STATEMENT: House passes Interior Appropriations Bill

WASHINGTON – On Wednesday, the House of Representatives passed the Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2025 (H.R. 8998) with a vote of 210-205. Environment America sent a letter to members of Congress on Monday urging them to vote no on the bill and its anti-environmental measures. H.R. 8998 attempts to block protections for endangered Right and Rice’s whales, undermine policies that could protect old-growth trees and forests, open pristine wild lands in the Arctic to drilling, allow toxic mining near the beloved Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness and strip Endangered Species Act protections from threatened species, among other destructive environmental actions.

The House also voted to add more anti-environment amendments to the bill, including amendments to block potential national monument protections for special places in Colorado, Oregon and Minnesota. Other amendments would block the Bureau of Land Management from protecting critical wildlife habitat from drilling in Wyoming and Colorado and block the Fish and Wildlife Service from expanding the Muleshoe National Wildlife Refuge in Texas.

In response, Environment America staff issued the following statements:

“This bill is a travesty. At a time when we need more nature, the House of Representatives is pushing the country in the wrong direction,” said Senior Conservation Program Director Steve Blackledge. “If passed, this legislation will harm wildlife of all shapes and sizes, from grizzly bears to lesser prairie chickens. It will harm Americans who need more places to hike, camp and enjoy now, and it will hurt our children who will grow up in a world with fewer wildlife species and fewer beautiful places to enjoy in the future.”

“Americans love our old-growth and the Forest Service has undertaken an historic process to change the way they manage old-growth in our national forests. This bill would prevent the Forest Service from finalizing that process, including stopping the ongoing 90-day public comment period in its tracks,” said Public Lands Campaign Director Ellen Montgomery. “The Biden administration should finish what they started and swiftly develop policies to protect mature and old-growth trees and forests. Once these trees are logged, they take decades, or even centuries, to grow back.”

“Right whales along the Atlantic and Rice’s whales in the Gulf are endangered and swimming toward extinction,” said Protect Our Oceans Campaign Director Kelsey Lamp. “This bill would block federal agencies from restricting offshore oil drilling in order to save endangered whales. It’s disheartening to see that Congress values dirty, polluting oil production over these magnificent marine creatures. Whales aren’t in the way of oil rigs, oil rigs are in the way of the whales – it’s time we get our priorities straight.”

“This bill includes a direct attack on the future of the Dolores River Canyons, an area that boasts unparalleled ecological, historical and recreational significance for the state of Colorado,” said Environment Colorado Advocate Henry Stiles. “By prohibiting the use of the Antiquities Act to declare a national monument in several Colorado counties, we are cutting off an important option for conservation and potentially opening this landscape to the destruction of toxic mining and development. If that happens, it won’t just be nature that suffers, it will be all of us.”

“The Owyhee Canyonlands are one of Oregon, and the larger West’s, most unique natural places,” said Environment Oregon Conservation Advocate Justin Boyles. “Blocking one of the best options for protecting this essential ecosystem is just ridiculous. The Owyhee is home to more than a dozen unique plants found nowhere else in the world and the riverbank habitat that countless species rely on is a sight to behold. We’re privileged to live in a nation with such stunning natural beauty, and future generations of Oregonians deserve to see it in all its glory. Singling out the Owyhee Canyonlands is a mistake that could doom one of the most astonishing ecosystems in the world.”

“Texas is short on open spaces such as parks and wildlife refuges, so we welcomed the announcement about the expansion of the Muleshoe National Wildlife Refuge,” said Environment Texas Executive Director Luke Metzger. “The amendment to remove funding for this special place is concerning and disappointing. The wildlife refuge will protect grassland that is crucial for protection of the endangered segment of lesser prairie chicken as well as for pronghorn, Sandhill Cranes, and numerous other species that live in Texas. Texan grassland is part of the fabric of our state’s natural beauty, and deserves our protection.”