1.
Montana Natural Heritage Program
FY17 Budget Update
December 1, 2016
Lindsey WeaverDarlene Patzer
mtnhp.org
Leslie Berg - retired

2.
Funding Definitions
• MSL CORE ($439,113 FY17)
State funding legislatively appropriated to the Montana State Library and
contained in the biennial contract between MSL and UM for “Essential
Core Services”
• SUPPLEMENTAL CORE ($253,250 FY17)
Funding provided by partners recognizing the limits of legislative
funding. Used at the discretion of the Program to provide the essential
core services in the biennial MSL-UM contract
• MLIA CORE ($10,000 FY17)
Funding from the Montana Land Information Act for wetland/riparian and
land cover mapping in support of this Montana Spatial Data
Infrastructure layers
• PROJECT ($815,150 FY17)
Funding that supports the overall mission of the program but entails
specific deliverable products for partners. Project funding does not
allow discretionary spending by the Program and does not directly
support essential core services.

3.
MLIA Core
$10,000
FY17 Natural Heritage Program Funding Overview
MSL Core
$439,113
Supplemental Core
$253,250
December 2016
MT State Legislative Funding
General Fund: $155,590
Agency Support: $283,523
(FWP, DEQ, DNRC, MUS, MDT)
~Total Budget
$1,517,513
~Total Projects
$815,150
Supplemental Core Agreements
Federal ($137,000)
Bureau of Land Management ($60,000)
US Forest Service ($45,000)
Natural Resource Conservation Service ($25,000)
Bonneville Power Administration ($6,000)
US Fish and Wildlife Service ($5,000)
UM ($50,000)
VP for Research & Creative Scholarship
State Agencies ($31,000)
Dept. of Agriculture ($20,000)
Dept. of Transportation ($10,000)
Dept. Natural Resources & Conservation ($1,000)
Private/NGO ($31,250)
NatureServe ($20,000)
The Nature Conservancy ($10,000)
Plum Creek ($1,250)
MLIA Funding
Wetlands $10,000
Land Cover $0
Approximate Total Funding from
State and Federal Partners for
Botany, Ecology, and Zoology
Projects

4.
FY15
$1,519,113 FY17
$1,517,513
FY16
$1,575,398

5.
INFLATIONARY EROSION OF CORE FUNDING WITH NO
PRESENT LAW ADJUSTMENTS (COLA) OVER 8 YEARS
~$66,000 (+16%)
~$56,000 (+68%)
~$11,000 (+375%)
$3,567 in 2009
Overall reduction of 31%

6.
Organizational
Funding
Total Employees: 23
Total FTE: 20

7.
2017 LEGISLATIVE SESSION UPDATE (FY18-FY19 BUDGET YEARS)
• Requested $100,000 annual increase through Governor’s Executive Planning
Process (EPP) in order to address lack of present law adjustment (COLA) resulting
from MTNHP’s operation as a contracted program of the Montana State Library
• Our EPP had strong support from the Montana State Library Commission
• The Montana Invasive Species Council (MISAC) and Agency Directors from DNRC,
FWP, and Dept. of Agriculture wrote a letter of support for our EPP funding
request and MISAC and on Agency Director met with the Governor’s staff
• The EPP request was not included in the Governor’s FY18-FY19 budget. Although
the Governor’s budget does support a 1% pay increase for state employees in the
next biennium, MTNHP would not benefit from this because of its operation as a
contracted program. Furthermore, the Governor’s budget proposes a 5% across-
the-board reduction in agency operations budgets and operation of the MTNHP
as a contract would be subject to this cut.
• We need recognition of the value of the program by the Governor’s Office and
the importance of present law adjustments for maintaining the program
• We hope for maintained and increased support from our Partners and legislators
on the Joint Appropriations Subcommittee for Education that we had in the 2015
legislature
• We need a Return on Investment (ROI) evaluation of the program

8.
POTENTIAL IMPACTS
Reduction in Core and Supplemental Core funded science positions will
have an effect on:
– Staff morale, retention, and hiring
– Currency and accuracy of data and information
– Evaluation and updates of species status ranks
– Maintenance and updates of the Montana Field Guide including
species management information
– Aquatic Ecology program component missing for 2 years
– Ability to answer data requests at the desired level
– Ability to review and process observation data and make it available
for environmental reviews

9.
Future
Organizational
Funding?
?

10.
Thoughts, Ideas, Feedback?