Statement on the Release of President Trump’s Budget

Washington, DC – The Endangered Species Coalition’s executive director, Leda Huta issued the following statement in response to today’s release of President Trump’s 2018 budget:

“The Trump budget makes devastating cuts to fish and wildlife conservation, including to the Endangered Species programs that help conserve and recover imperiled wildlife. While President Trump and his allies in Congress make a lot of noise about wanting to give states more opportunity to recover threatened and endangered species, the President’s budget does the exact opposite, by cutting millions of dollars from wildlife conservation programs that prevent species from declining to the point where they need Endangered Species protection.”

Background:

The release of President Trump’s 2018 budget comes four days after thousands of American’s celebrated  Endangered Species Day across the country, in recognition of our nation’s commitment to protect and restore our disappearing wildlife.

The Endangered Species Act of 1973 was a landmark conservation law that passed Congress with overwhelming bipartisan support. Although some members of Congress are now seeking to weaken this safety net for fish, plants and wildlife on the brink of extinction, recent polling indicates that the law maintains strong, bipartisan, public support even today.

More than 1,300 imperiled species of plants, fish and wildlife in the United States have been protected by the Endangered Species Act, and only ten have gone extinct, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Additionally, a 2012 study found that 90 percent of protected species are recovering at the pace expected in their scientific recovery plans.