Biden administration releases budget proposal

[Laura Bies]

This news and analysis are provided by the Ornithological Council, a consortium supported by 10 ornithological societies. Join or renew your membership in your ornithological society if you value the services these societies provide to you, including OrnithologyExchange and the Ornithological Council.

The administration has released its budget proposal for the 2022 Fiscal Year. In general, discretionary spending would increase under the budget, with many wildlife management and conservation programs benefitting. 

Highlights for birds and bird conservation include:

• $10.17 billion in overall funding for NSF, a 20% increase for NSF over FY 2021 levels
• Funding of $66.1 million for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Migratory Bird Management Program, an $18.2 million increase from the 2021 level (which includes an increase of $2.5 million for the Joint Venture program)
• An increase for the State and Tribal Wildlife Grants program, from $72.4 million to $82.4 million
• A sizable increase for the Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act, up to $7.9 million from $4.9 million
• Stable funding for both the North American Wetlands Conservation Fund and the Multinational Species Conservation Fund 
• A nearly $100 million increase for the Ecosystems program area at the U.S. Geological Survey, from $259 million to $358 million
• A slight increase for Cooperative Research Units, to $25.5 million 

Note that Congressional appropriators may consider the president’s proposal when drafting their appropriations bill but are under no obligation to follow it. 

More information about the DOI budget is available here

More information about the USFWS budget is available here  (as of May 30, this page was not yet updated for FY 2022)

More information about the USGS budget is available here

***

Department of the Interior Press Release:

Date: Friday, May 28, 2021
Contact: Interior_Press@ios.doi.gov

President Biden’s Fiscal Year 2022 Budget Makes Significant Investments in Interior Department  

Proposal would restore balance on public lands and waters, infuse critical resources in Indian Country, advance environmental justice, and build a clean energy future 

WASHINGTON — The Biden-Harris administration today submitted to Congress the President’s budget for fiscal year 2022. The Department of the Interior’s 2022 budget proposal totals $17.6 billion — an increase of $2.5 billion, or 17 percent, from the 2021 enacted level. This significant investment will help the Department address the climate crisis while creating good-paying union jobs and investing in healthy lands, waters, and economies in communities across the country.

As the Administration continues to make progress defeating the pandemic and getting our economy back on track, the President’s budget makes historic investments that will help the country build back better and lay the foundation for shared growth and prosperity for decades to come.

“The Interior Department plays an important role in the President’s plan to reinvest in the American people. From bolstering climate resiliency and increasing renewable energy, to supporting Tribal nations and advancing environmental justice, President Biden’s budget will make much-needed investments in communities and projects that will advance our vision for a robust and equitable clean energy future,” said Secretary Deb Haaland. 

The 2022 budget proposal includes the two historic plans the President has already put forward — the American Jobs Plan and the American Families Plan — and reinvests in education, research, public health, and other foundations of our country’s strength. At the Interior Department, the budget would: 

Address Climate Challenges and Build Climate Resiliency. The 2022 budget proposal includes more than $1.9 billion in new climate-related investments to conserve and adaptively manage natural resources, increase understanding of how natural resources are changing and what that means, build resilience to protect communities and lands from significant impacts, and contribute to the reduction of greenhouse gases. The proposal includes funding to help advance the America the Beautiful initiative – the Administration's effort to conserve 30 percent of U.S. lands and waters by 2030 – and includes more than $900 million in funding for Interior and the Department of Agriculture for the Land and Water Conservation Fund. The budget proposal also contains funding for wildland fire management, drought mitigation, and science-based investments that will help the Department and communities prepare for and address the aftermath of natural hazard events.

Strengthen Tribal Nations. Underscoring the Administration’s focus on Indian Country, the 2022 budget proposal includes $4.2 billion, an increase of $727.8 million from the 2021 enacted level, across all Indian Affairs programs. These investments will support a new Indian Land Consolidation Program, which will address the problem of fractionated lands and enhance the ability of Tribal governments to plan for and adapt to climate change and to build stronger Tribal communities. The budget will also provide increases to strengthen Tribal natural resource programs, Tribal public safety, and efforts to provide leadership and direction for cross-departmental and interagency work involving missing and murdered American Indian and Alaska Native peoples.

Create Jobs to Meet Environmental and Energy Challenges. To implement the American Jobs Plan, the 2022 budget proposal includes new investments to create good-paying jobs, rebuild the country’s infrastructure, address the climate crisis, and position the United States to out-compete other countries. The proposal includes an increase of $300 million to support jobs plugging orphan oil and gas wells, cleaning up abandoned mines, and decommissioning offshore oil and gas infrastructure, which will improve the environmental quality of energy communities by addressing serious safety hazards and risks from associated air, water, or other environmental damage. As part of this proposal, the budget includes $169 million for a new Energy Community Revitalization Program, which will help accelerate this remediation and reclamation work on Interior-managed lands and support work on non-federal lands through grants to states and Tribes. The budget proposal also contains $86 million for the Civilian Climate Corps, an initiative to put a new generation of Americans to work conserving and restoring public lands and waters. It also includes $249 million in funding to increase renewable energy production on public lands and in offshore waters, which will create jobs and help transition the country to a clean energy future. 

For more information on the President’s FY 2022 Budget, please visit: https://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/. 

### 
 

About the Ornithological Council

The Ornithological Council is a consortium of 10 scientific societies of ornithologists; these societies span the Western Hemisphere and the research conducted by their members spans the globe. Their cumulative expertise comprises the knowledge that is fundamental and essential to science-based bird conservation and management. The Ornithological Council is financially supported by our 10 member societies and the individual ornithologists who value our work. If the OC’s resources are valuable to you, please consider joining one of our member societies or donating directly at Birdnet.org. Thank you for your support!