Here's another media alert from the Congressional Sportsmen's Foundation. It lists funding for environmental projects.

Congress Passes Omnibus Spending Bill

Over the weekend the Congress approved a $388.4 billion omnibus discretionary spending package for the FY '05 appropriations bills that were not finalized prior to the election. The passage of the bill provides the necessary funding for federal government agencies and programs for 2005.

The omnibus includes about $19.5 billion for the Interior Department, Forest Service and related agencies which provides funding for many important conservation programs. Overall, the omnibus provides $466 million for Land and Water Conservation Fund programs, including $167 million for land acquisition programs operated by the Bureau of Land Management, Fish and Wildlife Service, Forest Service and National Park Service. The land acquisition total is still far short of the administration's request for $220 million, but well above the House-approved figure of $50 million. In addition to the land acquisition dollars, the omnibus includes $58 million for the Forest Legacy Program and $230 million for the Payment in Lieu of Taxes program, $4 million over the administration's request and $5 million over the total for FY '04.
Overall, the Forest Service will receive $4.27 billion, $107 million above non-emergency FY '04 funding (almost all of the increase is in fire programs) and $60 million above the request. The BLM would receive $1.776 billion, $61 million above non-emergency FY '04 funding and $3 million below the request, while the FWS would receive $1.3 billion, $3 million above FY '04. The State Wildlife Grant program was funded at $70 million, the same level as last year.

The FY '05 Agriculture bill was also finalized in the omnibus bill and includes $17 billion total, a $123 million increase over FY '04. The Agriculture spending measure does include over $2 billion overall for farmland conservation programs, a higher amount than in years prior but still short of the levels set by the 2002 Farm Bill

The most significant funding boost came for the Conservation Security Program, a new "green payments" program that began in 2002. The omnibus allots $202 million for the program -- which offers incentives for farmers to reach certain environmental targets -- more than quadrupling its FY '04 appropriation of $41 million. The agriculture appropriations bill also includes $1.02 billion for the Environmental Quality Incentives program, keeping in line with the President's budget request and increasing the program $25 million above FY '04. The Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program saw cuts from the $60 million set forth in the administration's budget request and the House and Senate bills -- coming in at $47 million in the omnibus, which is also $38 million lower than levels set forth in the Farm Bill.