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HB 98-1006 Native Species Conservation Trust Fund Species Conservation Eligibility List Fiscal Year 1999-2000 Background and Introduction HB 98-1006 created a Native Species Conservation Trust Fund. Within the fund there is an operation and maintenance account and a capital account. The money in the operation and maintenance account must be used for administrative and non-capital expenditures. The money in the capital account must be used for capital expenditures including, but not limited to, property acquisition and project construction. All income derived from the deposit and investment of moneys in the fund is credited to the fund. To the maximum extent practical, only interest from the fund shall be expended for activities pursuant to this section. Each year the Executive Director of the Department of Natural Resources (DNR), after consulting with the Colorado Water Conservation Board (CWCB) and its director, the Wildlife Commission, and the director of the Division of Wildlife (DOW), must prepare a species conservation eligibility list. The list must describe programs and associated costs that are eligible to receive funding. The Species Conservation Eligibility List is then subject to modification and adoption through the passage of a joint resolution by the General Assembly. When the species conservation eligibility list is submitted, the DNR Executive Director must also provide a detailed report about the status of certain native species and the progress that has been made toward the recovery of the species. The report must include an assessment of habitat benefits attributable to activities that have been undertaken to by the state and its partners. Funding Distribution The Act requires that funding be distributed for the following purposes: (i) Cooperative agreements, recovery programs, and other programs that are designed to meet obligations arising under the federal "Endangered Species Act of 1973" that provide regulatory certainty; (ii) Studies and programs established or approved by the DOW and the Executive Director of the DNR regarding: (a) species placed on the state endangered or threatened list; (b) candidate species, in order to assist in the recovery or protection of the species to avoid listing of the species; and, (c) scientific research relating to listing or delisting any species. (If a species that is not on the federal endangered or threatened species list is proposed to be added to ti:: ;ta.e endangered or threatened species list, the evaluation of the species must include: scientific Native Species Conservation Trust Fund Page 1 Eligibility List Colorado Department of Natural Resources