Based on thirty years with the FWS and eight years handling P-R I believe the answer is the Conservation and Reinvestment Act (CARA). Publicity about the problems with the state audits would jeopardize CARA and that will not be allowed to happen.

CARA is proposed legislation that would provide $3 BILLION a year for 15 years to the state agencies. This $45 BILLION would come from Federal offshore oil revenue and be distributed to all states (including those who do not allow offshore drilling) on a formula basis. Alaska and Louisiana get bigger shares because of political considerations. The money is to be used for land acquisition and a host of generic conservation pursuits like non-game animals and recreation.

There are many reasons to oppose CARA and I make no bones about being opposed to it’s passage. However, after reading the above, I would ask you to be aware of one claim. It is to be administered "just like Pittman-Robertson and Dingell-Johnson". That is to say, most of it distributed and overseen by the same FWS who just fired the auditors. The same FWS who is not investing funds in a timely manner. The same FWS who is apparently unconcerned about the information collected by their own auditors regarding the current P-R and D-J funds.

It is my firm opinion that FWS, the Washington NGO’s, state agencies, and Congressional staff are silent, or merely turning a blind eye to all of this because they all stand to gain so much if CARA passes.

FWS will get Billions to "administer" each year. This means administrative funds, personnel and grade increases, and the opportunity to do what they did for so long with the administrative funds from P-R and D-J previously. It also means ultimate control of millions of more acres to be purchased by the states. Just as FWS recently tried to ban dog field trials that have occurred for years on state P-R lands purchased as much as 50 years ago, and just as they considered banning trapping on all Federally controlled lands a few years ago, the potential control of CARA lands shall always lie with future Federal regulators bold enough to seize it.

The congressional staffers and their members are all widely supportive of CARA. Passage will assure lots of good publicity and lots of grateful environmental supporters. The funding will be a one time grant and not perceived annually to be a use for a lesser need than say defense or something that will "raid the Social Security Trust Fund lockbox". Bills really don’t get any better than that.

The NGO’s all want to stay on friendly terms with the Federal and state officials who will be making grants available to them and their members. Many NGO’s also believe that the Animal Rights groups will prevail over the hunting and fishing communities and they want to remain viable employees in any future environment. Like Italian villagers in a WWII movie, they keep several flags under their bed and fly the one of whichever soldiers are in town.

Last but not least, the states are trying to be discreet about the audit results, the firing of the auditors, and the lack of regular audits of their activities. Sportsmen tend to get upset when they see their license money going for juvenile law enforcement or P-R land acquisition money going to state parks that do not allow hunting. Like every bureaucracy since time began, each state agency believes they "need’ "more". CARA will meet their "need" until the next opportunity for funds presents itself and then new justifications will be generated. CARA means new employees, more land acquisition, and lots of non-game work that no groups have ever been committed enough to in the past to fund. Unlike taxes on guns and fishing tackle; taxes on binoculars, bird seed, and hiking shoes fail every time. CARA will tax the offshore oil user to support what the non-game "user" wants. CARA will send money from Washington to the states to use for noble ends. It is a win/win for the state agencies.