The bill would go toward proactive efforts to recover fish and wildlife deemed at risk, like this Yellowstone cutthroat trout. (Joshua Bergan photo)
January 13, 2022
By Joshua Bergan
In a rare show of bipartisan politics, the highly supported Recovering America’s Wildlife Act is up for markup and vote on Wednesday, January 19.
The bill would invest almost $1.4 billion annually for states, territories, and tribal governments to help recover fish and wildlife populations that have been deemed at risk. At its heart, it is funding for local wildlife management agencies to use how they see fit for proactive conservation of the over 12,000 identified at-risk species and their habitat.
According to the National Wildlife Federation, over 40 percent of North American freshwater fish species have been identified as at risk, and about 42 percent of amphibian species in the U.S and about 70 percent of freshwater mussels are either imperiled or are already extinct, which many fish and aquatic ecosystems depend upon for healthy water and survival.
The bill is currently supported by 32 cosponsors in the Senate and 143 cosponsors in the House of both liberal and conservative backgrounds.
Click here to sign a National Wildlife Federation petition urging support of this bill.
Joshua Bergan is magazine’s digital editor.
