Statement: Recovering America’s Wildlife Act moves country one step closer to protecting fish and wildlife

Media Contacts
Josh Chetwynd

Kevin Pollack

The bill would help iconic animals including wood bison, monarch butterflies and West Indian manatees

Environment America

WASHINGTON — The U.S. House Natural Resources Committee passed the bipartisan Recovering America’s Wildlife Act (H.R. 2773) on Wednesday. Introduced by lead sponsors Democratic Rep. Debbie Dingell of Michigan and Republican Rep. Jeff Fortenberry of Nebraska, the bill would provide funding to every state, territory and the District of Columbia to proactively conserve more than 12,000 at-risk fish and wildlife species.

States have previously had great success in restoring endangered and threatened species, such as bald eagles, white-tailed deer and striped bass. At a time when one-third of the fish and wildlife species in the United States are at risk of becoming threatened or endangered, the Recovering America’s Wildlife Act aims to replicate past state-level conservation victories when it comes to restoring species before they are on the brink of extinction.

The Recovering America’s Wildlife Act also builds on the success of the Great American Outdoors Act, which Environment America championed as well, by creating a broad, bipartisan coalition of support. More than 1,000 diverse groups including environmental organizations, hunter and angler groups, outdoor recreation retailers, and state and federal wildlife agencies have pledged their support for the bill.

The bill must still pass through the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works before being voted on by the full Congress.

Following the markup, Environment America Federal Legislative Associate Kevin Pollack issued the following statement: 

“Our country’s fish and wildlife need protection, and they need it now. Destroyed habitats, invasive species, climate change and pollution have all contributed to a biodiversity crisis, and while the Endangered Species Act has done its job by keeping species from going extinct, we need to do more for the species not at immediate risk of extinction. States dramatically need the resources to effectively implement proactive conservation efforts to protect those species, and passing the Recovering America’s Wildlife Act helps them do exactly that.” 

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