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\"It is abundantly clear that Congressional ESA appropriations have not kept pace with recovery, consultation, and conservation efforts,\" Beyer said in a statement. \"Nearly 400 listed species lack recovery plans, and that is unacceptable. We need to adequately fund all aspects of the ESA process so that we can protect and preserve America’s national heritage.”

The letter was sent to the chair and ranking member of the subcommittees that recommend appropriations for the Interior Department and Department of Commerce.

\"PHOTO:
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
PHOTO: Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-AZ) talks to reporters as he leaves a House Democratic caucus meeting at the Capitol, Feb. 8, 2018.
>

Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke was asked about the department's budget proposal and its impact on endangered species protection in a hearing Thursday, the day before the letter was released. Zinke said that the department proposed decreasing the Land and Water Conservation Fund, which is used to acquire and manage public lands, so it could focus specifically on wildlife corridors.

Zinke signed an order aiming to improve management of wildlife habitats in Western states in February, specifically for areas populated by game animals like antelope, elk, and mule deer.

Ryan Zinke once praised the Cooperative Endangered Species Conservation Fund for the work it was doing in his home state of Montana. But now as Secretary of Interior, Zinke has proposed to eliminate this important program. Yesterday, I demanded answers. pic.twitter.com/cwub4PTKdT

— Rep. Don Beyer (@RepDonBeyer) March 16, 2018

The Center for Biological Diversity's endangered species director, Noah Greenwald, said he's glad to see congressional support to increase funding for endangered species protection. He said the center has identified at least 47 species that went extinct while waiting to be listed as endangered and that other species' recovery plans are decades old.

\"Once species are protected if we don't identify what they need for recovery they could go extinct,\" he said in an interview with ABC News.

Rebecca Riley of the Natural Resources Defense Council said Endangered Species Act programs have been underfunded for years which contributed to delays in creating and implementing recovery plans for endangered species.

For example, Polar bears were listed as threatened in 2008, according to a Fish and Wildlife Service database, but the recovery plan for the species was only finalized in 2016.

\"The underfunding of the Endangered Species Act has been going on for a long time, so the Trump administration is proposing to cut something that was already underfunded,\" she said.

Funding for those programs is provided through the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as well as the National Marine Fisheries Service within the National Oceanic at Atmospheric Administration.

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