Contact your Senators about the Refuge System Funding Crisis!

Phone calls and e-mails to your Senators are urgently needed to secure a critical operations and maintenance (O&M) funding increase in the Fiscal Year budget for 2004 (FY04). Specifically, urge them to include a request for a “significant Refuge System funding increase” in their personal request letters to members of the Senate Interior Appropriations Subcommittee.

Background

The Refuge System faces a more than $2 billion funding backlog that has resulted in severe staffing shortfalls; a failure to maximize the value of habitat for refuge wildlife; and an inability to successfully involve and educate the public. To sufficiently address Refuge System needs, the Cooperative Alliance for Refuge Enhancement (CARE), a group of 21 diverse environmental and sporting organizations, recommends that the Refuge System budget be increased by $325 million (learn more about the Refuge System Funding Crisis).

Congress is now deliberating the FY04 budget and it’s important that Senators express their support for increased Refuge System funding, particularly in this tight budget year. As with other years, every Senator will send a “personal request letter” to the Chair and Ranking members of the Interior Appropriations Subcommittee urging them to support funding for projects in their states.

This year, more than ever, Senators must include a request for a “significant increase” in Refuge System funding in their request letters. By including this statement, your Senators can help to support both the refuges in your state and the broader System.

Please act now by calling or emailing your Senators to make this request (see contact information below).

In your phone calls and e-mails, please make the following points:

* On its 100th Anniversary (2003), the Refuge System faces a $2 billion operations and maintenance (O&M) funding backlog. The funding crisis means that refuges don’t have the staff and other resources to adequately protect the wildlife they were established to conserve. They are also unable to consistently offer the public outstanding opportunities to learn about and enjoy wildlife.

* A request for a Refuge System increase will help not just the broader Refuge System but also (and importantly!) the refuges in your state. If you know details about your refuges’ needs, highlight them in your communications.

* A Refuge System increase of just $100 million in FY04 – a small amount in the context of the Federal budget - will make an enormous difference for refuges and wildlife across the country.

You can reach your Senator by calling the Capitol switchboard at (202) 225-3121 or visit http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm to locate your member's email address or fax number.

Thank you, and please contact hdalsimer@refugenet.org if you have questions!

Learn more about the Refuge System Funding Crisis