Montana Natural Heritage Program FY17 Budget Update

December 1, 2016Lindsey WeaverDarlene Patzer

mtnhp.org

Leslie Berg - retired

Funding Definitions• MSL CORE ($439,113 FY17)

State funding legislatively appropriated to the Montana State Library and contained in the biennial contract between MSL and UM for “Essential Core Services”

• SUPPLEMENTAL CORE ($253,250 FY17)Funding provided by partners recognizing the limits of legislative funding. Used at the discretion of the Program to provide the essential core services in the biennial MSL-UM contract

• MLIA CORE ($10,000 FY17)Funding from the Montana Land Information Act for wetland/riparian and land cover mapping in support of this Montana Spatial Data Infrastructure layers

• PROJECT ($815,150 FY17)Funding that supports the overall mission of the program but entails specific deliverable products for partners. Project funding does not allow discretionary spending by the Program and does not directly support essential core services.

MLIA Core$10,000

FY17 Natural Heritage Program Funding Overview

MSL Core$439,113

Supplemental Core$253,250

December 2016MT State Legislative Funding

General Fund: $155,590Agency Support: $283,523(FWP, DEQ, DNRC, MUS, MDT)

~Total Budget$1,517,513

~Total Projects $815,150

Supplemental Core AgreementsFederal ($137,000)

Bureau of Land Management ($60,000)US Forest Service ($45,000)Natural Resource Conservation Service ($25,000) Bonneville Power Administration ($6,000)US Fish and Wildlife Service ($5,000)

UM ($50,000)VP for Research & Creative Scholarship

State Agencies ($31,000)Dept. of Agriculture ($20,000)Dept. of Transportation ($10,000)Dept. Natural Resources & Conservation ($1,000)

Private/NGO ($31,250)NatureServe ($20,000)The Nature Conservancy ($10,000)Plum Creek ($1,250)

MLIA FundingWetlands $10,000Land Cover $0

Approximate Total Funding from State and Federal Partners for Botany, Ecology, and Zoology

Projects

FY15$1,519,113 FY17

$1,517,513

FY16$1,575,398

INFLATIONARY EROSION OF CORE FUNDING WITH NO PRESENT LAW ADJUSTMENTS (COLA) OVER 8 YEARS

~$66,000 (+16%)~$56,000 (+68%)

~$11,000 (+375%)$3,567 in 2009

Overall reduction of 31%

OrganizationalFunding

Total Employees: 23Total FTE: 20

2017 LEGISLATIVE SESSION UPDATE (FY18-FY19 BUDGET YEARS)

• Requested $100,000 annual increase through Governor’s Executive Planning Process (EPP) in order to address lack of present law adjustment (COLA) resulting from MTNHP’s operation as a contracted program of the Montana State Library

• Our EPP had strong support from the Montana State Library Commission

• The Montana Invasive Species Council (MISAC) and Agency Directors from DNRC, FWP, and Dept. of Agriculture wrote a letter of support for our EPP funding request and MISAC and on Agency Director met with the Governor’s staff

• The EPP request was not included in the Governor’s FY18-FY19 budget. Although the Governor’s budget does support a 1% pay increase for state employees in the next biennium, MTNHP would not benefit from this because of its operation as a contracted program. Furthermore, the Governor’s budget proposes a 5% across-the-board reduction in agency operations budgets and operation of the MTNHP as a contract would be subject to this cut.

• We need recognition of the value of the program by the Governor’s Office and the importance of present law adjustments for maintaining the program

• We hope for maintained and increased support from our Partners and legislators on the Joint Appropriations Subcommittee for Education that we had in the 2015 legislature

• We need a Return on Investment (ROI) evaluation of the program

POTENTIAL IMPACTSReduction in Core and Supplemental Core funded science positions will have an effect on:

– Staff morale, retention, and hiring

– Currency and accuracy of data and information

– Evaluation and updates of species status ranks

– Maintenance and updates of the Montana Field Guide including species management information

– Aquatic Ecology program component missing for 2 years

– Ability to answer data requests at the desired level

– Ability to review and process observation data and make it available for environmental reviews

Future Organizational

Funding?

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Thoughts, Ideas, Feedback?