SALEM, Ore. — Budgets and funding challenges are at the heart of this year’s short legislative session in Salem, and the discussion tends to be dominated by topics like education and transportation, but a bipartisan group of lawmakers have also introduced a bill aimed at rising tens of millions of dollars in new funding for wildlife and habitat conservation and protecting Oregon’s imperiled species.
Dr. Sristi Kamal, deputy director of the Western Environmental Law Center, and Danielle Moser, wildlife program manager with Oregon Wild, were guests on this week’s episode of Straight Talk to discuss House Bill 4134, which would raise the state’s Transient Lodging Tax by 1.25%, from the current rate of 1.5% to a new rate of 2.75%, with the new revenue going to wildlife.
“We have over 300 species, 321 to be exact, that are in greatest conservation need, and so without intervention they run the risk of going extinct,” Moser said. “This is compounded by the fact that we have no dedicated funding at the state level for the recovery of these species and their habitats, and to make matters worse, the little bit of funding we were getting from the federal government has been zeroed out.”…