Would a 51.9% reduction in the OSRC budget be offset by OCC cost-share matching funds at a rate of 4-to-1 and 6-to-1? The hope, by state budget revampers, is that federal grant funds thru a couple of USDA programs could be used at a rate of 75% to 87.5% and Oklahoma would be responsible for just putting in the remaining 25% to 12.5% of the budget currently supporting the existing functions performed by the Oklahoma Scenic Rivers Commission.
Leveraged federal cost share matching funds are available, but only for specific targeted purposes, such as stream bank stabilization and riparian zone protection strategies and best management practices to reduce non-point source pollution. River Rangers, maintenance staff workers, administration and management, fuel, uniforms and vehicles would not be eligible for leveraged match to use federal dollars. Both the CRP and CREP programs have goal-specific limitations on what the federal dollars can be used for.1
The idea of consolidating OSRC may have been based on a cursory preliminary view of just some aspects of its role, or a sense that its essential role could be reshaped to fit within a conservation model, but that is not the case.
The unanswered question becomes, “What if the OSRC cannot be compacted 51.9 % more? Where is the funding for the public safety functions which are clearly outside USDA program guides?” It would be difficult to overcome the loss of a 30-year learning curve if it were subsequently determined that the bold steps proposed, would not be adequate. At minimum a conservative approach would be to not leave the tourism economy of the Illinois River Watershed worse off, and take government on the wrong track.
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