Environment & Climate Change

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National parks and wildlife refuges facing cuts in compromise budget in Washington

Michigan Public | By Lester Graham

Published March 8, 2024 at 8:49 PM EST

A kingfisher keeps an eye out for fish at the Shiawassee Wildlife Refuge near Saginaw, Michigan. Wildlife refuges and national parks are facing budget cuts if Congress passes the compromise proposals before it.

Congress has approved compromise spending bills that cut funding for agencies that maintain wildlife habitat.

The National Park Service, which includes Isle Royale National Park, Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, and Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, could see a 4.3% cut. The National Park Service already was hit with the cost of a 5.2% increase in employee wages last year.

The Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. It is among the sites operated by the National Park Service. The agency was already hit with the costs of a 5.2% employee raise last year. The compromise budge before Congress would cut another 4.3% from its budget.

Budgets for national wildlife refuges, which include the Shiawassee National Wildlife Refuge, Seney National Wildlife Refuge, and the Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge, are expected to be cut by 2.6%. Refuge managers are already strapped because of changes in wildlife habitat caused by climate change.

Federal money going to state agencies and tribes to preserve habitat for animals that are not hunted or fished also likely to see cuts. Those species include endangered and threatened wildlife such as Kirtland’s warblers, Blanding’s turtles, trumpeter swans, and moose.