February
7, 2005
By: Amy Souers Kober In an acknowledgment of the broad benefits of a healthy Mississippi
River, President Bush’s budget request for fiscal
year 2006 names Mississippi River restoration as a
top national priority.
The Administration’s budget for fiscal year 2006
requests full funding at $34 million for the
Environmental Management Program, the primary
habitat restoration program for the Upper
Mississippi and Illinois Rivers, and seeks $20
million for efforts to restore Louisiana’s vanishing
coastal wetlands.
“This request should serve as a wake up call for
Congress who last year provided a meager sum for
Mississippi River restoration,” said Scott Faber of
Environmental Defense. “Full funding is critical.”
Congress provided $17.5 million for FY 2005 for the
Environmental Management Program, which finances the
construction of habitat restoration projects and
long-term monitoring, after the Administration
requested $28 million. Congress provided $18 million
for the program in FY 2004.
Scientists say that river habitat is disappearing
faster than its can be replaced through programs
like the EMP, which is administered by the U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers. As habitat vanishes, many
species will decline and some species will
disappear, scientists warn. More than 500 square
miles of coastal wetlands will be lost by 2050 if
nothing is done, studies show.
“Far more than fish and wildlife is at stake,” said
Brad Redlin of the Izaak Walton League of America.
“Millions of commercial fishery, tourism,
recreation, and agricultural jobs depend upon the
health of river and its coastal delta. The river’s
delta wetlands protect from hurricanes millions of
people as well as the infrastructure that generates
20% of the nation’s energy supply.”
The Corps recently called for Congress to spend
about $130 million a year on Upper Mississippi River
habitat restoration efforts, and river lawmakers
have proposed ambitious restoration plans.
But Congress has never appropriated as much money as
current law allows. Congress raised the annual cap
on EMP spending to $33.2 million in 1999, but actual
spending peaked at $21 million in FY 2001.
Our nation relies on a healthy Mississippi River for
commerce, recreation, drinking water, food supply,
and power, among its many uses. Congress must
appropriate the full amount requested by the
Administration to ensure that the Mississippi River
and its coastal delta can continue to meet our
nation’s needs.
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