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Libby Marking

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Fiscal Year 2024 Spending Bill Shortchanges National Wildlife Refuge System

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Fiscal Year 2024 Spending Bill Shortchanges National Wildlife Refuge System

Congress recently passed a package of several fiscal year (FY) 2024 spending bills, including the Department of the Interior, Environment and Related Agencies bill that funds the National Wildlife Refuge System. This spending bill will cut $14.5 million from the National Wildlife Refuge System’s Operations & Maintenance budget, or a 2.6% reduction from FY2023 levels. Notably, this bill also does not provide funding to cover the 5.2% pay increase for federal employees that went into effect in January. It costs the Refuge System an estimated $3

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Biden Administration Cancels Oil & Gas Leases in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

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Biden Administration Cancels Oil & Gas Leases in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

In a momentous decision yesterday, the Biden administration announced the cancellation of the last remaining oil and gas leases on the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The announcement marked a significant victory for wildlife, the environment, and the Indigenous People who have tirelessly advocated for the conservation of this irreplaceable sanctuary.

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Former Public Officials Urge Secretary Haaland To Protect Izembek National Wildlife Refuge & Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act

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Former Public Officials Urge Secretary Haaland To Protect Izembek National Wildlife Refuge & Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act

Twenty-two former public officials, including multiple former Secretaries of the Department of the Interior, sent a letter to Secretary Haaland expressing their concerns regarding the Interior’s intentions for the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge. Throughout their collective tenures in public service, they have defended Alaska’s public lands and the conservation and subsistence values protected under the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act.

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Advocacy Alert: Submit Comments on the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge Notice of Intent

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Advocacy Alert: Submit Comments on the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge Notice of Intent

The Izembek National Wildlife Refuge needs your voice! The Department of the Interior is currently in the process of once again potentially allowing a road to be built through the heart of this internationally-renowned wilderness. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) is accepting public comments from individuals and organizations on this process no later than June 20, 2023.

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Protecting Izembek National Wildlife Refuge: Department of the Interior's Notice of Intent Signals Environmental Impact Study for Proposed Road Construction

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Protecting Izembek National Wildlife Refuge: Department of the Interior's Notice of Intent Signals Environmental Impact Study for Proposed Road Construction

The Department of the Interior issued a Notice of Intent to prepare a Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement for a potential land exchange in the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge that would allow the construction of a road. 

National Wildlife Refuge Association Supports USFWS Director Martha Williams In The Face Of Calls For Resignation

National Wildlife Refuge Association Supports USFWS Director Martha Williams In The Face Of Calls For Resignation

The National Wildlife Refuge Association wholeheartedly supports Martha Williams in her role as the director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). In a recent letter to the Administration, a group of concerned scientists called for the resignation or dismissal of Director Williams. They claim she lacks the required scientific and educational background to serve in this position, despite her impressive experience in fisheries and wildlife management and environmental law and policy. 

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Department of the Interior Withdraws Izembek National Wildlife Refuge Land Exchange Agreement

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Department of the Interior Withdraws Izembek National Wildlife Refuge Land Exchange Agreement

The Department of the Interior recently announced that Secretary Deb Haaland rescinded a 2019 proposed land exchange in the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge that authorized a road to be constructed through the heart of this pristine Alaskan landscape. The National Wildlife Refuge Association has worked for decades to protect the Izembek NWR from this threat and celebrates this important step towards safeguarding America's most ecologically significant national wildlife refuge. 

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November 2022 Legislative Update

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November 2022 Legislative Update

In November, the National Wildlife Refuge Association continued to advocate for increased appropriations for the National Wildlife Refuge System (Refuge System) in fiscal year (FY) 2023. We led a letter signed by 62 organizations, including 17 Refuge Friends organizations, to appropriators requesting at least the funding levels of $574 million included in the House-passed version of the Department of the Interior Appropriations bill, and we signed a group letter requesting increased funding for environmental agencies that goes well above simply keeping pace with inflation.

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House Passes the Bipartisan “Keep America’s Refuges Operational Act of 2022”

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House Passes the Bipartisan “Keep America’s Refuges Operational Act of 2022”

The Keep America’s Refuges Operational Act of 2022 (H.R. 6734) recently passed the House of Representatives and now heads to the Senate for consideration. In March, the National Wildlife Refuge Association’s former Vice President of Government Affairs, Caroline Brouwer, testified in support of the bill to the House Committee on Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water, Oceans, and Wildlife.

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