Coalition Pushing To Save Conservation Funding

A coalition called America's Voice for Conservation, Recreation and Preservation is pushing a new study commissioned by one of its members that shows that outdoor recreation, natural resource conservation and historic preservation supports 9.4 million jobs, raises $107 billion in tax revenue and generates $1.06 trillion in economic activity each year. The coalition, which includes the Wilderness Society, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and several hundred other groups, is worried that as the government looks to cut spending, it will go too far in slashing conservation funding. In a conference call with reporters today, leaders of the coalition highlighted how spending in these areas only accounts for 1.26 percent of the federal budget...more