Fiscal Year 2009 funding is critical to putting the Refuge System on the road to recovery.
 Thanks to all who answered our call to advocate for increased funding for our National Wildlife Refuge System in the 2008 federal budget. On January 27, the efforts of U.S. Congressman Frank A. LoBiondo and New Jersey Congressman Jim Saxton, Delaware Congressman Mike Castle, and other members of Congress paid off when the president signed an omnibus spending bill that included $434 million for the Refuge System, a $39 million increase over last year.  While this is $17 million shy of the amount requested, it was still almost $40 more than that proposed by the president.

PROBLEM:
As you know, even with the increase to the Refuge System budget for this fiscal year. Refuges are barely able to maintain critical services.  But Congress can help – but they’ll only do so if they hear from their constituents.

SOLUTION:
Refuge Champions Russ Feingold (D-WI) and Olympia Snowe (R-ME), are sending a letter to the Senate Interior and Environment appropriations subcommittee urging them to increase funding for the NWRS to $514 million for FY’09.  This funding will further stabilize the losses of staffing and programs to vital to ensuring the Refuge System’s wildlife conservation mission and put the System on a path to reach adequate baseline funding, $765 million annually, by FY’2013.  Without support from fellow members of Congress, the appropriators have little incentive to increase the budget on their own!

ACTION NEEDED NOW BEFORE TUESDAY, MARCH 25^TH!
Urge your two U.S. Senators to sign onto the Dear Colleague letter to Senate Interior & Environment appropriators currently being circulated. Your action is needed NOW – the deadline for signers is Tuesday, March 25^th!!

The following Senators have still “not” signed on – if your Senators are listed, please follow up with a quick phone call to your Senator’s offices by calling the Capital Switchboard at: 202-224-3121.
For members to sign on, the contacts are Kelly Reed (4-5323) in Senator Feingold’s office or Patrick Woodcock (4-4227) in Senator Snowe’s office.

Those who signed FY08 letter but not FY09:

Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA)
Sen. Benjamin Cardin (D-MD)
Sen. Herb Kohl (D-WI)
Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-MD)
Sen. Daniel Akaka (D-AK)
Sen. Jim Webb (D-VA)
Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-MA)
Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI)
Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY)
Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL)
Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA)
Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL)
Sen. Ken Salazar (D-CO)
Sen. Mike Crapo (R-ID)
Sen. Norm Coleman (R-MN)

BACKGROUND:
Years of under funding, rising costs and challenges posed by invasive species, law enforcement and development pressure have left the Refuge System in tatters.  In recent years the mounting budget crisis has left the FWS with little choice but to eliminate over 300 needed staff positions with another 250 ready to be put on the chopping block.  The resultant down-sizing plans have crippled the daily operations at hundreds of refuges while a rising maintenance backlog now exceeds $3 billion. In order reverse decades of neglect, the Refuge System desperately needs a larger commitment in annual funding.

The Society supports the recommendations in “Restoring America’s Wildlife Legacy, a comprehensive report conducted by the Cooperative Alliance for Refuge Enhancement (CARE), that, to adequately fund the Refuge System, the annual operations and maintenance budget should total $765 million by fiscal year 2013. Gradual increments to reach this level over the five- year period would require a FY 2009 funding appropriation of $514 million.

The public can play a key role in seeing adequate funding restored to the refuge System by contacting their U.S. Senators and asking them to sign onto the Dear Colleague letter.

Our nation’s 543 refuges are important —in addition to providing critical habitat for premier wildlife, setting aside these lands also contributes to the economic, social, and cultural well-being of our citizens. Keeping the refuges funded and functioning is important to the work of the American Littoral Society, which shares many goals with the Refuge System. A prime example of this synergy is in our work in Southern New Jersey, where the Supawna Meadows NWR (Salem County), Edwin B. Forsythe NWR (NJ Atlantic Coastline) and the Cape May NWR (Cape May County) protect important coastal habitat and waterways from harm. In fact, we dedicate a significant amount of time and resources defending ecologically important lands near refuges from falling to sprawl or ill-devised proposals for industrial uses. In an effort to grow our refuges into an ecological and managerial whole, our staff works closely with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, the New Jersey Green Acres Program, and several land trust organizations in helping to identify and gain support for the preservation of lands, which either abut or fall within refuge land acquisition boundaries.

Current Signers as of 3/20/08:

1. Feingold
2. Snowe
3. Bingaman
4. Collins
5. Dodd 
6. Durbin
7. Kerry
8. Lieberman
9. Reed
10. Sanders
11. Stabenow
12. Warner
13. Wyden
14. Biden
15. Whitehouse
16. Johnson
17. Menendez