President’s Budget Proposes the Highest Funding Levels Ever for Wildlife Refuges

President Biden’s budget for the upcoming fiscal year includes significant funding increases for wildlife protection, landscape conservation and many other critical issues that Defenders of Wildlife has worked to support amidst the worsening extinction crisis. 

“The budget proposal is an encouraging indication that  the White House is paying attention to the extinction crisis,” said Mary Beth Beetham, director of legislative affairs for Defenders of Wildlife. “We have warned that status quo funding won’t be enough to prevent biodiversity loss and we are thrilled to see two of the largest budget requests ever for U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service endangered species programs and wildlife refuges in the president’s budget. However, we also saw a strong proposal last year. Assuming congressional support, the real test will be whether the White House and lawmakers remain committed to these numbers during year end negotiations.” 

Key investments proposed in the president’s budget (compared to enacted levels in FY 2022):

Largest Increase Ever for Flagship Endangered Species Program 

•    The budget provides a $78.7 million increase for the United States Fish and Wildlife Services’ (FWS) Ecological Services program to support recovery actions for more than 1,600 U.S. species listed under the Endangered Species Act and help ensure that projects move forward while minimizing harm to listed species. 

Highest Funding Levels Ever for Wildlife Refuges 

•    The budget would increase funding for the National Wildlife Refuge System by $79 million protecting more than 500 threatened and endangered species and promoting equity on our public lands to help connect people to nature.

•    This funding would be a lifeline to the system, which has long been underfunded, despite record visitation and expansion of recreation in recent years. 

Win for Migratory Birds

•    The budget also provides a significant $20.7 million increase for FWS Migratory Bird Management. 

•    With nearly 3 billion birds lost in North America since 1970, this increase will support crucial survey and monitoring programs, building resilience of bird species and their habitats, and modernizing the permitting program.

Help for Borderlands and Border Wildlife

•    Former President Trump spent billions of dollars to build hundreds of miles of new wall along the southern border.  The wall is bisecting some of the most sensitive and biodiverse habitats in the U.S., including many of our nation’s most prized national wildlife refuges, forests, parks and wilderness areas and has walled off some of our nation’s most imperiled species. 

•    The president’s budget proposes the transfer of up to $225 million from the Department of Homeland Security’s unspent wall funding to the land management agencies for mitigation projects, a crucial first step in addressing damage from the wall.

While there are significant proposals for wildlife, parts of the budget missed the mark:

Forest Service Programs Forgotten

•    The budget does not include dedicated funding for the Forest Service’s Threatened, Endangered, and Sensitive (TES) Species Program, which is needed to jumpstart the agency’s work to recover imperiled species in our national forests and grasslands.

•    Overall funding for wildlife in national forests is much less ambitious than last year’s request, as is funding for associated research and development. The Wildlife and Fish Research Program is critical for building scientific knowledge that informs decision making about problems like habitat loss, disease and climate change.

•    The budget did not fund the Legacy Roads and Trails program. After four years without funding, a significant backlog of worthy projects to restore streams, aid aquatic wildlife and reconnect habitats remains, despite the short-term injection from the bipartisan infrastructure law.