In July, the Senate defeated an amendment by Sen. Gordon Smith, R-Ore.,
that would have overridden recent federal biological opinions protecting
two endangered sucker fish in Upper Klamath Lake and would have released
irrigation water to 1,400 farmers. The spending bill provides $1.7
million for fish and wildlife-related water supply and management
activities in Klamath Basin, which includes two national migratory bird
refuges on the Oregon-California border.

But environmental groups complained the final interior bill retained a
rider by Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, barring any reduction in the number
of cruise ships allowed at Glacier Bay National Park for one year. A
Wilderness Society official said the provision will overturn a court
decision that required evaluation of potential impacts of an increase in
ship traffic on endangered humpback whales, air quality and noise
levels.

Congress earlier rejected a Bush administration request for a
legislative rider that would have imposed a one-year moratorium on
citizen enforcement of endangered species listing deadlines through the
courts. Since then, the Fish and Wildlife Service and environmental
groups have reached an out-of-court agreement setting a schedule and
priorities for new listing and critical habitat decisions.

The agency received $9 million to carry out court-ordered listing and
critical habitat activities, a $3 million increase. Overall, the final
bill increased the Fish and Wildlife Service's budget for resource
management to $850.6 million, $43.8 million above FY01. National
wildlife refuges and wildlife programs received an increase of $23
million, to $399 million.

Despite budget constraints, Congress approved record funding for parks,
land and wildlife conservation, federal and state land acquisition,
coastal and ocean protection, historic preservation and payments to
states and counties in lieu of property taxes.

Dicks said the commitment to fully funding the Conservation,
Preservation and Infrastructure Improvement Trust Fund was "the most
important thing to me in this bill and to many of my colleagues." The
six-year, $12 billion program was initiated last year by Congress as
part of the FY01 interior spending bill, with revenue from federal
off-shore oil leases.

In FY02, funding will total $1.32 billion, an increase of $120 million
over FY01 and more than double the $637 million for similar programs in
FY2000.

"I am extremely pleased," Dicks said this week. "This six-year effort
represents the most significant increase ever approved for conservation
spending across federal environmental accounts that will boost land
acquisition, maintenance and wildlife habitat protection in national
parks, forests and refuge areas."

Sue Gunn, director of the Wilderness Society's national parks program,
said the bill "represents a solid victory for conservation funding,
especially in these leaner times."

Second-year amounts include:

-- $429 million for federal land acquisition, including $4.25 million
for the Forest Service's Pacific Northwest Streams program;

-- $144 million for state Land and Water Conservation Fund grants;

-- $96.2 million for the Cooperative Endangered Species Conservation
Fund;

-- $85 million for state wildlife grants;

-- $65 million for the Forest Legacy program;

-- $50 million for two new landowner habitat conservation and
stewardship incentive programs requested by Bush, under the Fish and
Wildlife Service;

-- $43.5 million for the North American Wetlands Conservation Fund.

The bill also includes $25.8 million for the multi-year Elwha River
restoration project for engineering and design work leading to the
eventual removal of two dams. Dicks said the National Park Service
project eventually will restore one of the most historically-robust
salmon runs on the Olympic Peninsula.

Another $14 million was included for restoration of endangered and
threatened salmon and other fish throughout the Pacific Northwest
region, he said. The Fish and Wildlife Service will use the funds for
fish habitat enhancement and protection, research on Bull Trout habitat,
hatchery reform and salmon habitat protection grants in Washington
state.

In the budget for the Bureau of Indian Affairs, $4 million was earmarked
for Washington state's Timber Fish and Wildlife program, which funds
tribal health, salmon and economic development initiatives.

But the final bill reduced funding to help Columbia Basin irrigation
districts install fish screens on water diversions to $4 million, $1
million less than the Senate-passed version. The program was authorized
by congress last year.

The University of Idaho will receive $100,000 for research on Columbia
and Snake River salmon and steelhead recovery and genetics.

The bill also contains an unprecedented $2.2 billion to implement the
national wildland fire plan, including:

-- $903 million for preparedness;

-- $682.7 million for fire suppression;

-- $395 million for hazardous fuel reduction, primarily in the
urban-wildland interface;

-- $102.7 million for restoration and rehabilitation of burned and
degraded ecosystems and reduction of invasive species.