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The House Committee on Appropriations will consider spending for Interior and Environment for fiscal year 2022 this morning. The spending bill includes both wins and losses for biodiversity. In the face of losing 1 million species to extinction, Defenders continues to advocate for increased levels of funding to support threatened and endangered species, and we are particularly disappointed in the low levels of funding for the main U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service program responsible implementation of the Endangered Species Act. Nevertheless, the bill also includes some important wins for wildlife.

As Congress considers infrastructure packages to Build Back Better, conservationists urge legislators to include authorization and funding for the Legacy Roads and Trails program that will address the crumbling road infrastructure on national forest lands and ensure that the road network can sustain an increase in the recreating public as well as the effects of a changing climate. Groups are pleased to see authorization and funding of the program included in infrastructure proposals.

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) confirmed that a female wolf was illegally killed in northeast Washington in May. According to WDFW biologists, the wolf is believed to be the breeding female from the Wedge Pack.

This summer, land managers and conservationists are installing a new tool to increase safety for visitors and wildlife in the 1.5million-acre Colville National Forest.

More than 20 groups urged the Biden administration on Friday to release wildlife import and export data hidden from the public since 2015. The data