Presenter: Julie Horsley

Commission Agenda Item No. 14
Action
Approval of Projects Funded from the
Texas Parks and Wildlife Conservation and Capital Account (Account 5004)
November 2007

I. Executive Summary: Section 11.043 of the Parks and Wildlife Code provides that money in the Texas Parks and Wildlife Conservation and Capital Account (Account 5004) may only be spent on certain projects that have been individually approved by the Commission. This item seeks Commission approval of proposed FY2008 projects funded from this source.

II. Discussion: The Commission approved FY2008 operating and capital budget (approved August 2007), included a total of $6.4 million related to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Conservation and Capital Account. This figure included Sporting Goods Sales Tax transfers into the account totaling $1.2 million, conservation license plate balances and revenues totaling $2.5 million, and account balances of roughly $2.7 million. While overall amounts were approved at the August meeting, the individual projects funded from these sources were not explicitly discussed.

In compliance with statutory requirements, staff requests Commission approval of the specific projects to be funded from Account 5004 as listed in Exhibit A.

III. Recommendation: Staff recommends the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission adopt the following motion:

"The Commission approves expenditure of Texas Parks and Wildlife Conservation and Capital Account funds included in the FY2008 budget for the individual projects shown in Exhibit A."

Attachments – 1

  1. Exhibit A – FY 2008 Project Listing

Commission Agenda Item No. 14
Exhibit A

FY2008 Texas Parks and Wildlife Conservation and Capital Account Project Listing

Division Strategy Project Name Project Description Fund Amount
Executive E.1.1. Central Administration Field Auditors Funding for travel costs associated with field auditors required to implement State Auditor's recommendations (General Appropriations Act, Rider 29). 5048-SGST Transfer to Account 5004 $ 115,572
Inland A.2.1. Inland Fisheries Management Freshwater Resource Management Funding to develop fish stocking plans, habitat improvement, and research to improve the statewide fisheries program. 5047-Largemouth Bass Plates $ 170,016
Infrastructure D.1.1. Improvements and Major Repairs Force Account Crew Salaries Funding to pay a portion of salaries and benefits for 34 staff on the Force Account Crew. The Force Account Crew is comprised of agency staff directly involved in repair/construction activity related to projects. Note: This funding was approved by the 80th Legislature for Infrastructure support costs related to the State Parks exceptional item. 5004-Conservation /Capital Account $ 562,717
Infrastructure D.1.3. Infrastructure Administration Inspector Salaries Funding to pay a portion of salaries and benefits for 7 Project Inspectors. Note: This funding was approved by the 80th Legislature for Infrastructure support costs related to the State Parks exceptional item. 5004-Conservation /Capital Account $ 75,949
Infrastructure D.1.3. Infrastructure Administration Project Manager/Architect Salaries Funding to pay a portion of salaries and benefits for Project Managers (15), Architects (4) and Surveyors (4). Note: This funding was approved by the 80th Legislature for Infrastructure support costs related to the State Parks exceptional item. 5048-SGST Transfer to Account 5004 $1,114,024
Department wide D.1.1. Improvements and Major Repairs SORM Payments Payments to the State Office of Risk Management 5004-Conservation /Capital Account $ 3,500
State Parks B.1.1. State Park Operations Acquisition of Transportation Items Funding for vehicles used in state park operations. 5044- Bluebonnet Plates $ 696,867
State Parks B.1.2. Parks Minor Repair Program State Parks Minor Repairs Minor repair projects at state park facilities statewide. 5004-Conservation /Capital Account $2,050,000
Wildlife A.1.1. Wildlife Conservation Deer and Habitat Management Publications Funding to pay for printing of mule deer management guidelines for distribution to west Texas landowners/managers and for publication of a flyer describing development and use of the Stem Count Index to evaluate browse utilization in South Texas. 5045-White Tailed Deer Plates $ 10,000
Wildlife A.1.1. Wildlife Conservation Research to Enhance Mule Deer Population Surveys Funding for flight hours for mule deer sightability model research, to enhance confidence intervals for current population estimates, and to supplement Mason Mountain deer survey techniques. 5045-White Tailed Deer Plates $ 29,800
Wildlife A.1.1. Wildlife Conservation Research to Improve Pronghorn Sampling and Herd Unit Determination Funding for 3-year pronghorn genetics study and to enhance current survey efforts for pronghorns. 5045-White Tailed Deer Plates $ 52,000
Wildlife A.1.1. Wildlife Conservation Hardware to Implement Science Review Recommendations Purchase miscellaneous research and survey hardware to supplement current survey efforts, test advances in technology for potential hardware purchases as current hardware becomes obsolete, and purchase "real-time" GPS collars for use on a study related to white-tailed deer distance sampling surveys. 5045-White Tailed Deer Plates $ 77,000
Wildlife A.1.1. Wildlife Conservation Operating Costs- Wildlife Diversity Administration Funding for operating costs such as fuel, consumable supplies, utilities, travel, and rent related to Wildlife Diversity Administration. 5043- Horned Toad Plates $ 66,553
Wildlife A.1.1. Wildlife Conservation Operating Costs- Conservation Outreach Funding for operating costs such as fuel, consumable supplies, utilities, travel, and rent related to the Wildlife Diversity-Conservation Outreach Program. 5043- Horned Toad Plates $ 86,400
Wildlife A.1.1. Wildlife Conservation Operating Costs- Non-Game Fish and Wildlife Funding for operating costs such as fuel, consumable supplies, utilities, travel, and rent related to the Wildlife Diversity-Non-Game Fish and Wildlife Program. 5043- Horned Toad Plates $ 115,625
Wildlife A.1.1. Wildlife Conservation Grant Program to Implement Texas Wildlife Action Plan Funding for grants to land managers, universities and other conservation partners to assist in implementation of the Wildlife Action Plan. Approved grants will involve the following areas: (1) nongame inventory and monitoring on private lands; (2) rare and endangered plant surveys on private lands; and (3) habitat enhancements for species of concern on public and private lands. 5043- Horned Toad Plates $ 516,422
Wildlife A.1.1. Wildlife Conservation Landowner Incentive Program State match for Federal Landowner Incentive Program (LIP) Archeologist. 5043- Horned Toad Plates $ 15,000