Legislative Update to the F.N.P.S. 2015 Session, Weeks 1 and 2
By the F.N.P.S. Policy and Legislation Committee Conservation research on the recovery of Florida Ziziphus ( Ziziphus celata ) is one of the projects that this grant previously funded Native Plant Conservation Funds In drafting the Senate legislation to restructure trust funds to implement Amendment 1 ( SB 584 ), the termination of the CARL Program Trust Fund within Dept. of Agriculture and Consumer Services (DACS) has created the unintended consequence of eliminating the $250,000 annual transfer from the DEP CARL Trust Fund to the DACS Plant Industry Trust Fund for the Endangered or Threatened Native Flora Conservation Grants program. FNPS lobbyist Sue Mullins met with DACS and DEP officials about the unfortunate by-product of this bill, and will meet with House Budget Chair Albritton to rectify the situation. We originally had $300,000 in our budget line item for the program, of which we expect to restore at least $250,000. The bill restructures the trust funds to implemen...