ADK Budget Testimony

 

ADK Testimony Before the Senate Finance and Assembly Ways
and Means Committees on the 2008-09 Executive Budget 

February 12, 2008 


Good morning members of the Senate and Assembly. My name is Neil Woodworth, Executive Director of the Adirondack Mountain Club. Thank you for the opportunity to testify today on the Governor’s Executive Budget proposal. 


The Adirondack Mountain Club represents over 30,000 hikers and canoeists in New York.  We sponsor programs that range from teaching people to hike safely to repairing our state’s peerless hiking trail network. We are advocates for responsible recreation and protection of the Forest Preserve, state parks and other wild lands.  Our priorities today are state budget funding for open space protection and for stewardship of our Adirondack and Catskill Forest Preserve and our incomparable state parks system. 

Increasing EPF


ADK thanks the Legislature and the Governor for their commitment to increasing the EPF to $300 million by 2009 using revenue from the Real Estate Transfer Tax, the traditional funding source for the EPF since the fund’s creation in 1993. The Executive Budget proposal recommends that the EPF be funded at last year’s level of $250 million. ADK respectfully requests that the 2008-2009 EPF be funded at $275 million, which would be a strong first step towards next year’s agreed upon level of $300 million.   

Land Acquisition


Open space funding over the last several years has allowed New York to make important strides in land protection.  These needs continue.  More work needs to be done in Long Island, the Catskills, the Hudson Highlands, the Shawangunk Ridge, western New York, the Adirondacks and beyond.  We also support open space preservation in our urban areas as well.  We have many more accomplishments ahead of us in these areas.  


Over the last decade, New York has protected nearly 1 million acres.  The Executive Budget proposes to spend $66 million from the EPF for open space and state park acquisition, an $11 million increase over last year’s appropriation. The current unspent balance of EPF land acquisition appropriations is $67 million. However, our recent success in open space protection in New York State demonstrates that over the next two years at least $200 million is needed for Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) land acquisition projects and $100 million is needed for Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation (OPRHP) land acquisition projects. Examples of important projects around the state include state acquisition of the Lassiter, Clerical Medical, and Finch, Pruyn tracts in the Adirondacks; the Big Indian Plateau tract in the Catskills; Hemlock and Canadice Lakes owned by the City of Rochester, the last of the undeveloped Finger Lakes; and the AVR project on Long Island. 


Given that EPF land acquisition appropriations are allocated to both DEC and OPRHP it is critical that the EPF land acquisition appropriation be increased to at least $100 million in FY 2008-2009 so that the above-mentioned projects and many others can be completed before the opportunity to acquire these lands slips away. 


In addition to increasing the EPF land acquisition appropriation to $100 million, we ask that you consider amending Part B of the Transportation, Economic Development, and Environmental Conservation Article VII language to create a new EPF category authorizing the use of the EPF to pay approximately $4.5 million annually in interest on Clean Water State Revolving Fund  bonds over the next twenty years. If this is approved, DEC would be able to bond approximately $70 million for open space projects under the Clean Water State Revolving Loan Fund. New York is currently facing more land acquisition opportunities than at any other time in the state’s history. This SRF authorization would enable DEC to swiftly respond to these critical needs. 

Stewardship

ADK is very concerned about the Governor’s proposal to decrease the EPF’s state land stewardship account from last year’s funding level of $22 million to $5 million. This is a 78 percent cut from last year’s appropriation. While we are supportive of the Executive’s proposal to provide $110 million in bonded capital funding for state park improvements, including $8 million for DEC campground improvements, we believe that the state land stewardship account of the EPF must be restored to last year’s level of $22 million. The state land stewardship account is critical to protecting natural resources and accommodating public use and enjoyment of public lands. The stewardship account provides funding for traditional EPF stewardship projects for the Forest Preserve such as natural resource inventories, land planning, Americans with Disabilities Act compliance and backcountry trail work. An adequate level of land stewardship funding will ensure that the Forest Preserve, its trails, and its swimming areas will continue to contribute materially to the economy of the Adirondacks and Catskills.  


Given the fact that OPRHP is receiving approximately $100 million in bonded capital to care for 350,000 acres of parkland, it is reasonable and equitable for DEC to receive at least $22 million to care for the 4.5 million acres of land it manages in addition to the $8 million in capital funds for campground improvements. Even with last year’s increase in the stewardship account to $22 million, DEC’s Division of Lands and Forests received only $6 million in total and is still facing a large backlog of projects in need of funding. DEC’s Division of Lands and Forests manages over 4,000 miles of recreational trails on the Forest Preserve and State Forests for hiking, snowmobiling, cross country skiing and horseback riding providing access to fishing, boat launching, camp sites, beaches and scenic vistas.  Further, over the past decade, DEC has acquired 400,000 acres of working forest conservation easements. Stewardship funding is critical to ensuring that these lands are managed properly so that the public can fully enjoy the many recreational opportunities that these lands provide.  

Proposed EPF Sweep

ADK strongly opposes the proposed $125 million sweep of EPF funds this year
with an additional $75 million sweep over the next three years, increasing
the total of swept funds to more than a half a billion dollars since the
creation of the fund in 1993. The EPF was statutorily intended to be a locked box dedicated to funding environmental projects. Appropriated and reappropriated EPF funds are to be used only for environmental purposes and are not to be used for General Fund relief. This year, such a large sweep of unspent EPF money is more likely to negatively impact important environmental programs than in previous years.  

Bottle Bill


ADK also asks that you consider passing legislation updating the Bottle Bill. The expanded Bottle Bill would require beverage companies to transfer unclaimed bottle deposits to the EPF to support clean air, water, parks, and open space initiatives. Currently, beverage companies are keeping at least $100 million a year in unclaimed deposits from bottles and cans that are not returned. It is only fair that these unclaimed deposits are returned to the state for the benefit of the public. Transferring unclaimed deposits to the EPF, a dedicated fund to protect New York’s environment, would help support important environmental programs such as open space, farmland preservation, state land stewardship, municipal recycling, and other programs to protect our air, land, and water. As you know, environmental spending needs far exceed current funding levels. Updating the bottle bill would help to achieve our goal of a $500 million EPF by 2010. 

The updated bottle bill would also add bottled water, juices, sports drinks and other non-carbonated beverages to the bottle deposit system. Updating the bottle bill will help to control the growing problem of litter. The average return rate under the existing bottle bill is approximately 70 percent. Updating the bottle bill to include non-carbonated beverages would ensure that more than two billion additional bottles get recycled each year, resulting in cleaner communities.  


Thank you for inviting me to testify today on behalf on the Adirondack Mountain Club. Please let me know if you have any questions on our position on the state budget, I would be happy to try to answer them for you.