‘Most Significant Wildlife Conservation Bill in Half Century’ Passes U.S. House 

Washington would get $20.7 million to help at-risk wildlife 

 

Seattle, Wash. — The U.S. House of Representatives voted Tuesday to pass the Recovering America’s Wildlife Act, a bill to prevent wildlife extinctions by funding locally-led conservation efforts. If it becomes law, Washington will receive around $20.7 million to help 268 species of concern, including Pacific fisher, sharp-tailed grouse and pygmy rabbit.

“This is the most important piece of wildlife legislation in the past 50 years, said Mitch Friedman, executive director of Conservation Northwest. “Washington’s wildlife faces many challenges, and this bold, bipartisan bill will allow for tackling problems proactively and on the ground without new taxes or regulations.”

Funding from the Recovering America’s Wildlife Act will be used to implement the Congressionally-mandated state wildlife action plans, which identify more than 12,000 wildlife and plants that need conservation assistance nationwide.

“The bipartisan passage of the Recovering America’s Wildlife Act affirms that there is consensus across the political spectrum that we can, and we must, prevent extinctions from our backyards to the backcountry,” said Collin O’Mara, president and CEO of the National Wildlife Federation. “Inaction is the ally of extinction, and the time to act is now.”

The bill will also dedicate $97.5 million annually to fund proactive wildlife conservation efforts led by Native American Tribes. The nation’s 574 federally recognized Tribes manage tens of millions of acres of land nationwide with limited federal funding for conservation efforts.

The package now heads to the U.S. Senate where, earlier this year, the chamber’s Environment and Public Works Committee also passed its version of the bill. The bill has strong bipartisan support in the Senate, with 35 cosponsors. The Senate bill would be paid for out of federal environmental penalties.

Media Contact: Andrea Wolf-Buck, Conservation Northwest Communications Director, andrea@conservationnw.org, 206-970-1430

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“Keeping the Northwest wild” since 1989, Conservation Northwest is a regional non-profit organization that protects, connects and restores wildlands and wildlife from the Washington Coast to the British Columbia Rockies. Staff operates in local communities and rural areas around Washington and into southern B.C.

The National Wildlife Federation is America’s largest conservation organization uniting all Americans to ensure wildlife thrives in a rapidly-changing world.

Learn more about the historic Recovering America’s Wildlife Act