As I write this, President Bush is about to sign a continuing resolution, which will keep the government operating into the new fiscal year. The CR would fund at current levels the budgets of most departments and federal agencies until March 6, 2009 — after a new administration has been sworn in.
Meanwhile, national wildlife refuges [...]

Back on July 14, this blog reported on an incident where a refuge volunteer helped to catch two people who had violated the law at a national wildlife refuge. The blog post also pointed out that the International Association of Chiefs of Police reported that the Refuge System needs 845 full-time law enforcement officers to [...]

The National Wildlife Refuge Association recently reported the latest news regarding the Fiscal Year 2009 budget process that is now ongoing in Congress. Not surprisingly, it seems that Congress will likely pass a Continuing Resolution, which will freeze the Refuge System budget at current levels until a new budget can be voted on next year.
From [...]

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reports that on May 18, 2008, volunteer Doug Domedion at Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge in western New York, saw two individuals fishing in a closed area of the refuge that was off limits to vehicles. Domedion managed to get an excellent photo of the violators’ vehicle and turned it [...]

The National Wildlife Refuge Association announced today that the House Appropriations subcommittee on Interior, Environment and Related Agencies has passed a proposed Fiscal Year 2009 budget increase of $35 million for the National Wildlife Refuge System, which would take the operating budget up to $469 million, or approximately $4.69 per acre for the 100 million-acre [...]

Yesterday the Cooperative Alliance for Refuge Enhancement released a report highlighting the massive problems national wildlife refuges face due to underfunding and loss of valuable staff:

America’s 548 National Wildlife Refuges Under-Funded By 43 Percent
One in Three Refuges Fully Unstaffed - 300 Staff Lost, 250 More At Risk
Washington, DC - A new report released to Congress [...]

The National Wildlife Refuge Association has announced an alert regarding budget talks in the Senate. Senators Russ Feingold (D-WI) and Olympia Snowe (R-ME), are sending a letter to the Senate Interior and Environment appropriations subcommittee urging them to increase funding for the National Wildlife Refuge System to $514 million for Fiscal Year 2009. This level [...]

The National Wildlife Refuge Association is reporting that the Co-Chairs and Vice Co-Chairs of the House Wildlife Refuge Caucus are now circulating a sign-on letter that will ultimately go to members of the House Interior Appropriations Subcommittee urging them to fund the National Wildlife Refuge System at $514 million for Fiscal Year 2009. Representatives who [...]

President George W. Bush released his final budget yesterday, and not surprisingly environmental programs took a significant hit. According to the press release put out by the non-profit National Wildlife Refuge Association:

Today, the President announced his budget for next year (Fiscal Year 2009) and has proposed FLAT funding for the National Wildlife Refuge System (NWRS). [...]

Seacoast Online, which covers news along the seacoast of New Hampshire and Southern Maine, recently published an article about Great Bay National Wildlife Refuge and its staffing problems.
Great Bay NWR was established in 1992 and is located along the eastern shore of New Hampshire’s Great Bay in the town of Newington. Great Bay is the [...]