Help Save the Refuge System
Urge Congress to Make Funding the Refuge System a Priority!
Congress is beginning to work on the budget for Fiscal Year 2025.The National Wildlife Refuge Association (NWRA) and the Coalition of Refuge Friends and Advocates (CORFA) urge you to submit testimony to both the House and the Senate in support of the National Wildlife Refuge System.
Written testimony for the House is due Friday, May 10th, by 5 pm ET.
Written testimony for the Senate is due Tuesday, May 15th, by 5 pm ET.
With easy edits the same testimony can be used for both the House and the Senate.
We are asking each of you to put at least two items in your written testimony:
1. The importance of your local national wildlife refuge, and what it offers to the community and to wildlife.
2. Your support for the overall National Wildlife Refuge System to which your refuge belongs, NWRA requests that you ask for $602.3 million in FY 2025.
It is important that we show the committees how much Friends Groups and members care about funding for the Refuge System. All of you have refuges that are understaffed and under-maintained and desperately in need of funding. It is critical that we get an increase for the Refuge System.
How to Submit Your Testimony to the House
Testimony can be submitted by Refuge Friends Groups or by individuals as supporters of a national wildlife refuge and the National Wildlife Refuge System.
Instructions for submission are here.
What to Submit to the House:These two items must be attached to the email for it to be accepted:
1. Your final written testimony in PDF form with the information noted above (see attached sample testimony)
2. Witness disclosure form (see the attached PDF to which notes have been added)
Testimony to the House goes to IN.Approp@mail.house.gov. They are very good at confirming receipt, so if you don’t get confirmation, something might have gone wrong.
How to Submit Your Testimony to the Senate
Testimony can be submitted by Refuge Friends Groups or by individuals as supporters of a national wildlife refuge and the National Wildlife Refuge System.
Instructions for submission are here.
The Chair of this subcommittee is Jeff Merkley and the Ranking Member is Lisa Murkowski. If you are using your House testimony remember to change any references to the House to refer to the Senate.
Testimony to the Senate should be e-mailed to int@appro.senate.gov with the subject “FY25 Int OWT”.
If you have ANY questions, please let us know by reaching out to Libby Marking at NWRA at lmarking@refugeassociation.org. If you would like Libby or CORFA, coalitionrefugefriends@gmail.com, to review your testimony prior to submission, send it over!
Thank you for your support of the National Wildlife Refuge System.
