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Hagan applauds additional $1M released to NC from sequestered sportsmen trust funds
Story Date: 4/1/2014
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Source: PRESS RELEASE, 3/31/14
U.S. Senator Kay Hagan (D-NC), Co-Chair of the Congressional Sportsmen’s Caucus, today applauded the U.S. Department of Interior’s announcement that nearly $1 million in funding for North Carolina that was sequestered in FY2013 from two Sportsmen Trust Funds is being released. Hagan led a bipartisan effort to restore the funding, which is derived from excise taxes levied on motorboat fuel and hunting and fishing equipment.
“North Carolina’s sportsmen and women pay an excise tax to fund projects that enhance outdoor recreation, conserve wildlife habitats and provide hunting and boating safety education,” said Hagan. “These funds are a major reason our state is among the best places to hunt, fish and enjoy the outdoors in the country, and I am pleased this vital money will be released to North Carolina to help keep it that way.”
Last October, Congressional Sportsmen's Caucus Co-Chair John Thune (R-SD) and Senate Vice-Chairs Mark Pryor (D-AR) and James Risch (R-ID) joined Hagan in sending a letter to Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Sylvia Burwell. The letter urged Director Burwell to release funding sequestered from the Trust Funds.
Director Burwell informed the Senators this month that funding sequestered from the Sportsmen Trust Funds in FY2013 would be released to states as soon as possible. That promise was upheld when the Interior Department included $1 million sequestered in FY2013 in the total $29.5 million FY2014 allocation to North Carolina. Based on the precedent established by this decision, any funding sequestered from the Sportsmen Trust Funds in future fiscal years will be released early in the following fiscal year.
The Wildlife Restoration Trust Fund and the Sport and Sport Fish Restoration & Boating Safety Trust Fund, commonly known as the “Sportsmen Trust Funds,” are important funding sources that states use to restore and manage fisheries and wildlife habitats, open and maintain recreational access, provide hunter and boating safety education, and for important infrastructure such as public boating ramps.
Outdoor recreation supports 192,000 North Carolina jobs and contributes more than $19 billion to the state’s economy.
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