Help stop a proposal to gut the Habitat Conservation Fund!
In 1990, voters approved the PCL-sponsored citizen’s initiative, Proposition 117, which created the Habitat Conservation Fund (HCF). The HCF appropriates $30 million a year from the state’s general fund for land acquisition and restoration projects to support habitat for mountain lions and other critical species.
As you read this, the California State Legislature and Governor Newsom are moving to defy the will of voters who passed Proposition 117 in 1990 and wipe out funding for the wildly successful Habitat Conservation Fund. As lawmakers and the governor move to finalize the budget by the end of June, your voice is essential to send a clear message that they need to reverse course and protect the fund.
With California’s population expected to reach 50 million by 2050 and the accelerating rate at which California’s plants and animals are facing a changing climate, the need to preserve wildlife habitat could not be more urgent.
How can YOU help?
Feel free to use our sample message below and get in touch with Governor Newsom and your legislators (Assemblymember and Senator) TODAY to urge them to keep not only the $45 million of General Fund already allocated to the Habitat Conservation Fund but also the existing requirements for ongoing appropriations to the HCF.
Your actions can help us preserve California’s way of life for generations to come!
P.S. Please forward and share this post far and wide! California’s diverse species and habitats need your support now more than ever.
TAKE ACTION: Click here to find your Legislators. Enter your address and then click on the locate button. Follow the links on the form to your Senator’s and Assemblymember’s webpages and click on their contact button. You can either call their office or use their online contact form and ask them to:
“Please remove the current State Budget proposal that would remove $45 million from the Habitat Conservation Fund, and reject any efforts to eliminate the requirement that $30 million be allocated annually to the Fund for habitat protection and conservation.
Thank you.”
https://www.gov.ca.gov/contact/
Find & Contact Your Local Legislator
https://findyourrep.legislature.ca.gov/
Background: Why is this critical habitat protection funding threatened? In 1990, voters approved the PCL-sponsored citizen’s initiative – Proposition 117, which created the Habitat Conservation Fund (HCF), appropriating $20 million a year for land acquisition and restoration projects to support habitat for mountain lions and other critical species. To date, the HCF has provided over six hundred million dollars in funds to protect nearly one million acres of habitat all across California. Nearly 40 years later, the HCF remains a highly effective and extremely popular program for implementing a wide range of vital conservation efforts throughout the state. However, this week in Sacramento, the final state budget is being negotiated, which includes a dangerous plan to axe $45 million already allocated to the HCF and language that would eliminate the existing requirement to appropriate $20 million per year to the HCF through 2030, eliminating another $60 million dollars in habitat restoration funds. This plan would be absolutely detrimental to California’s native species, and we need your help to #ProtectTheHCF!
What has funding from the HCF been used for?
• Protected more than one million acres of wildlife habitat across all 58 counties
• Provided significant funding for parks and conservancies
• Enabled the implementation of nature-based solutions to climate change
• Reconnected wildlife habitat, including crucial fish habitat
• Supported CA’s ability to meet the state’s 30×30 goals
• Helped fund the Wildlife Conservation Board