SACRAMENTO, Calif.  – Audubon California, Defenders of Wildlife, The Humane Society of the United States, The Nature Conservancy, Environmental Defense Fund, Ocean Conservancy, Oceana and Pew Charitable Trusts – among many other nonprofit wildlife advocacy organizations – welcome Gov. Brown’s proposed 2017-18 budget that highlighted the long-term structural imbalance between the Department of Fish and Wildlife’s mandated responsibilities to manage California’s “diverse fish, wildlife and plant resources and the habitat on which they depend, for their ecological value and for their use and enjoyment by the public” and the funds needed to support this expansive mission.  The budget also identifies the Department of Parks and Recreation as suffering from “a long-term structural shortfall” despite recent efforts to strengthen the department. Specifically, the Governor’s budget calls out the “importance of long-term sustainable funding in a state that has more biodiversity than any other.”

The groups join with the governor in calling for a concerted effort in 2017 to work with the Department of Fish and Wildlife, the Department of Parks and Recreation, the Natural Resources Agency and the Legislature toward a solution that produces a comprehensive, sustainable revenue source to adequately fund efforts to manage California’s precious coast, lands, parks, and wildlife for the future.

“We are committed to working with Gov. Brown, his team and the Legislature to ensure that the California of the future is as beautiful as the one we are lucky to have today. We thank Gov. Brown for calling out the need to support California’s incredible biodiversity – our astonishing collection of wildlife and spectacular landscapes that is such a big part of who we are as Californians. His administration clearly recognizes that the time has long since passed for us to come together to properly fund the protection and maintenance of our natural treasures, which enrich our lives and support our vibrant economy.”

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