Bipartisan Wildlife Bill Goes To House Vote (Update)

A new bipartisan wildlife bill, Recovering America’s Wildlife Act, is set for a House vote with the U.S. House Natural Resources Committee next week.

Here’s a press release from the National Wildlife Federation:

 Recovering America’s Wildlife Act — which would invest nearly $1.4 billion annually in proactive efforts to help wildlife at risk — is set for markup and vote in the U.S. House Natural Resources Committee. This will likely happen on Wednesday, January 19. (Watch it here.)

The bill has achieved a rare level of bipartisan support. Like the Great American Outdoors Act, it has enthusiastic backers among progressives and conservatives, with 32 cosponsors in the Senate and 140 in the House. 

As Senators Martin Heinrich (D) and Roy Blunt (R) wrote in a recent Fox News opinion piece: 

“Without enough resources, state, and Tribal wildlife agencies have been forced to pick and choose which species are worth saving. Instead of doing the proactive work that is necessary to maintain healthy wildlife populations on the front end, they have been forced into using reactive, “emergency room” measures to rescue species after they are listed as threatened or endangered.”

The Recovering America’s Wildlife Act will address the crisis facing wildlife in this country at the scale that is necessary. Here’s more about the bill:

• The Recovering America’s Wildlife Act will provide nearly $1.4 billion in dedicated annual funding for proactive, collaborative efforts by the states and tribes to recover wildlife species at risk. 
• At least 15 percent of the resources would be used to recover species listed as threatened or endangered. 
• The state agencies have identified 12,000 species of wildlife and plants in need of conservation assistance in their federally-approved State Wildlife Action Plans. These plans would guide spending from the bill. 
• Tribal Nations would receive $97.5 million annually to fund proactive wildlife conservation efforts on the tens of millions of acres of land they manage. Many Tribal Nations have pioneered wildlife conservation efforts for decades without a consistent source of funding.

Update: Alaska Rep. Don Young is co-sponsoring the bill in the House:

According to the NWF, “The bill will send $31.8 million to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, which the agency will use to implement its wildlife action plan. Over 370 local species would benefit – including Chinook salmon, tufted puffins, and North Pacific right whales. The bill also send $97.5 to Tribal Nations annually – important in Alaska particularly.”