The California Department of Finance and the Resources Agency proposed withholding the sale of Proposition 40 Bonds in the upcoming 04/05 Fiscal Year. Prop 40 was approved by CA voters in March 2002 for the protection of our waterways and coastal environment. It is through the sale of these bonds that the state provides funds for the restoration of coastal watersheds for anadromous salmon, otherwise known as the Department of Fish and Game’s Fishery Restoration Grants Program. The state provides both a hard match (bond dollars) and soft match (General Fund dollars in the form of necessary DFG project biologists and contract administrators) to implement on the ground habitat restoration projects. These funds allow California to access millions of dollars in federal matching funds at a ratio of 3:1, as well as significant private matching funds for individual projects. Eliminating the Prop 40 and General Fund matching funds will end the state’s ability to access these other funding sources. The economic impact of shutting down the Department of Fish and Game’s Fishery Restoration Grants Program would also be felt in coastal communities throughout California through the loss of tourism associated with commercial and recreational salmon fishing.

Please disseminate this information and contact the Governor, CA State Senators and State Assembly members who will be required to approve the budget for these changes to take place. You may want to mention these points:

• More than $54 million in federal dollars have come to coastal California since 2000 because of the states ability to provide matching funds. The projects funded through the Fishery Restoration Grants Program also significantly improve water quality and will help reduce future flood damage to public and private infrastructure in coastal communities.
  
  
• Watershed Restoration programs are active from Del Norte County in the North to Los Angeles County in the South, as well as inland counties through the Klamath and Trinity Rivers. DFG received upwards of 320 proposals last year alone, which would employ hundreds of people full-time in many coastal counties doing work approved by California’s voters.
  
  
• A one-year hiatus in the Prop 40 bond funding for the Fishery Restoration Grants Program will likely result in the elimination of this vital habitat restoration program. If the state forfeits these Federal funds now they most likely will not be available in the future.

More Information: Total restoration dollars (state and federal) since Fiscal Year 00/01;

>> FY 00/01 - $24,088,000; >> FY 01/02 - $23,319,000; >> FY 02/03 - $29,253,000; >> FY 03/04 - $21,763,000 (estimated - money has not been released, pending the Governors budget)

Recent study (in draft) on the socio-economics of Restoration activities on the North Coast: http://www.fcresearch.org/HTML/finalrestorationreport.html

Contact your Representatives: It is very important to contact your elected representatives and tell them that it is critical for the state to provide Proposition 40 as matching funds for the Department of Fish and Game’s Fishery Restoration Grants Program. To Find your Representative’s contact info: go to http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/