President Biden signed the fiscal year 2022 omnibus appropriations bill into law on March 11. The $1.5 trillion Consolidated Appropriations Act passed the U.S. House of Representatives on March 9 and the U.S. Senate on March 10, almost a full six months after the fiscal year began. The bill provides funding for federal government agencies and programs for the remainder of the current fiscal year.

The Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies division of the bill includes $38 billion, an increase of $1.9 billion over the FY21 enacted level. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service was allocated $1.65 billion, which is a $62 million increase from FY21 funding levels, and $1.39 billion for the U.S. Geological Survey, $79 million above FY21 levels. Funding for the Bureau of Land Management was increased by $101 million to $1.41 billion including an increase to $49 million for National Conservation Lands and $78 million targeted for sagebrush restoration efforts. The U.S. Forest Service will receive $5.7 billion to reduce fire risk and restore forests allocating $187 million to treat the acres at highest risk for wildfire as well as $3.7 billion in non-fire related funding. In addition, the Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program’s budget was doubled to $28 million for partner efforts to improve forest landscapes. The bill also provides for the full $900 million for the Land and Water Conservation Fund as a result of the program funding becoming permanent through the Great American Outdoors Act. Within the U.S. Department of Agriculture, conservation programs were allocated $1.005 billion. Of this, there is $101 million for watershed rehabilitation and flood prevention and $7 million for the Healthy Forests Reserve Program.