News Release - 02/27/07

National Coalition Calls for Greater Wildlife Funding

Following the approval of 56 state wildlife action plans, 5,000 wildlife groups hope Congress will find the appropriate funding

Washington, DC (February 27, 2007)- Last month, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service gave final approval of the last nine state wildlife action plans-the nation's answer to preventing wildlife from becoming endangered. Teaming with Wildlife, a coalition of more than 5,000 conservation-minded organizations and businesses, is calling for $85 million to fund the action plans in 2008-an increase from the final $67.5 million appropriated for 2007. This year, President Bush has recommended $69.5 million to fund the program.

"The state fish and wildlife agencies are grateful for the President's recommendation, but it actually only accounts for a fraction of the real cost," said Ed Parker, president of the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies and Bureau Chief of the Bureau of Natural Resources for the Connecticut Dept. of Environmental Protection . "In Connecticut we have more than 360 wildlife species of greatest conservation need. To help these species and the places they live survive, we'll have to find much more funding."

Completed in 2006, each state wildlife action plan contain information on low and declining populations of wildlife, their habitats, threats, and the conservation actions that must be taken to prevent them from becoming endangered. Individually, the action plans establish a set of conservation actions for each state, but together they represent a blueprint for conservation on regional and national scale.

The state wildlife action plans allow states and territories to continue receiving federal funding annually under the State Wildlife Grant Program, created under bipartisan legislation signed by President Bush in 2000. The Teaming with Wildlife Coalition believes, based upon the number of threats identified in the state wildlife action plans, that annual appropriations remain well below the amount it will take to conserve the nation's wildlife and their habitats.

"If you split roughly $65 million each year between 56 states and territories and think about the thousands of wildlife species each state cares for, it really isn't enough to do the job," said Parker. "The number of imperiled species will continue to grow if we don't do more today to prevent it tomorrow. The states are all aware that Congress has many responsibilities to the public, but the fact of the matter is that what is good for wildlife is also good for people and their quality of life."

Teaming with Wildlife, a national coalition of 5,000 conservation-minded organizations and businesses, works to prevent wildlife from becoming endangered by supporting increased state and federal funding for wildlife conservation. The coalition is also working to support new legislation that will dedicate funding to wildlife conservation for a long time, including part of several new climate change/global warming bills.

To learn more about an individual state plan, visit www.wildlifeactionplans.com .

To learn more about the Teaming with Wildlife Coalition, visit www.teaming.com.

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The Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies -the organization that represents all of North America's fish and wildlife agencies-promotes sound management and conservation, and speaks with a unified voice on important fish and wildlife issues. Found on the web at www.fishwildlife.org .

us , Public Affairs
Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies
202/624-7890
rbrittin@fishwildilfe.org

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