Conservation News
Bush Administration to Request $100 million for Private Conservation Projects
By John Heilprin, Associated Press
WASHINGTON (January 31, 2026 1:00 a.m. EST) - The White House will ask Congress to provide $100 million for a federal program to encourage private landowners to take up conservation projects with public land managers and local communities.
"Conservation is a responsibility of citizenship, and the citizens who live on the land often know more than anyone else about the land and how to conserve it," said Interior Secretary Gale Norton, who plans to announce the new program Thursday at Pennsylvania's John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge at Tinicum.
"Our initiatives will empower a new generation of citizen-conservationists," she said.
As part of President Bush's fiscal 2003 budget, the administration also will ask for "a net increase" in overall funding for the Interior Department's conservation projects after shifting or refocusing some other programs, said Lynn Scarlett, the department's assistant secretary for policy, management and budget. The exact budget figures are being rolled out next week.
Those conservation projects include $60 million - a $10 million increase over the previous year - to promote other private landowner conservation efforts.
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