The National Park Service Rivers,
Rivers and Trails Coalition Strongly Opposes President’s Plan to Cut $500,000 from RTCA Program in 2007 Budget Proposal.
The Rivers and Trails Coalition, of which American Whitewater is a member, not only opposes this proposed cut, but calls for a program budget increase, requesting an appropriation of $10.3 million for RTCA in fiscal year 2007.
The RTCA program is a technical assistance program of the National Park Service that implements the natural resource conservation and outdoor recreation mission of the NPS. RTCA yields enormous conservation and recreation benefits to communities by fostering partnerships between federal, state, and local interests. The resulting cooperative efforts restore rivers and wildlife habitat, develop trail and greenway networks, preserve open space, and revitalize communities—all contributing to improved quality of life and close-to-home recreation.
RTCA is a highly effective and cost efficient program. On average, the program partners protect nearly 700 miles of rivers, create more than 1300 miles of trails, and conserve more than 61,000 acres of open space each year. Projects also entail transportation alternatives, brownfield redevelopment, youth conservation projects, and floodplain planning. RTCA plays a critical role in creating a seamless, nationwide network of parks and open spaces, supporting conservation partnerships, promoting volunteerism, and encouraging physical activity. Current demand for RTCA services greatly exceeds the program’s capacity.
RTCA program may well be the government program that benefits paddlers’ enjoyment of rivers more than any other. The RTCA is a great program and we encourage paddlers to contact their US Senators and Representatives in support of fully funding the RTCA.
Funding Status:
RTCA is a very successful and popular technical assistance program, coordinating nearly 300 projects annually, but its funding has remained relatively flat during the last decade and lagged well behind the rate of inflation. The program was cut by $200,000 in 2006. As a result, the program’s real budget has declined and resulted in significant cuts to staff and reduced staff participation in on-the-ground projects, diminishing essential services of this field-based program. RTCA currently has about 75 program staff compared to about 90 staff in 2002.
RTCA receives .003 or less than a third of 1% of the total funding for the National Park Service, yet by building local partnerships it succeeds in leveraging the federal investment multiplying the original federal investment many times over in local, state, and partnership direct funding and in-kind matches. Each year, the modest amount of National Park Service funding for staff time has helped leverage millions of dollars from other sources for its projects. The Rivers and Trails Coalition believes that the Park Service should strengthen programs such as RTCA that support communities through partnerships and capacity-building, enabling local stakeholders to better manage and conserve their recreational and natural resources. The RTCA exemplifies the best of cooperative conservation partnerships.
The President’s budget for 2007 calls for a program cut of $500,000, which would reduce overall funding for the program to $7.7 million. If the Administration-proposed FY 2007 funding level were to be enacted, it would be a severe cut to this valuable program, it would put many of the projects presently underway at risk, would result in a loss of staff, and likely closure of field offices. RTCA is not a program that should be cut by any amount, and in fact, requires a $2 million increase to remedy the program’s continued erosion, compensate for losses due to inflation, and enable the program to respond to growing needs and opportunities in communities throughout the country. The 2002 appropriation for this program was $8.2 million, and rescissions and program cuts have reduced funding to its present $8.0 million level. This flat funding has resulted in significant reductions to the program over the past several years. In 2004, The Senate approved a funding increase of $1.5 million, but the entire amount was never approved by the Congress.
FY 2006 Appropriation: $8.135 million
FY 2007 Administration Request: $7.7 million (includes proposed budget cut of $500k)*
FY 2007 Rivers and Trails Coalition Request: $10.1 million
*The Rivers and Trails Coalition strongly opposes the President’s proposed program budget cut of $500,000 for 2007
The member organizations of the Rivers and Trails Coalition encourage advocates for this program to contact their U.S Senators and Representatives and ask them to oppose the program cut for 2007 and support a budget increase for this valuable and worthy program.
To learn more about the RTCA program, including current projects, visit http://www.nps.gov/rtca/.
To learn more about the Rivers &