Senate Appropriations Bills Inadequate for Protecting Lands, Wildlife

Today, the Senate Appropriations Committee Majority released FY2021 funding measures for all 12 of its subcommittees. 

Robert Dewey, vice president of government relations for Defenders of Wildlife, issued this statement:

“From Interior to Homeland Security, the funding bills released by the Senate majority are woefully inadequate for protecting our public lands and wildlife. The Senate Interior bill continues a rider that blocks the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service from listing the imperiled sage-grouse as threatened or endangered for yet another year and severely underfunds critical departments like the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that are tasked with protecting endangered species. The bill for the Department of Homeland Security includes an additional $2 billion for construction of 82 more miles of dangerous and unnecessary border wall on sensitive lands along our Southwest border even though the administration has already diverted billions of dollars from unrelated accounts for the border wall. 

“The appropriations bills released by the Senate majority today fall far below the mark to provide much-needed funding and address the growing biodiversity crisis faced by both the nation and our entire planet.  As House and Senate leadership begin work to negotiate the final FY 21 bills, we urge them to provide adequate funding to protect our nation’s lands and wildlife and remove the damaging provisions in the Senate bills.”