From Backcountry Hunters & Anglers:
Backcountry Hunters & Anglers commended U.S. House of Representatives members for voting to advance a $383 billion funding bill for fiscal year 2020 that boosts spending for key conservation programs. The House appropriations minibus (H.R. 3055) increases funding for the EPA, Interior Department, Agriculture Department and related agencies by approximately 5 percent for FY2020, decisively rejecting steep cuts proposed by the Trump administration.
“House leaders deserve our applause for heeding the will of the American people and supporting this bipartisan effort to robustly fund key conservation programs,” said BHA Conservation Director John Gale. “Specific measures in the bill – particularly funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund, sage grouse conservation and chronic wasting disease – respond directly to repeated requests from sportsmen and women. We thank the House for listening to American hunters and anglers and urge the Senate to follow suit.”
Key components of the H.R. 3055 minibus spending bill include the following:
- $524 million for the Land and Water Conservation Fund, $89 million greater than the FY2019 enacted levels;
- $1.4 billion for the Bureau of Land Management, including $73 million for sage grouse conservation;
- $3.68 billion for non-fire programs at the U.S. Forest Service;
- encourages prohibition of the Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Forest Service from advancing mineral extraction in the Boundary Waters watershed until an environmental analysis is completed;
- $3 million to the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service to provide state wildlife agencies funding for research on chronic wasting disease in wild cervid – deer, elk and moose – populations.
The Senate Appropriations Committee has yet to release or consider funding levels for fiscal year 2020 spending due to stalled conversation in advancing a 2-year budget deal. Lawmakers must pass appropriations bills by Oct. 1 or the federal government could shut down.
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