Washington, DC — The Recovering America’s Wildlife Act will help address and reverse America’s wildlife crisis. The bipartisan legislation, which has more than 50 original cosponsors from both parties, would fund efforts to help recover 12,000 species considered in need, including the more than 1,600 U.S. species listed under the Endangered Species Act.

“More than one-third of all wildlife species in the United States are at-risk or vulnerable to extinction. If we are serious about saving our wildlife heritage, we must invest in on-the-ground solutions that match the magnitude of the crisis,” said Collin O’Mara, president and CEO of the National Wildlife Federation. “We can overcome America’s wildlife crisis by restoring and reconnecting habitat, removing invasive species, eradicating wildlife diseases, reducing pollution, and mitigating climate impacts — the future of the natural world depends upon us.

“Thank you to Representatives Dingell and Fortenberry for working together to find bipartisan solutions that will accelerate the recovery of America’s wildlife through proactive, collaborative conservation efforts.”

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About the Recovering America’s Wildlife Act:

• The bill will fund conservation efforts for more than 12,000 species of wildlife and plants in need of assistance by providing $1.397 billion in dedicated annual funding for proactive, on-the-ground efforts in every state and territory.
• The bill will hasten the recovery of 1,600 U.S. species already listed as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act.
• Wildlife recovery efforts will be guided by the Congressionally-mandated State Wildlife Action Plans, which identify specific strategies to restore the populations of species of greatest conservation need.
• Tribal Nations would receive $97.5 million annually to fund proactive wildlife conservation efforts on tens of millions of acres of land.
• The bill complements the highly successful Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Act (Pittman-Robertson) and Federal Aid in Sport Fish Restoration Act (Dingell-Johnson), which have facilitated the state-led recovery of a range of large mammals, game birds, and sportfish that faced potential extinction last century.
• A 2018 report, Reversing America’s Wildlife Crisis: Securing the Future of Our Fish and Wildlife, found that one-third of America’s wildlife species are at increased risk of extinction. More than 150 U.S. species have already gone extinct and an additional 500 species have not been seen in recent decades and are regarded as possibly extinct.
• Last session’s House bill (H.R. 4647) garnered 117 cosponsors with both parties strongly represented.