Good afternoon to everyone in DCNR.

Budget update

The special session of the Nevada Legislature has concluded and I want to give you a report on what occurred and at least a little insight as to what it means to all of us as employees and to the programs in DCNR.

As reported to you previously, DCNR provided a response to the Governor’s call to reduce the general fund expenditures by 10%.  The majority of the items included in our reduction recommendations were included in the final reduction action taken by the Legislature.  However, in the Division of Water Resources, five vacant positions offered were not included in the reduction and the funding was restored for these positions. In light of the March 1 hiring freeze, once a process is established that would allow a request to fill these DWR positions, and if that request is approved, recruitment will begin.

In addition, reductions to seasonal firefighter funding and to the fire suppression account (known as BA 4196 by NDF employees) were removed by the Executive Branch before the cuts were forwarded to the Legislature.  These two items were recognized as being critical to NDF’s fire fighting mission.  Also, at the end of the day, all NDF conservation camps were untouched and the camp program only lost a small amount of deferred maintenance funding.

On top of the request for 10% reductions, the Director’s Office, State Parks and Water Resources were also asked to give up some relatively small amounts of travel and training dollars in FY 10 and FY 11.  Further, the Budget Office identified additional general fund savings from vacant positions in the Director’s Office, NDEP (Bureau of Water Quality Planning), Water Resources and State Parks, and these reductions were included in the Legislature’s omnibus budget bill or, more formally, Assembly Bill 6.

• A bill to “sweep” additional funds from multiple agencies of state government included items in the following DCNR agencies:
• NDEP – Account for the Management of Hazardous Waste – $382,496 in interest
• NDEP – Account for the Management of Air Quality – $184,464 in interest
• NDEP – Mining Regulation & Reclamation – $82,752 in interest
• Water Resources – Flood Repairs and Disaster Relief – $50,000
• State Parks – Performance Guarantees – $2,062

It is important to point out that the “sweep” of these funds does not impact program operations or the staff within those programs.  Due to legal questions regarding the ability to take $750,000 in interest from the voter-approved conservation bond program, this potential “sweep” was not included in Assembly Bill 3 that dealt with these matters.

I’m sure that the legislation of most interest to each of you is the bill dealing with office hours and employee pay (Senate Bill 3).  We have received word from the State Department of Personnel that the Governor’s Office and the Department of Personnel’s professional staff are currently reviewing and interpreting the language.  If the Governor signs SB 3, Personnel will provide departments of state government with instructions on moving forward.  Rather than risking a misinterpretation of how this will impact all of us as state employees, I am going to wait to receive this information prior to letting you know how we will proceed.  It will be important to sit down with the department’s administrators as soon as I receive this guidance in order to make decisions on its implementation. Most importantly, almost all of the changes proposed do not take place until July 1, so there is a bit of time to make certain we implement the changes correctly.  I do understand that you are anxious about the implications (as am I) and we will get this information to you as quickly as possible.

As you know, the media carried a great deal of speculation about State Parks closures in the days leading up to the special session.  In the end, all State Parks remain open and there was a genuine show of support for State Parks from the Executive Branch (especially the Governor’s Office) and citizens and local governments throughout state.  The bottom line is that State Parks will go through a process of raising various fees to replace $1,086,000 in general fund support removed from the State Parks budget for FY 11 in AB 6.  (This amount was erroneously reported as $5.1 million by a couple of media outlets.)

Likewise, some media sources also reported that “$5.9 million is to be raised through higher fees charged by the Division of Water Resources.” This language is not included in the final legislation and, in fact, was never contained in either the introduced or enrolled version of the bill.

As was widely reported in the press, the Governor did place on the agenda of the special session the matter of a DCNR-suggested legislation to address a recent Nevada Supreme Court decision related to water allocation in Spring Valley.  In its most liberal interpretation, this decision calls into question as many as 14,500 water rights applications since 1947.  The matter received a hearing in both the Senate and the Assembly and was the topic of frantic last minute negotiations to craft a bill to address all of the issues in play.  At the end of the session time simply ran out and language acceptable to the legislative body was not forthcoming.  The legislature did undertake the rather unusual action of issuing a statement of intent in the legislative journal.  Obviously, since it is Legislative Branch direction it is not binding on the Executive Branch; however, we believe it is sound policy and will move forward with working with all of the affected parties.  A copy of the statement can be found here:  http://docs.google.com/View?id=df38277g_237gqd3qhfh

A jobs bill was also approved by the legislature which includes a component of a DCNR account.  A portion of the revenues of the State Petroleum Fund (a fee on gasoline) will now be used for road construction projects.  This will not impact the program’s operation or the staff in it.

The bottom line is that the economic recession has hit Nevada state government very hard and DCNR is no exception.  While this latest round of reductions cut very deep, I am pleased that no DCNR staff members have lost their jobs.  Obviously we are going to be on a very tight ration of training, travel and operating expenses and we will all have to bear more of the workload given the loss of vacant positions.

As information is brought forward I will let you know.

State Lands and partners win “Best in the Basin” award

The Division of State Lands, joined by the Incline Village General Improvement District, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the engineering firm ENTRIX, won an award from the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency for an innovative stream restoration project and public park in Incline Village.

The project, the Third Creek Restoration, will reduce sediments flowing into Tahoe, control stream bank erosion and will improve fish habitat.

TRPA has recognized projects that are compatible with the Lake Tahoe environment with “Best in the Basin” awards for 20 years.

Wendell McCurry water quality award presented to Washoe County

The Washoe County Department of Public Works Roads Division was the recipient of the 2009 Wendell McCurry Excellence in Water Quality Award for the use of advanced roadway sweeping practices that help prevent fine sediment and nutrients from entering Lake Tahoe.

The award recognizes Washoe County’s implementation of a robust roadway sweeping program, which is seen as a key pollutant source control action to help meet the Clarity Challenge—restoring 10 feet of Lake Tahoe’s famed clarity. Read more here.

Recreational trails grant funds available from State Parks

The Federal Highway Administration grant program administered by Nevada Division of State Parks is accepting pre-applications for the 2010 round of recreation trails projects until March 31, 2010.

Federal, state, city and county governments, special governmental districts, organizations and private individuals are potentially eligible for match-based grants offered through the program. Eligible projects include motorized and non-motorized trail projects for new construction, maintenance and trail-related facilities. Trail education projects are also eligible. The maximum amount available per project is $200,000 for non-motorized. There is no cap for motorized trail projects and the minimum amount awarded to projects is $4,000. Read more.

As a final note, I know the times are difficult and extremely stressful.  Thanks to all of you for your hard work and dedication to Nevada’s natural resources.

Sincerely,

Allen