Now is the time to write letters to your Congressmembers asking them to support adequate funding for the Endangered Species Act. The final version of the Interior Appropriations bill, providing funding to the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) for implementing the ESA, will most likely be debated by Congress in September.

Congress has so far failed to appropriate adequate funding for Endangered Species programs. The House bill currently allocates only $8.47 million to endangered species listing and critical habitat programs and the Senate bill increased that amount to $9 million. However, the USFWS says that it needs at least $24 million per year for the next five years to adequately protect imperiled species.