*Banner photo take by Arthur Smith-Web
Here is a copy of the letter containing some of the sign on organizatons.
April 18, 2023
The Honorable Patty Murray Chair
Committee on Appropriations United States Senate
S-128 The Capitol Washington, DC 20510
The Honorable Jeff Merkley Chair
Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations
131 Senate Dirksen Office Building Washington, DC 20510
The Honorable Kay Granger Chair
Committee on Appropriations
United States House of Representatives H-307 The Capitol
Washington, DC 20515
The Honorable Michael Simpson Chair
Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies
House Committee on Appropriations 2007 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, DC 20515
The Honorable Susan Collins Ranking Member
Committee on Appropriations United States Senate
S-146A The Capitol Washington, DC 20510
The Honorable Lisa Murkowski Ranking Member
Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations
125 Senate Dirksen Office Building Washington, DC 20510
The Honorable Rosa DeLauro Ranking Member
Committee on Appropriations
United States House of Representatives 1036 Longworth House Office Building Washington, DC 20515
The Honorable Chellie Pingree Ranking Member
Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies
House Committee on Appropriations 1036 Longworth House Office Building Washington, DC 20515
RE: FY 2024 Funding for National Wildlife Refuge System Operations and Maintenance
Dear Chairs and Ranking Members:
Thank you for your continued work to ensure the integrity of our national wildlife refuges. At 95 million acres on land and 760 million acres of submerged lands and waters, the National Wildlife Refuge System (Refuge System) is the largest network of public lands and waters dedicated to wildlife conservation in the world. We the undersigned write to express our support for increasing Refuge System Operations and Maintenance Funding (O&M) to $1.5 billion, a level necessary to address the systemic needs after over a decade of underfunding.
The fiscal year (FY) 2023 budget of $541.6 million for Refuge Operations and Maintenance offered a small increase to partially offset the Refuge System’s rising fixed costs and salary increases, but it did not address systemic habitat needs compounded by a decade of underfunding. While the additional $83.3 million requested in the President's FY24 budget is a helpful bump, it too falls substantially short of actual need—indeed, even if enacted, this would amount to lower than the inflation-adjusted $700 million Congress appropriated in FY 2010. In order to fully reinvest in our refuges and transform them into a world-class conservation network of lands and waters, the System needs a $1.5 billion operating budget.
Returning staffing to levels that ensure the protection of refuge values requires Operations and Maintenance Funding (O&M) of $1.5 billion, and the undersigned groups are writing to express support for an appropriation of this amount in FY 2024. Our millions of members – bird watchers, hikers, hunters, anglers, wildlife professionals, and conservationists – use and enjoy national wildlife refuges and support careful stewardship of the System for their own and future generations. Chronic underinvestment, inflation, and soaring visitation, paired with the Refuge System’s enormous biodiversity and climate-resiliency values, justify this budget increase. Even with $1.5 billion, the Refuge System would still only receive $15.79 for every acre of land managed – less than half the National Park System’s per acre funding.
The Refuge System has grown since 2010, when funding was at its highest level, adding 2 million land acres, 14 national wildlife refuges, 597 million acres of marine national monuments, and an Urban Wildlife Conservation Program that oversees 101 units. Visitation has risen 34 percent since 2010, to more than 67 million, as Americans turned to national wildlife refuges for safe places to recreate during the COVID-19 pandemic. Yet despite skyrocketing visitation, Visitor Services funding has actually decreased when adjusted for inflation, receiving just $80.9 million for FY 2023, nearly $30 million less than inflation-adjusted funding a decade ago. We request $307 million for Visitor Services in FY 2024. This is a particularly large investment that reflects the bipartisan consensus in favor of responsible, ecologically-compatible public access and recreation on refuges and the need to develop stronger recreational infrastructure on use- compatible federal lands.
As funding levels have plummeted, the Service has eliminated more than 800 full-time jobs since FY2011—a 25 percent loss in capacity. Staffing shortages have put additional pressures on the System. Many refuges are now managed as complexes, resulting in many more refuges that are chronically unstaffed, with remaining staff often required to travel hours between distant properties. This budget request of $1.5 billion would enable the System to hire nearly 5,000 full- time staff, many of whom would be based in rural communities throughout the U.S. These new hires would bring the System to an appropriate staffing level and better position it to reflect the Nation’s diverse and underserved communities. We believe that going above and beyond the current staffing high-water mark is necessary to realize the aspirational potential of the Refuge System, especially with the Fish and Wildlife Service having missed many of the Inflation Reduction Act’s large staff capacity investments in other federal lands agencies.
Funding is not available to hire new biologists, visitor services staff, law enforcement, and maintenance staff. These shortages severely hamper the Fish and Wildlife Service’s ability to develop the Urban Wildlife Conservation Program, which invests in historically excluded communities and seeks to address racial inequalities in recreational access and conservation participation. This program was not funded at all between 2017 and 2020 and was funded at just
$7 million in FY 2023. This level is far short of the $50 million the Service needs to deliver on its commitments to racial equity, social and environmental justice, and natural resources conservation at the 101 Urban National Wildlife Refuges, partnership cities, and bird treaty cities included in the program.
The Conservation Planning line item, funded at only $3.7 million in FY 2023, stands out as a place where an increase would have a particularly large impact. Forty percent of all refuges lack a current Comprehensive Conservation Plan (required by federal law to be updated every 15 years). CCPs are crucial to achieving the conservation mission of the Refuge System, ensuring good governance, and fulfilling the purposes of each refuge unit. Working through this backlog will require more than an incremental increase. We request that you appropriate $42 million for conservation planning in FY 2024.
Additionally, invasive species and habitat loss are the two greatest threats to federally listed threatened and endangered species and overall biodiversity. Invasive species are one of the most serious threats to native plants, fish, and wildlife populations. Increased funding for wildlife and habitat management will provide the Service with more of the tools it needs for active water management, habitat management and restoration, and invasive species eradication.
Our national wildlife refuges are essential for protecting biodiversity, climate resilient habitats, and cultural resources, improving landscape connectivity, and expanding recreational opportunities nationwide. Despite the increase provided in FY 2023, funding remains far below the level needed to meet its mission. We recommend fully funding the National Wildlife Refuge System at $1.5 billion in FY 2024 to place a long overdue down payment on one of the crown jewels of our federal land systems.
Thank you for considering our request.
Sincerely,
American Hiking Society Appalachian Trail Conservancy, Big Oaks Conservation Society, Cape Perpetua Collaborative Center for Biological Diversity, Central Florida Zoo & Botanical Gardens, Chesapeake Conservancy, Coalition of Refuge Friends and Advocates, Coastal Wildlife Refuge Society, Conservation X Labs, Deer Flat Chapter, Idaho Master Naturalists, Defenders of Wildlife, Ding Darling Wildlife Society,Earth League, International Endangered Species Coalition, Environmental Law & Policy Center, Friends of Alaska National Wildlife Refuges, Friends of Bill Williams River and Havasu National Wildlife Refuges, Friends Of Black Bayou, Friends of Bon Secours National Wildlife Refuge, Friends of Bosque del Apache NWR, Friends of Boyer Chute and DeSoto National Wildlife Refuges, Inc., Friends of Cherry Valley NWR, Friends of Deer Flat Wildlife Refuge, Friends of Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge, Friends of Hakalau Forest National Wildlife Refuge, Friends of Hart Mountain National Antelope Refuge, Friends of Heinz Refuge Board, Friends of Loess Bluffs National Wildlife Refuge, Friends of Missisquoi NWR, Friends of Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge, Friends of Nevada Wilderness, Friends of Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge, Friends of Outer Island, Friends of Patuxent Research Refuge, Friends of Shawangunk Grasslands National Wildlife Refuge, Friends of St Croix Wetland Management District, Friends of Stone Lakes National Wildlife Refuge, Friends of Swan Lake NWR, Sumner, MO, Friends of Tennessee National Wildlife Refuge, Friends of the Earth US, Friends of the Florida Panther Refuge and Ten Thousand Islands Refuge, Friends of the Kankakee, Friends of the Silvio O. Conte National Fish and Wildlife Refuge, Friends of the Tampa Bay National Wildlife Refuges, Friends of the Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge, Friends of Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge Complex, Friends of Valle de Oro National Wildlife Refuge, Friends of Wallkill River National Wildlife Refuge, Friends of Willapa National Wildlife Refuge, GreenLatinos, Greenpeace USA, Healthy Ocean Coalition, Hispanic Access Foundation, Los Padres ForestWatch, Love is King, Lubee Bat Conservancy, Minnesota Valley Refuge Friends, Mystic Aquarium, Naples Zoo at Caribbean Gardens, National Aquarium. National Audubon Society, National Ocean Protection Coalition, National Wildlife Refuge Association, Natural Resources Defense Council, NatureServe, Ocean Conservancy, Prince George's Audubon Society Rappahannock Wildlife Refuge Friends Restore America's Estuaries & Many more organizations including the Sierra Club and the The Wilderness Society