A mountain lion walks down a dirt path in the Santa Monica Mountains, her journey is followed by a national park service (NPS) mountain lion biologist from a tracking device on the lion’s radio collar, her journey leads to her den of two kittens. This is new information for the NPS as the kittens were previously unknown. All part of a decades long lion monitoring project by the NPS.
Sadly this important research and other federal wildlife research projects are proposed for defunding as part of the Trump Administration’s defunding of wildlife research on so called “nuisance “ species such as grizzly bears, gray wolves and mountain lions in the west, I was told in a recent meeting with Dept of the Interior DC staff.
This is all part of a Trump Administration plan to completely eliminate urban national park areas such as Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, a plan which is already being carried out by recent park staff firings and park budget cuts.
All concerned national park advocates should contact the 25 republican members of the House Committee on Natural Resources which oversees the national park service and express your concerns about loss of funding for mountain lion research projects:
House Committee on Natural Resources
National Park Service mountain lion research has proved vital in efforts to save the dwindling population of mountain lions in the Santa Monica Mountains.
For the Coast
The closure of several National Marine Sanctuaries offices, including the National Ocean Service (NOS) National Marine Sanctuary office in downtown Santa Barbara, has been announced. This directive, issued by the current administration, does not appear to impact the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary main office located on the UCSB campus. However, the office leases for Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary have been terminated.
The Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary, serving Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties, is currently under review for potential defunding in the upcoming fiscal year.
The current administration intends to eliminate all national marine sanctuaries through incremental staff reductions and budget cuts, mirroring reported actions taken against national parks. Instances cited include staff reductions at Channel Islands National Park, where leases for two of three park offices have been terminated, and proposed legislation for the removal of Santa Rosa Island from the national park designation.
The President has enacted a significant reconciliation bill, approved by Congress, mandating substantial budget reductions across all federal agencies. While the cuts have been authorized, they are pending legislative enactment. The bill necessitates that each House Appropriations Committee formulate specific budget reductions for agencies under their purview.
For national public lands units, this responsibility falls to the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies, currently chaired by Congressman Mike Simpson (R-ID). It is reported that the subcommittee will commence meetings this week to determine these mandated reductions. Therefore, advocating for the protection of our national public lands is crucial. The fate of America’s national public lands now rests with the 11 members of this subcommittee.
Contact the subcommittee office in Washington, D.C. at (202) 225-3081.
for the lions,
Jim Hines, Chair
Sierra Club California Wildlife Committee