State: Red ink threatens wildlife agency

The situation at the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is so dire that the fund for saving the Florida panther will be more than $400,000 in the red by next summer, according to the report released last week.

"The commission is facing a crisis in its financial status," states the 40-page report from the Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability, which assists the Legislature in analyzing how the state is spending tax dollars.

Allen Egbert, executive director of the wildlife commission, said Monday that talk of a crisis "might be a bit strong." However, he said the commission faces the prospect of painful cutbacks unless something changes.

That prospect dismays environmental activists such as Laurie Macdonald of Florida Defenders of Wildlife, who says the Legislature should do more to help.

"They're starving the Wildlife Commission," she said, pointing out state studies showing that hunting, fishing and nature-watching have an estimated $7.8-billion impact on the state's economy.

The report says most of the species in Florida that the commission is supposed to protect are already declining in population, primarily because development is wiping out natural habitat for panthers, bears, scrub jays and other rare wildlife.

Judith Vallee of the Save the Manatee Club said the report has her concerned over the future of manatee protection, because federal officials have said recently that they expect the state to take a larger role in overseeing the endangered marine mammal's recovery.

"The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is depending on the state to carry out protection for the manatee, and they may not be able to afford it," Vallee said.

Seventy percent of the commission's $180-million budget, about $129-million, comes from six trust funds. Each one has been set up for specific purposes, such as the Save the Manatee Fund and the Florida Panther Research and Management Fund.

The state Game Trust Fund pays for management of deer and other wildlife that are hunted. The Non-game Wildlife Trust Fund pays for research on bears and other wildlife that are not hunted. The Marine Resources Conservation Fund is aimed at saltwater fishing, while the Conservation and Recreational Lands Trust Fund covers the purchase of important wildlife habitat.

The funds come from fees for permits and licenses, as well as the sale of specialty license plates such as the popular Save the Manatee plate. Because the sale of fishing and hunting licenses has declined, the report says, in three years three of the funds will post a combined deficit of more than $9-million.

One problem is that the wildlife commission gives away more than 70 types of permits, the report said.

The commission spent $1-million last year handing out free permits for activities such as allowing developers to destroy the nests of migratory birds and pave over gopher tortoise burrows, according to the report.

In addition, attractions such as Busch Gardens and Walt Disney World are not required to pay for statements to exhibit exotic animals.

And some of the permits for which the commission does charge -- $5 for running a game farm, for instance -- have not changed in price since the 1920s.

For six years, the commission has asked the Legislature for permission to start charging for some activities and to raise permit fees for others. Every year, lawmakers have said no.

"I think the problem is that these elected officials run for re-election, and they all dread being accused of raising taxes," Egbert said.

To get permission to raise fees "is going to take a lining up of all the celestial bodies," he said.

To read the full report on the Web, go to: www.oppaga.state.fl.us/reports/environ/r01-48s.html

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