November 6, 2003

Senate and House Support Natural Resources Policy Institute

Funding for the Environmental Science and Public Policy Research Institute (ESPRI) at Boise State University was one of several natural resource and public lands projects included in the fiscal year 2004 Interior Appropriations bill recently passed by both the U.S. House and Senate. The bill includes $250,000 for ESPRI, which is designed to bring a variety of stakeholders to the table to discuss environmental, natural resource and land-management issues. The interdisciplinary and collaborative center, a partnership between Boise State and the USDA-Forest Service, provides forums for discussion, commissioned white papers and a resource for local, state and regional government institutions. “I am pleased the full Senate and House have approved funding for Idaho natural resource priorities — all within a fiscally responsible bill,” said U.S. Sen. Larry Craig, a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee. U.S. Sen. Mike Crapo said, “The Interior measure is very important to the state of Idaho. It provides assistance and resources that have direct impact on a number of projects and activities in our state … I look forward to quickly securing these resources to Idaho upon the president’s signature on the conference report.” “We appreciate very much the continued support of our delegation on ESPRI,” said John Freemuth, who with C.J. Northrup is co-principal investigator. “It allows Boise State to continue to help bring people together to work collaboratively on difficult environmental science and public policy issues.” Freemuth and Northrup are both Boise State professors. The bill will now go to President George W. Bush for his signature. -30- Contact John Freemuth ESPRI 208 426-3931 Media Contact Kathleen Craven Boise State communications and marketing 208 426-3275