	Introduction

The annual Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies appropriations bill contains appropriations for the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) in the Department of the Interior (DOI). For FY2015, the Administration proposed a number of accounting changes. As a result, comparisons of FY2015 funding with levels in previous years are particularly difficult for a number of accounts or subaccounts. On July 23, 2014, the committee reported H.R. 113-551 ), approving $1.40 billion, down 2.0% from the FY2014 level of $1.43 billion contained in P.L. 113-76 . The President had requested $1.48 billion in annual appropriations, an increase of 3.4% over FY2014. The committee's proposed changes in accounts and subaccounts range from elimination (-100%) to an increase of 187.8%. 5171 . (Details of the funding for the Endangered Species program are shown in Table 2 .) Fisheries and Aquatic Resource Conservation

The committee moved funding for Fisheries and Aquatic Resource Conservation from the Resource Management account into its own separate account. The committee approved $147.9 million for this program, a 9.3% increase over FY2014, while generally commending the program for its work. In light of controversy in recent years over FWS funding for the mitigation necessary for fisheries loss from projects actually built and run by other agencies, the Secretary of the Interior is directed to "secure reimbursement from other Federal agencies for up to 100 but not less than 50 percent of the annual costs to the Federal Government to fulfill such mitigation responsibilities." Expenditures are currently controlled by the Migratory Bird Conservation Commission, consisting of the Secretary of the Interior (chair), the Secretary of Agriculture, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, one Republican and one Democrat from the House; one Democrat and one Republican from the Senate; the head of the FWS Realty Office; and—for each specific acquisition—a representative of the game department or of the governor of the relevant state. National Wildlife Refuge Fund

The National Wildlife Refuge Fund (NWRF, also called the Refuge Revenue Sharing Fund) compensates counties for the presence of the non-taxable federal lands under the primary jurisdiction of FWS. The committee provided level funding for the Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Fund relative to the FY2014 level. Administrative and Other Provisions Affecting Wildlife

In addition to the regular appropriations provisions, H.R. Section 431: Hunting, Fishing, and Recreational Shooting

Section 431 of the House committee's bill directs that no funds under the bill "or any other Act for any fiscal year may be used to prohibit the use of or access to Federal land (as ... defined in ... (16 U.S.C. The cited provision in the U.S. Code applies to lands managed by the Forest Service and BLM.
The annual appropriation for Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies provides funds for agencies and programs in three federal departments, as well as numerous related agencies and bureaus. Among the agencies represented is the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), in the Department of the Interior. Many of its programs are among the more controversial of those funded in the bill. On July 23, 2014, the House Committee on Appropriations reported H.R. 5171. The bill provided $1.40 billion for FWS, down 2.0% from the FY2014 level of $1.43 billion contained in P.L. 113-76. The President requested $1.48 billion, an increase of 3.4% over the FY2014 level. In addition, the Administration proposed a number of significant accounting changes. As the committee noted, some of these changes make comparisons with funding in prior years impossible for some accounts. The House committee accepted a few of the Administration's changes, while rejecting others. The committee further made its own changes in accounting, in order to emphasize certain priorities. In combination, the many changes affect a number of comparisons.
Other highlights of H.R. 5171 include the following:
A 9.3% increase in funding for hatcheries and aquatic resources. Elimination of funding for most acquisition of new refuge lands. A 187.8% increase in the National Wildlife Refuge Fund, which compensates local governments for the presence of non-taxable refuge system lands. Elimination of funding for Cooperative Landscape Conservation and Adaptive Science.
There were also several funding restrictions or directives. Among these were the following:
A prohibition on expansion or creation of national wildlife refuges using moneys from the Land and Water Conservation Fund, the Migratory Bird Conservation Account, or any other sources without specific congressional approval. Directives to maintain funds for the fish hatchery and aquatic resources program to continue support for mitigation hatcheries, as well as to secure reimbursement from agencies whose projects produced the need for fisheries mitigation. A prohibition on funding for any new regulations applying within the United States on lawfully imported ivory. A prohibition on writing or issuing certain rules or proposed rules under the Endangered Species Act on specified populations of sage-grouse. A limitation on the ability to close lands under the Forest Service or Bureau of Land Management to hunting, fishing, and recreational shooting, except for temporary closures related to special events or public safety.
General efforts to reduce federal spending will encourage scrutiny of all spending, in FWS as in other agencies.