Michigan's conservation districts are speaking out about Governor Gretchen Whitmer's budget proposal for 2025.
Whitmer's proposal cuts the conservation district's budget of $3 million down to $2 million.
The $2 million budget would leave the states 75 conservation districts with only $26,000 each in state funding.
Conservation districts are not solely supported by the state, as they are also supported by grants or have district millage rates to keep them funded.
Conservation districts work alongside local, state, and federal organizations to provide citizens with the tools and funding for natural resource projects and wildlife protection services.
The Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development is also recommending removing the Michigan Agriculture Environmental Assurance Program, or MAEAP, from conservation districts.
The MAEAP helps Michigan farmers by providing legal assistance and reducing environmental risks to their land through education and certification.
Rivka Hodgkinson, interim executive director for the Michigan Association of Conservation Districts, said these organizations are already underfunded when compared to other states.
"Every other state in the Great Lakes Basin region provides significant state funding for conservation districts. Here in Michigan, that has not been the case the last two years," said Hodgkinson.
Hodgkinson also said that if the budget as it stands is signed in, conservation districts in Michigan will have to apply for more grants or raise district millage in order to cover the budget loss.
"The sad reality is in that some counties won't be able to close that gap and that will be a really big loss and the counties most affected have lower population density, lower tax revenue," said Hodgkinson.
Tim Boring, director of Michigan's Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, said the budget increases for conservation districts over the past few years were not a permanent solution.
"I think an important point of clarification there is too is those one-time dollars have been a result of budget surpluses," said Boring. "But the intention always with those one-time monies is those are limited duration investments. So, the recommendation continues this $2,000,000 of baseline funding, again consistent with the value of what conservation districts bring to the state".
The budget for conservation districts from 2022, 2023, and 2024 have been three million dollars, with two million coming from the state and one million from "one time only appropriations".
In 2025, the "one time only appropriations" are not a part of the budget, which brings the budget down to $2 million.
Boring also said that the recommendation to move MAEAP is not a removal of the entire program, but a shift of employment status from employees of conservation districts to employees of the state.
"We've got an insignificant pool of funding here to adequately pay people and to provide benefits to provide retirement, healthcare. So, the proposal that was put forth in the governor's recommended budget is to take these positions and make them state of Michigan employees," said Boring.
Whitmer anticipates to sign the 2025 budget into law in June after making its way through both chambers of the legislature.
