National Wildlife Refuge System- Operations and Maintenance Funding 

The vast majority of the funding of the National Wildlife Refuge System comes from the Operations and Maintenance fund, which is allocated through the Congressional appropriations process. 

As of July 2021, there are 568 units of the National Wildlife Refuge System, spanning across all 50 states, most territories, and into the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, for a total of 850 million acres. Funding for FY2021 (the fiscal year that runs October 1, 2020-September 30, 2021) is $503 million. We estimate that full funding for the Refuge System is twice that, or over one billion dollars. 

The Funding Process: 

In a typical year, the appropriations cycle begins with the President’s Budget Request in February and ends when Congress finalizes their bills and the President signs it into law by September 30th, the last day of the fiscal year. In recent years, however, this process has not run as smoothly as we might like, and funding for the National Wildlife Refuge System has floundered under the weight of tight budgets, sliding deadlines, and lack of agreement in Washington, D.C. on the best way to fund public lands. 

Nearly all the funding that the Refuge System receives is through the Operations and Maintenance (O&M) portion of the federal budget. Other smaller contributions to national wildlife refuges come through legislation like the federal transportation bill, Great American Outdoors Act funding, supplemental funding from things like hurricane or fire relief, and grant funding through certain federal programs like the Migratory Bird Conservation Fund which provides wetland restoration funding and refuge expansion dollars through Federal Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Stamps, or Duck Stamps. The O&M fund is critical to the success of national wildlife refuges, as all staffing, equipment, facility maintenance, etc. is paid for out of this fund. 

During the current fiscal year, FY2021, funding sits at $503 million. This amount covers nearly all the costs of refuge maintenance and operations, from the 80 million acres in Alaska to the 20 million acres in the contiguous lower 48 states to the 750 million acres of the Pacific island refuges and the five Pacific and Atlantic marine national monuments. It is not nearly enough to cover all costs, and over the last decade, the National Wildlife Refuge System has lost over 1,000 staff members due to budget reductions. 

The true funding need of the National Wildlife Refuge System is $1 billion, so as a starting point, the National Wildlife Refuge Association is advocating for $600 million in O&M funding for FY2022, the fiscal year that will begin October 1, 2021. The President’s Budget Request, which was released on May 27, 2021, included $584 million, an $81 million increase over current funding. The House has proposed $582 million. As we wait for the Senate to release their proposal, we continue to talk about the overall needs of the Refuge System and explain what could be done for wildlife conservation, visitor services, and outdoor recreation with full funding. 

What is Congress funding? 

The benefits of funding the National Wildlife Refuge System are almost immeasurable. Adequate funding means restoration of vulnerable habitat, protection against poaching, well-regulated access to activities like hiking, fishing, and hunting, the management of invasive species, and so much more.

This funding also supports transportation-related issues across national wildlife refuges like trail and road maintenance, consistent signage, and railways. Improvements in transportation funding result in a better experience for visitors and a safer environment for species on national wildlife refuges.

Across the more than 150 million acres of the National Refuge System are nearly 300 threatened or endangered species and thousands of other unique species that rely on the efforts of the Refuge System to prosper. Protecting these species and their habitats provides the American public with $33 billion in clean water and other environmental benefits, in addition to a major return on investment. Every dollar appropriated to the Refuge System returns an average of $4.87 to local economies along with 41,000 jobs and $3.2 billion in economic output each year. 

A Path Forward 

With $586 million dollars in funding, the National Wildlife Refuge System would still operate at an enormous deficit. The small increases in year-to-year funding do not keep pace with growing management responsibilities and increasing threats to habitat and species from climate change, development threats, and more. 

However, the National Wildlife Refuge Association is pleased to see a commitment by the Biden Administration to markedly increase funding for the National Wildlife Refuge System. We will continue to advocate in Congress to make sure the Refuge System is allotted the $586 million in the President’s budget request.