Obama's sweeping "Great Outdoors" initiative, the administration is asking for $140 million for FWS to acquire new land for conservation -- an increase of more than one-third over its 2010 budget.
Two weeks ago, Republicans on a House Natural Resources subcommittee put Gould's feet to the fire, calling his service's proposed budget out of touch with the country's fiscal reality. They took particular issue with FWS's plans to acquire land through conservation easements, in which landowners maintain ownership of a property but make a voluntary legal commitment to preserve the land from certain types of development. GOP members called such easements an example of big government intrusion (E&E Daily, March 3).
The service's $1.7 billion budget proposal also holds funding upticks for endangered species protections and climate change initiatives, which could come up for debate.
Republicans also are likely to press for details on how the service spent the $280 million in stimulus funds it received. The service reported that 4,020 jobs were saved or created with those dollars, and Gould has said the investments in maintenance and new visitors centers made with those funds will have extra pay-off by giving future generations access to and appreciation for the outdoors. But GOP lawmakers have been skeptical that taxpayers got enough bang for their buck.
Schedule: The hearing is Wednesday, March 16, at 1 p.m. in Rayburn B-308.
Witness: Dan Ashe, deputy director, Fish and Wildlife Service; Rowan Gould, acting director, Fish and Wildlife Service; and Chris Nolin, budget officer, Fish and Wildlife Service.
