News
The Great American Outdoors Act, S. 3422, led by 54 Senate co-sponsors, proposes to put up to $95 million each year over the next five years towards the maintenance backlog for the National Wildlife Refuge System. It would also fully and permanently fund the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) at $900 million.
Former Secretaries of the Department of the Interior Babbit and Kempthorne both visited the National Wildlife Refuge Association office to conduct interviews of oral history with our former Board member John Cornely for the USFWS Heritage Committee.
On February 6th, 2020 National Wildlife Refuge System Advocates testified at Public Witness Day before the House Interior Appropriations Subcommittee.
Today, the Trump Administration announced that they are finalizing a rule that will eliminate protections of certain streams and wetlands. The Waters of the United States regulation has been instrumental in protecting streams and isolated wetlands, particularly in the Prairie Pothole Region (PPR) of North and South Dakota, Minnesota, and Montana. With the repeal of this rule, farmers and developers will be able to drain wetlands that are critical habitat and nesting grounds for millions of waterfowl, and turn it into row crops. Wildlife Refuges will be greatly affected by any draining of wetlands, given the connectivity of these wetlands units and streams.
