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For Immediate Release
House Interior Funding Bill Restores Funding for Lands and Wildlife Programs
Funding Increase Represents the Largest Boost in Refuge System’s History
Washington, D.C. - Defenders of Wildlife applauds the House Interior and Environment appropriations subcommittee and its Chairman, Congressman Norm Dicks (D-WA), for restoring funding to key programs that protect the nation’s wildlife and public lands. The FY 2008 Interior, Environment and Related Agencies appropriations bill passed by the subcommittee provides significant and critically needed increases over the president’s budget request for these programs.
“Congressman Norm Dicks has taken a giant leap toward resurrecting entire programs designed to protect our nation’s wildlife, refuges, forests, parks and other public lands after six years of starvation budgets under the Bush administration,” says Rodger Schlickeisen, president of Defenders of Wildlife.
“It is encouraging to see that this subcommittee has provided the National Wildlife Refuge System with its most generous funding increase in its history,” continues Schlickeisen. “The refuge system is literally unraveling, and the $451 million proposed in the bill is exactly what the refuge system needs to stem the massive cuts in habitat protection and visitor services programs.”
The bill passed by the subcommittee provides a total increase of almost $2 billion over the president’s FY 2008 budget request, thereby rejecting the damaging cuts to many public land and wildlife conservation programs. Increases in the bill would begin to address the resource crisis facing these programs, such as the crippling loss of hundreds of agency biologists, wildlife refuge managers and other crucial staff, and cutbacks in agency services.
Specific increases (rounded to the nearest whole number) in the bill include:
- $56 million over the administration’s requested amount for the National Wildlife Refuge System–the largest increase in the refuge system’s history
- $6 million over the administration’s requested amount for protection of endangered species
- $148 million over the administration’s requested amount for the Land and Water Conservation Fund
- $6 million over the administration’s requested amount for grants to conserve endangered species around the globe
- $16 million over the administration’s requested amount for State and Tribal Wildlife Grants
- $19 million over the administration’s requested amount for the Forest Service’s wildlife and fish habitat program.
Also included in the bill is language that would cap the amount of money that could be spent on the Bureau of Land Management’s oil and gas programs and language outlining how resource management funds could be spent. This is all in an effort to ensure that funds allocated for land and wildlife conservation are used for these programs.
“The damage to key land and wildlife programs did not happen overnight and it will not be reversed in one bill. But Chairman Dicks’ bill makes a substantial down payment to help us rebuild our deteriorating public land and wildlife agencies,” says Schlickeisen. “We look forward to working with the chairman and the subcommittee in the coming years to restore these programs that are so vital to maintaining our unique and magnificent natural heritage.”
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Defenders of Wildlife is recognized as one of the nation's most progressive advocates for wildlife and its habitat. With more than 500,000 members and supporters, Defenders of Wildlife is an effective leader on endangered species issues.
