Letter to Hon. Chellie Pingree, Chair Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies, and Hon. David Joyce Ranking Member Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies - Neguse Leads Request for Robust Funding of Programs to Support the Civilian Climate Corps

Letter

Dear Chair Pingree and Ranking Member Joyce:
We appreciate your support in Fiscal Year 2022 (FY22) for programs that support the goals of a Civilian Climate Corps (CCC). We write to request robust funding for programs to support the Civilian Climate Corps in the Fiscal Year 2023 (FY23) Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations bill. Specifically, we ask that you provide funding consistent with the President's FY23 budget request.
We believe that our nation has a unique opportunity to not only repair and rebuild our public health and economy, but to also restore our environment. Service and Conservation Corps have been completing this important work for decades--protecting communities from fire, restoring trails, installing fences, planting trees, weatherizing low-income homes, and more. Funding for these programs would continue successful existing partnerships between Service and Conservation Corps, the Department of Interior, and the U.S. Forest Service to continue important environmental stewardship.
The Biden Administration and Congress have shown strong support for the CCC. The 2021 Executive Order on Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad called on the Secretaries of the Interior, Agriculture, and other relevant agencies to craft a report on the creation of the CCC and also utilize existing appropriations to support this effort. The FY22 omnibus included nearly $20 million for the CCC, and the President's FY23 budget requests millions in funding for programs that support and expand the mission of the CCC.
We urge you to support the President's budget request for programs at the Department of Interior and U.S. Forest Service that would support the mission and goals of a CCC. This includes $60 million at the Department of Interior to expand CCC and Indian Youth Service Corps programs-- $31 million at the National Park Service, $12 million at the Bureau of Land Management, $10 million at the Fish and Wildlife Service, and $7 million at the Bureau of Indian Affairs. This also includes $8 million at the U.S. Forest Service for the Youth Conservation Corps and CCC partnership programs in recreation and wilderness areas.
Thank you for your consideration of this request. We look forward to continuing to work with you to create jobs and restore the health of our environment.