Iowans are voting now on a constitutional amendment which could create a significant funding stream for recreational trails development and maintenance, along with new financial support for the natural resources, conservation and other outdoor recreation. Here is some background information on “Iowa’s Water & Land Legacy,” as it is called.
COOPER, Iowa, October 24, 2010 – As Iowans are going to the polls to vote in the Nov. 2 general election, it’s not just the political campaigns that will be settled. Voters will also have an opportunity to authorize what would be the most significant stand ever in Iowa for natural resources, conservation, outdoor recreation and the environment.
The measure, which appears on the back of the ballot, asks if voters want to approve an amendment to the Iowa Constitution creating “Iowa’s Water & Land Legacy.” As simply as we can put it, this amendment could eventually create a new, guaranteed funding stream for natural resources projects and initiatives, totaling as much as $150 million per year — including about $15 million for development and maintenance of recreational trails.
This new funding stream would begin only if and when Iowa approves an increase in the state sales tax. If such an increase would be authorized by a future legislature, then 3/8 of one percent of the increase would go to a new “Natural Resources and Outdoor Recreation Trust Fund.” Spending of that trust fund would be restricted to the natural resources, conservation and outdoor recreation. Trail users may be familiar with similar measures having passed earlier in the neighboring states of Minnesota and Missouri, and the tremendous impact there’s been on those states’ rec trail development and maintenance.
Voting on this constitutional amendment is the culmination of three years of work and coalition-building of about 130 different interest groups in Iowa. Plus, the measure had to be approved by two consecutive sessions of the Iowa legislature, and that happened in 2008 and 2009, in order to appear now on the ballot.
If you still need more information on this issue, you can find it from various sources on the Internet. The site we’ve found most helpful is that of the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation, based in Des Moines. You can access the INHF’s pages on the “Iowa’s Water & Land Legacy” by clicking here. A particularly good statement in support of the constitutional amendment was recently written by Carole Sargent Reichardt, chairperson of the board of the INHF. To read Reichardt’s opinion column, which was published in the INHF’s fall magazine, click here.
And remember, you will find the proposed constitutional amendment on the back side of the ballots in this general election.
