Menu
2000 Session

Budget Amendments - SB30 (Committee Approved)

View Budget Item
View Budget Item amendments

VA Land Conservation Foundation

Item 410 #1s

Item 410 #1s

First Year - FY2001 Second Year - FY2002
Natural Resources
Conservation and Recreation, Department of FY2001 $6,200,000 FY2002 $6,200,000 GF

Language
Page 293, line 23, strike "$26,727,998" and insert "$32,927,998".
Page 293, line 23, strike "$22,402,998" and insert "$28,602,998".
Page 295, after line 20, insert:
"L.1.  This Item includes $6,200,000 the first year and $6,200,000 the second year from the general fund to carry out the purposes of Chapter 900, 1999 Session.  These funds shall be deposited in the Virginia Land Conservation Fund pursuant to § 10.1-1020,
Code of Virginia
.
2.  Of the amounts deposited to the Fund in the first year, $3,000,000 shall be transferred to the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries
to acquire property in Wythe County known as the "Big Survey."  Of the $3,000,000 to be transferred, the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries shall repay the Virginia Land Conservation Fund a sum of $1,000,000 before June 30, 2002.
3.  
The Departments of Conservation and Recreation; Agriculture and Consumer Services; and Business Assistance shall jointly study and report to the Chairmen of the Senate Committees on Finance and Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources and to the Chairmen of the House Committees on Appropriations and Agriculture prior to the convening of the 2001 Session about a Virginia Agriculture Vitality Program.  The study shall include, but not be limited to, the means by which moneys appropriated to the Virginia Land Conservation Fund can be used to develop programs to purchase development rights, secure agricultural conservation easements, provide small business advice and services, address the financial needs of retiring farmers and those persons desiring to farm, and provide strategic planning for future protection of Virginia farmland.  To that end, the agencies shall seek the input of soil and water conservation districts, the Virginia Farm Bureau, the American Farmland Trust, local governments, and the Cooperative Extension at Virginia Tech and Virginia State University."


Explanation
(This amendment provides $12.4 million of general fund support to preserve Virginia's agricultural lands, forests, natural areas, and historic sites through conservation easements and other mechanisms. Budget language transfers $3.0 million the first year to the Game Department to purchase a 9,000 acre wildlife management area in Wythe County. The Department will repay $1.0 million to the Virginia Land Conservation Fund. Language also requires several state agencies to study how the Fund can be used to preserve Virginia agriculture.)