[CT Birds] $$ bird seed tax

[COMINS, Patrick]

Thank you for writing your legislators.  Hearing to constituents on these issues really does make a difference.  The DEP funds would not go towards habitat protection; that is the realm of Face of Connecticut and the Land and Water Conservation Act (both of which have action opportunities forthcoming).

These funds would go to our chronically under-funded Department of Environmental Protection and help things like habitat management, additional EnCon officers to enforce wildlife laws, as well as additional capacity for research projects and inventory and analysis of key natural resources.  Additional funds for State Forests, State Parks and also the Environmental Quality side of the agency would also be included.   One way that this funding would help with direct habitat protection is by providing more staff who can provide better guidance of how existing funds can be most effectively spent...e.g. the ~$9M that is available for the Connecticut Grassland Habitat Initiative.  Also, habitat management is essential in most cases once land is protected.

Please keep your eyes out for alerts for opportunities to support the Land and Water Conservation Fund appropriations for the Conte and McKinney National Wildlife Refuges in CT and for the Face of Connecticut, both efforts which will provide more resources for direct habitat acquisition efforts.  The Land and Water Conservation Fund efforts will be particularly important over the next few years with the opportunity to add Long and Pleasure Beach to the McKinney NWR and a key forested parcel currently available for Conte and lots of other land in need protection in Conte Focus areas in the medium to longer terms.

Sincerely,

Patrick Comins, Meriden.