Action Alert
Issue
The President’s Budget for FY 2008 inadequately funds our nation’s Refuge System. Congress holds the purse strings and must increase the amount appropriated to refuges.
Congressional Representative Contact Information
Additional Documents and Information
|
Background
On February 5, the president made public his Budget request for fiscal year (FY) 2008 appropriations for the Department of the Interior, including the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s (FWS) National Wildlife Refuge System. Soon Congress will begin hearings on the president’s budget. The FY 2008 budget request proposes $394.8 million for the operations and maintenance (O&M) account for the Refuge System - approximately $13.1 million more than the administration’s FY 2007 request a small increase in funding for the Refuge System. However, the Refuge System needs a $15 million increase each year to fully cover actual increased costs. To simply keep pace with inflation and cost of living increases, the System needs a minimum of $451 million for FY08. The president’s budget is simply a blueprint for Congress to consider—they don’t have to follow it! As last year’s dramatic elections turned over both chambers of Congress, new leadership on key committees provides new opportunities. So now, as Friends of the Refuge System, our job is to convey to these new decision makers the importance of adequately funding the National Wildlife Refuge System. The National Wildlife Refuge Association, along with the 20 other organizations in the Cooperative Alliance for Refuge Enhancement (CARE), urge Congress to fund the National Wildlife Refuge System at $451 million in fiscal year (FY) 2008. This represents a modest budget request that accounts for annual inflationary factors such as increased salaries, rent and utility costs. The Refuge System needs an additional $15 million annually to account for inflation. The $451 million funding level is derived by taking the $391 million level of Refuge System funding from FY04 and adding $15 million for each of the four years since. Congress has the ability and the duty to reverse this downward spiral for our National Wildlife Refuge System. But they won’t do it if they don’t hear from their constituents--YOU! Please take a moment and write your U.S. Representative and your two U.S. Senators and let them know these cuts to our nation’s wildlife heritage are unacceptable. Ask your lawmakers to fund the National Wildlife Refuge System at $451 million.
Take Action
Write your U.S. Representative and U.S. Senators |
