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The National Wildlife Refuge Association congratulates Secretary Deb Haaland on her confirmation as Secretary of the Interior. Her confirmation as the first Native American in the position is groundbreaking and will help the Department of the Interior move towards an equitable and inclusive approach to wildlife conservation, visitation, and use of our public lands.
On January 20, 2021, the United States of America swore in its new President, Joseph R. Biden, Jr, and its new Vice President, Kamala D. Harris. Along with the new Biden Administration, Vice President Harris also swore in three new Democratic Senators, flipping the upper chamber to Democratic control. Margins in both the House of Representatives and the Senate are razor-thin, meaning almost any legislation will require bipartisan support to pass.
Last night, under pressure from both sides of the aisle and with unemployment benefits lapsing and a government shutdown looming, President Trump signed the huge, 5,000+ page omnibus bill/COVID relief bill into law. This bill was passed last week by both chambers of Congress, and we have been waiting on news that the President would sign it into law.
The National Wildlife Refuge Association congratulates Representative Deb Haaland (NM-1) on her historic nomination as Secretary of the Interior. We are thrilled to welcome Rep. Haaland to this position, for which she is uniquely qualified and well prepared. As the vice chair of the Natural Resources Committee and chair of the Public Lands Subcommittee, she has been instrumental in implementing conservation policy during her tenure in Congress.
The National Wildlife Refuge System, which is administered by the Interior Department, manages 850 million acres of lands and waters. The System stretches from the islands of the Pacific Ocean to the 16 refuges in Alaska, throughout the 20 million acres in the Lower 48, to the underwater canyons and seamounts of the Atlantic and the sunny beaches and lush forests of the Caribbean. These lands and waters are the largest protected area for wildlife on Earth, and yet are drastically underfunded and understaffed.
We look forward to working with Rep. Haaland, who will be the first Native American ever to hold the position of Interior Secretary. The Refuge System by its very nature adjoins tribal lands, contains sacred sites, and provides habitat for native plants and wildlife that people depend upon, particularly in the Southwest and Alaska. We are extremely pleased to have a Secretary who values and treasures the wildlife of all Refuge System lands and waters, and will protect it for all generations of Americans.
This morning, the President signed the Great American Outdoors Act into law, ushering in a major funding boost for the National Wildlife Refuge System and fully funding the Land and Water Conservation Fund. The National Wildlife Refuge Association looks forward to working with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to fully implement these programs and improving wildlife refuge habitat for wildlife and visitors alike.
This week was a momentous week for wildlife conservation and wildlife refuges on Capitol Hill! From the protection of the Desert National Wildlife Refuge to funding for Refuge System Operations and Maintenance to the permanent funding of the Land and Water Conservation Fund, we thank Congress for their hard work to support our nation’s public lands.
The National Wildlife Refuge System encompasses more than 850 million acres of lands and waters across America’s 568 National Wildlife Refuges, including 5 Marine National Monuments. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) is responsible for managing these lands and is expected to fulfill its obligation to the Refuge System’s 59 million annual visitors and diverse wildlife on a budget of a mere 59¢ per acre, a fraction of what other land agencies receive per acre. For comparison, the National Park Service receives $31 per acre for land management.
Since taking office in January 2017, President Donald Trump has made environmental deregulation and habitat destruction one of the hallmarks of his presidency. From the clear-cutting of national wildilfe refuge lands along the US/Mexico border, to the opening of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for oil and gas development, to the support for expansion of the military even further into the Desert National Wildlife Refuge, we have seen a constant and unrelenting disregard for long-standing conservation principles.
