House Funding Bill Chips Away at National Wildlife Refuges with Deep Cuts & Damaging Riders

For Immediate Release July 23, 2025
Contact: Eden Taylor etaylor@refugeassociation.org

House Funding Bill Chips Away at National Wildlife Refuges with Deep Cuts & Damaging Riders

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Yesterday, the House Appropriations Committee advanced its Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies spending bill Fiscal Year 2026 — and while it wasn’t as extreme as the slash-and-burn bill the President had proposed, it would still deliver a severe setback to the National Wildlife Refuge System. The bill proposes a $22 million cut to Refuge System operations and includes a range of dangerous policy riders that would undermine wildlife conservation across the country. On a good note, the bill maintains funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund, one of the most important tools for land acquisition.

“The Refuge System is already reeling from hiring freezes, early retirements, resignations, a ballooning deferred maintenance backlog, and trying to figure out how to cover staff buyouts—often with funding allocations released just one month at a time,” said Desirée Sorenson-Groves, President & CEO of the National Wildlife Refuge Association. “While this bill isn’t as draconian as the President’s budget request, it still undercuts core American conservation efforts when we can least afford it.”

According to the House Committee Report, the bill would reduce National Wildlife Refuge System funding from $527 million in FY 2025 to $505.7 million in FY 2026—a 4% cut. This would take the Refuge System back to roughly where it was over 15 years ago. The Refuge System was funded at $503 million in FY 2010 - adjusted for inflation, that would be at least $731 million today. 

Harmful Riders That Undercut Wildlife & Refuges

On top of the funding cuts, the bill includes a long list of damaging “policy riders”—non-budget directives that weaken protections for wildlife and public lands. Among the most concerning:

  • Blocks bison reintroduction at Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge: Prevents the return of a keystone species to its native prairie habitat in Montana.

  • Prohibits the expansion of the Muleshoe National Wildlife Refuge: Prevents a community supported land protection plan at the Muleshoe National Wildlife Refuge in Texas that would provide habitat for sandhill cranes, lesser prairie-chickens, and pronghorn.

  • Prevents the listing of species while delists others: Delists gray wolves and the Greater Yellowstone grizzly bear population while preventing protections for greater sage grouse, wolverine, lesser prairie-chicken, and northern long-eared bat.

The Refuge Association is calling on the Senate to reject these provisions and restore full, sustainable funding for the Refuge System. Now is the time to act—Congress must hear from the American people that wildlife refuges are not negotiable.

“National wildlife refuges are a uniquely American idea—public lands managed not for profit, but for the protection of life itself,” Sorenson-Groves added. “Fully funding the Refuge system is a reaffirmation of who we are as a nation.”

For more information visit refugeassociation.org or follow the conversation at #RefugeStrong.

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As the only nonprofit solely dedicated to advocating on behalf of the National Wildlife Refuge System, the National Wildlife Refuge Association protects, promotes, and enhances America’s wildlife heritage through strategic programs that serve the System and wildlife beyond its boundaries. The organization addresses Refuge System funding, management, and strategic growth, while also promoting programs that maximize the system’s conservation impact.