Appropriations bills target greater sage-grouse, border wall

Statement from Jamie Rappaport Clark, Former President and CEO, Defenders of Wildlife on the Interior appropriations bill, which targets the imperiled greater sage-grouse and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) appropriations bill, which increases funding for the controversial border wall: 

“This year has been another bad year for sage-grouse. The Trump administration has yanked away protections for the grouse and is supporting state plans that jeopardize this iconic bird’s future, all while populations continue to decline across the West. The Senate Interior bill released today has once again targeted this imperiled species and blocked the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service from protecting the grouse — no doubt at the request of the fossil fuel industry.  The House passed a version of the Interior bill without this rider.  We urge congressional wildlife champions to ensure that this poison pill is removed from any final bill.” 

“In addition, the Senate DHS bill would fund the president’s egregious $5 billion request for wall construction, undermining binational collaboration and dividing wildlife and people along our southern border. Both wildlife and human communities depend on this incredibly rich landscape and building a wall through it will cause irreversible damage.”