Defenders of Wildlife Blog

The good news: Congress and the President managed to reach a deal to avoid the fiscal cliff!
The bad news: It’ll only last until March. Then what?

Refuges aren’t the only public lands vital to wildlife — our national forests provide havens for any number of threatened and endangered species. That’s why we have to make sure that the programs that keep national forests healthy for wildlife are kept, not cut.

When an oil spill or chemical leak threatens our nation’s wildlife, this program is there to investigate the cause, restore habitat, and prevent future incidents. Now its already-stretched budget could be cut even further, begging the question: when the next spill happens, who will be there to clean up the mess?

Migratory birds are a vital part of ecosystems across the U.S. and a boon to the economy. But the program that protects these winged visitors from disease, abuse, habitat loss and other threats is on the verge of being cut. You can help by taking action!

With crimes against wildlife on the rise — including poaching, smuggling, and more — we rely on the FWS Office of Law Enforcement to protect wildlife in the U.S. and around the world. But budget cuts could mean a drastic cut in those protections as well.

The National Wildlife Refuge System — the backbone of our nation’s efforts to protect our unique and irreplaceable wildlife heritage — already operates on half the budget it needs. Now see what the fiscal cliff could mean for our refuges.