Senators and Representatives Urge Support of the State and Tribal Wildlife Grants Program

AFS and other organizations garnered support from members of Congress for the State and Tribal Wildlife Grants Program with letters of support to relevant House and Senate subcommittees.  The program, slated for deep cuts in the President’s FY2021 budget is critical for addressing species before they become endangered. The chronic underfunding and the proposed budget cuts to this program underscore the need for dedicated funding to match the scale of the problem, such as proposed in in the Recovering America’s Wildlife Act. Read the Senate letter below and the House letter here.

March 23, 2020

Dear Chairman Murkowski and Ranking Member Udall:

We are writing to express our support for the State and Tribal Wildlife Grants Program. We appreciate your past support and hope that you will make funding for this program a priority. The State and Tribal Wildlife Grants Program provides a critical investment that is necessary to sustain our nation’s most vulnerable fish and wildlife. In FY2020, $67.7 million was appropriated through apportionments and competitive grants to all 56 states, territories and the District of Columbia and Indian tribes. These funds leveraged tens of millions in state and private funds. We ask that you provide the most robust funding possible for the program in FY 2021.

The State and Tribal Wildlife Grants Program is the nation’s core program to prevent fish and wildlife from becoming endangered. The program has funded conservation work that prevented endangered species listings for species like the New England cottontail and arctic graying and has helped recover numerous fish and wildlife such as the Louisiana Black Bear and Lake Erie water snake. The program is saving taxpayer dollars and reducing the burden on business and private landowners by cutting down on endangered species controversies.

The State and Tribal Wildlife Grant Program funds on-the-ground conservation such as invasive species control, habitat management, species reintroduction, disease abatement and research and monitoring that helps fish and wildlife biologists understand and assess declining populations of at-risk species before it’s too late. It is the only federal grant program for states, territories, the District of Columbia and tribes to conserve over 12,000 animals identified as Species in Greatest Conservation Need in State Wildlife Action Plans. These plans were developed by each state, territory and the District of Columbia using the best available science and with input from farmers, ranchers, business-owners and other publics.

Additionally, the program directly benefits over 100 million citizens who depend on healthy fish and wildlife and habitat for hunting, fishing, wildlife viewing, photography, hiking and other forms of wildlife-dependent recreation. The program aids the $427 billion outdoor recreation economy and helps states meet their statutory responsibility for sustaining fish and wildlife for future generations.

Again, we appreciate the Subcommittee on Interior, Environment and Related Agencies past support for the State and Tribal Wildlife Grants Program and encourage you to make funding a priority in FY 2021. Stronger funding for the program will allow fish and wildlife conservation work to expand to a greater number of the 12,000+ Species of Greatest Conservation Need. Thank you for considering our request.

Sincerely,

Mike Crapo
U.S. Senator

Sheldon Whitehouse
U.S. Senator

James E. Risch
U.S. Senator

Joe Manchin III
U.S. Senator

Jacky Rosen
U.S. Senator

Richard Blumenthal
U.S. Senator

Martin Heinrich
U.S. Senator

Angus S. King, Jr.
U.S. Senator

Robert P. Casey, Jr.
U.S. Senator

Kamala D. Harris
U.S. Senator

Jack Reed
U.S. Senator

Ron Wyden
U.S. Senator

Cory A. Booker
U.S. Senator

Tina Smith
U.S. Senator

Catherine Cortez Masto
U.S. Senator

Bernard Sanders
U.S. Senator

Tim Kaine
U.S. Senator

Jeffrey A. Merkley
U.S. Senator

Martha McSally
U.S. Senator

Dianne Feinstein
U.S. Senator

Brian Schatz
U.S. Senator

Margaret Wood Hassan
U.S. Senator

James M. Inhofe
U.S. Senator

Christopher S. Murphy
U.S. Senator

Susan M. Collins
U.S. Senator

Dan Sullivan
U.S. Senator

Jeanne Shaheen
U.S. Senator

Charles E. Grassley
U.S. Senator

Jon Tester
U.S. Senator

Elizabeth Warren
U.S. Senator

Kyrsten Sinema
U.S. Senator

Mazie K. Hirono
U.S. Senator

Chris Van Hollen
U.S. Senator

Christopher A. Coons
U.S. Senator

Tammy Baldwin
U.S. Senator

Gary Peters
U.S. Senator

Amy Klobuchar
U.S. Senator

Maria Cantwell
U.S. Senator

Debbie Stabenow
U.S. Senator

Tammy Duckworth
U.S. Senator

Richard Durbin
U.S. Senator

Christopher A. Murphy
U.S. Senator

Benjamin Cardin
U.S. Senator

Robert Menendez
U.S. Senator

Ed Markey
U.S. Senator

Mike Rounds
U.S. Senator