Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Chairman of the Senate Interior Appropriations Subcommittee, is responsible for drafting the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies spending bill. At the end of July, a first draft of the Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 bill was released by the Senate Appropriations Committee.

The bill maintains funding from FY23 for many agencies and programs and includes language that benefits bird conservation, such as:

▪ Direction to help imperiled Hawaiian forest birds
▪ Support for the US Fish and Wildlife’s (USFWS) effort to establish an incidental take permit program under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA)
▪ Direction for the Bureau of Land Management to complete new management plans capable of reversing Greater Sage Grouse declines
▪ Direction to increase funding for Florida Grasshopper Sparrow recovery efforts
▪ Direction for the USFWS to contribute to regional Western Yellow Rail conservation efforts
▪ Direction to fund urban and community forestry
▪ Support for continued Everglades restoration

Now is the time to thank Sen. Merkley for including bird conservation funding in the proposed FY24 federal spending bill. His leadership will help protect declining species.

While the Senate bill helps birds, it does miss the mark on the Endangered Species Act (ESA). A disappointing provision in the bill excludes funds from being used to undertake an ESA listing rulemaking for the Greater Sage-Grouse, including the shrinking Columbia Basin population which numbers only about 600 birds.

The bill does set aside $71 million for Greater Sage-Grouse conservation activities, which would help the species and their habitat. There is further language in the bill directing the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to employ available conservation tools in the upcoming plan revisions to reverse the ongoing population decline. Since the BLM manages most of the sage grouse habitat in the country, this direction is critical for supporting the agency’s continued conservation efforts.

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More About Federal Spending

Want to learn more about how Congress allocates funding for the federal budget each year? Then check out our blog: What Is the Appropriations Process? This is a great explainer that will give you a better idea of what steps occur before funeral funding is agreed upon.