Senate bill hits Commission with $9 million cut

Raid of Wildlife Endowment Fund headed off by vocal protests

The Republican-controlled N.C. Senate approved along party lines a $20.6 billion budget on May 23, and as advertised, it approved cuts in state expenditures, $9 million of which will affect the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission.

If the N.C. House of Representatives approves the Senate’s budget without changes, the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission will be forced to absorb a significant funding reduction for its programs. Senate Bill 402 proposes to hold back $9,476,588 from an appropriation that has totaled $18 million the past two years — a 49-percent cut. The agency’s overall budget would shrink by 10 to 12 percent, which would likely mean the elimination of jobs and discontinued programs for the wildlife agency, which has a $63 million annual budget.

According to a source familiar with both the legislature and agency, the cut in appropriations from $18 to $9 million was a surprise, but even more surprising was the clear indication that the legislature felt that the Commission could balance its budget by taking money from the Wildlife Endowment Fund.

“A lot of people are raising hell over that,” the source said.

The Wildlife Endowment Fund, which has a current value of more than $105 million, was the brainchild of Eddie Bridges of Greensboro, executive director of the N.C. Wildlife Habitat Foundation, who was a member of the Commission in 1981 when the fund was created to set aside monies raised from the sale of lifetime licenses and lifetime subscriptions to Wildlife in North Carolina magazine.

The Commission is allowed only to spend interest generated from the Endowment Fund’s principal. The original bill, however suggested the Commission dig into the fund’s principal.

Bridges created a stir among certain influential allies when he heard about the proposed raid on the Endowment Fund, and after it was determined that the Commission would lose an additional $3 million in federal funding if the Fund was raided, the recommendation was dropped from the bill.

“I went back and got a copy of the original (Wildlife Endowment Fund) bill, Senate Bill 483, that was approved May 29, 1981,” Bridges said. “It says, ‘No repeal or modification of this bill may replace any state appropriation.’ So when I heard about what (the Senate) did, I thought it was absurd. And there are a lot of sportsmen in this state, so it would be political suicide to vote for this.

“The Wildlife Endowment Fund is like a sportsmen’s 401-K fund for the future. The money was put in there to benefit our children and grandchildren and future generations.

“We’ll just have to see what they do in the House now,” Bridges said. “I think the best thing sportsmen and sportswomen can do now is contact their representatives and tell them how they feel about this budget cut.”

The Commmission has put on hold 120 current projects, citing impacts the $9 million cut would create. The appropriation funds law enforcement, infrastructure for boating and fishing access areas, game lands, shooting ranges, community fishing sites and fish hatcheries.

“We are extremely disappointed,” said Tim Gestwicki, CEO of the N.C. Wildlife Federation, a non-profit conservation organization. “We urge the House to restore sanity to the budget and include the sufficient resources needed. If this is not rectified, we would move from having a formidable and respected wildlife agency to a podunk one left to wither, hog-tied in its ability to deliver its charge by state statute.”