Environmental Groups Report Public Lands Funding Gap
The report highlights 18 on-the-ground examples that demonstrate how funding cuts and shortfalls in important natural resource programs are undermining protection of imperiled and declining species, wildlife refuges, forests and other special places. According to the report, these programs have been severely underfunded for years and that the Bush Administration has added insult to injury by cutting overall discretionary funding for environment and natural resources by about $1 billion and "plays a smoke and mirrors game" with important land and wildlife conservation programs.
"Our country is one of the greatest and wealthiest nations on Earth. How can we allow wildlife species and special places to vanish forever simply because of funding shortfalls? Surely we can do better", said Rodger Schlickeisen, president of Defenders of Wildlife.
Here are some of the key programs affecting wildlife and wildlife habitat covered in the report.
Fish and Wildlife Service Endangered Species Program. Lack of funding could lead to the extinction of species awaiting listing under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and even some species already under the Act’s protection. More than 250 species, including the southern Rocky Mountains population of the boreal toad and the New England cottontail rabbit cannot be listed under the ESA simply because of inadequate funding.
The Attwater’s prairie chicken – the most imperiled bird in North America – and more than 200 other species already protected under the Act could become extinct in the next five years due to funding shortfalls. The President's budget asks for the same funding level as last year even though increases are desperately needed to stop the extinction of species.
Fish and Wildlife Service State and Tribal Wildlife Grants. This new program is funded under the historic dedicated conservation fund enacted in October 2000.
For the first time, it provides funds to states to help design and implement comprehensive wildlife and habitat conservation plans so that declining species can be conserved before listing under the Endangered Species Act is necessary. This new program may help reverse declines of the more than 5000 species potentially in need of protection under the ESA. Florida, Oregon, Massachusetts and Washington have completed or are developing statewide plans. The State of Washington is formulating plans for its nine ecoregions that will add up to a statewide plan and help in the protection of an array of sensitive habitats and rare species, including the Washington pygmy rabbit – only 50 of these tiny creatures remain in the wild.
The President’s budget slashes the dedicated conservation fund by $250 million including a $25 million cut to the State and Tribal Wildlife Grants program. Fish and Wildlife Service National Wildlife Refuge System. The National Wildlife Refuge System is an American treasure that will pass a landmark when it celebrates its 100th anniversary in 2003, yet chronic and severe funding shortfalls threaten its wildlife conservation mission. The Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge, the last strand of the Northern Everglades, is in danger of being eaten up by invasive plants and animals – 100,000 of the Refuge’s 147,000 acres have already been swallowed up. While the President has proposed an historic increase, half is at the expense of land acquisition for refuges. If the Refuge System is to accomplish its mission, funding for both management and land acquisition is needed.
Land and Water Conservation Fund. This visionary program, established by Congress in 1965 to protect wildlands, wildlife habitat, parks and open space and to support recreation is now funded under the dedicated conservation fund. While the President’s budget claims to fully fund the Land and Water Conservation Fund at its $900 million authorized level, little more than half, or $486 million is for authorized LWCF uses, undermining the established purposes and integrity of LWCF.
Without adequate LWCF funding, lands in National Wildlife Refuges, Forests, Parks and other sensitive lands across the country are threatened – places such as the Balcones National Wildlife Refuge in Texas and the Suwannee River Wildlife Corridor in Florida.
Forest Service Research. The Forest Service Research and Development program carries out critically needed research on threatened, endangered and sensitive species. Yet the President’s budget would result in a crippling 17.7% cut to Forest Service research on wildlife, watersheds, wetlands, grasslands, and forests. Very little is known about an array of sensitive species such as the wolverine, marten, fisher, bats, and numerous plants. Without more funding, critically needed research on species like the Indiana bat cannot move forward.
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Defenders of Wildlife is a leading nonprofit conservation organization recognized as one of the nation's most progressive advocates for wildlife and its habitat. With more than 430,000 members and supporters, Defenders of Wildlife is an effective leader on environmental issues. For timely information on environmental issues, visit www.defenders.org and subscribe to DENLines, a free e-mail alert newsletter.
Contact(s):
Brad DeVries, (202) 772-0237
