Washington - Today Senator Menendez led a letter to Senate Appropriations Committee leaders, co-signed by Senators Lautenberg, Lieberman, Blumenthal, Gillibrand, and Schumer, urging support for funding of Highlands Conservation efforts.
The letter highlights that "the long-term water security of millions living in our respective states depends on the success of the Highlands Conservation Act" in asking for "as strong a funding commitment to the program as possible" in 2012.
The Highlands is a 3.5 million acre region of undeveloped forest, farmland, and rugged hills stretching from Pennsylvania through New Jersey and New York to Connecticut.Without targeted conservation of these lands, the long-term provision of clean water for human consumption and for agricultural and recreational use in these states is at risk.
The Highlands Conservation Act delivers a systematic, regional program for identifying highest-priority lands for conservation. Projects are chosen through a scientifically rigorous process conducted each year by the US Fish and Wildlife Service and the USDA Forest Service. The four Governors of the states in the region then send a letter to the Secretary of the Interior detailing the four conservation projects selected for funding, one from each state. All federal HCA investments are matched 100 percent by state, local, and private organizations, doubling the federal investment in long term water security for the region.
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