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A project of Common Dreams

For Immediate Release
Contact:

Jessica Brand, (202) 772-0239

Defenders of Wildlife Calls On Congress to Restore Funding for National Wildlife Refuge System

The U.S. National Wildlife Refuge System, which fuels the economic
engine of local communities in all 50 states, is under threat from an
Obama Administration proposal to significantly cut the system's budget.

Today Defenders of Wildlife joined 21 other groups to send a report
to Congress asking that funding be restored. The report by the
Cooperative Alliance for Refuge Enhancement (CARE) warns that unless
Congress acts to restore funding for the refuge system, the economic
benefits that refuges provide could be in jeopardy at the very time
they're needed most.

WASHINGTON

The U.S. National Wildlife Refuge System, which fuels the economic
engine of local communities in all 50 states, is under threat from an
Obama Administration proposal to significantly cut the system's budget.

Today Defenders of Wildlife joined 21 other groups to send a report
to Congress asking that funding be restored. The report by the
Cooperative Alliance for Refuge Enhancement (CARE) warns that unless
Congress acts to restore funding for the refuge system, the economic
benefits that refuges provide could be in jeopardy at the very time
they're needed most.

Also at risk are the lands, waters, wildlife, birds and recreation
opportunities that the more than 550 refuges in the 150-million-acre
refuge system were established to protect.

Read the full news release and report.

Learn more about funding for wildlife and habitat.

Defenders of Wildlife is the premier U.S.-based national conservation organization dedicated to the protection and restoration of imperiled species and their habitats in North America.

(202) 682-9400