House Interior Funding Bill Burdened with Even More Anti-Wildlife Riders

The House of Representatives Committee on Appropriations marked up fiscal year 2019 Interior and environment appropriations legislation today, where committee members tacked on even more harmful riders that threaten wildlife and our public lands and waters. While the base bill already cut funding for a key Endangered Species Act program and included several anti-wildlife provisions, the bill passed out of committee now also includes riders that undermine recovery efforts for imperiled species in Washington state and block protections for the bi-state population of sage-grouse in California and Nevada.

Statement from Former Defenders of Wildlife President and CEO Jamie Rappaport Clark:

“The House Interior bill has been weighed down with more parasitic riders that contradict its very purpose: to support federal agencies and programs to conserve America’s wildlife resources and public lands. A few lawmakers have turned this must-pass legislation into a vehicle for their own anti-wildlife agendas. Imperiled wildlife, their habitat and our ability to protect these resources are all under threat.

“Rep. Dan Newhouse attached a poison pill rider that blocks the restoration of grizzly bears in the North Cascades ecosystem in Washington state. It ignores science-based decision making under the Endangered Species Act and thwarts ongoing efforts by FWS to recover grizzly bear populations in the United States. Provisions were also added that undermined protections for the imperiled marbled murrelet in Washington state and bi-state sage-grouse population in California and Nevada.

“Moreover, it is now clear that the bill funds Interior Secretary Zinke’s misguided and illegal plan to reorganize the Department of the Interior. We call on the Senate to strongly oppose reorganization funding and denounce these toxic riders. As their first order of business, Senate appropriators should remove these harmful anti-wildlife provisions.”