The Daily Caller News Foundation learned that the Department of the Interior (DOI) canceled 79 grants to environmental organizations on Tuesday, totaling around $14 million. [emphasis, links added]
Under the Trump administration, the Interior Department has been cutting back expenses in line with President Donald Trump’s March executive order, which directed agencies to eliminate waste and save taxpayer dollars.
The DOI canceled numerous grant awards on Tuesday, with several groups that also proclaimed diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) values, which Trump has regularly critiqued.
The DOI canceled numerous grants to the Bird Conservancy of the Rockies on Tuesday, which, in its 2023 to 2028 strategic plan, states: “[W]e are recruiting, hiring, training, and investing in staff and the organization to increase engagement, diversity, accessibility, and inclusivity across the communities we live and work.”
The grants were cut as part of the DOI’s effort to cut costs and save taxpayer dollars, according to the agency.
Several of the groups that were receiving the taxpayer-funded grants also happened to affirm DEI values, which Trump has worked to expel from the administration in favor of traditional meritocracy.
In addition to the Bird Conservancy of the Rockies, several other environmental groups tapping the taxpayer spigot publicly endorsed DEI values in recent years.
The DOI is canceling millions in grants for the Institute for Applied Ecology, which outlined a DEI action plan in 2021, noting that the organization affirms that “diversity makes us strong and equality is in our nature. We are passionate about inclusion across gender, race, age, religion, identity, and experience.”
The Institute for Applied Ecology centers its work on “conserving native species and habitats through restoration, research, and education,” according to its website.
Another environmental group, known as the Lomakatsi Restoration Project, features a land acknowledgment on its website and is losing millions in DOI funds.
Top photo: Trump holds a Cabinet meeting with Interior Secretary Doug Bergum attending. Official White House Photo by Molly Riley
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