RESTON, Va. — The Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies honored National Wildlife Federation President and CEO Collin O’Mara and the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation President Jeff Crane for their ongoing work to pass the Recovering America’s Wildlife Act. The bipartisan bill, which has more than 180 co-sponsors and would provide critical new support for state, local, and Tribal wildlife-conservation projects, received its first congressional hearing in December and passed the House of Representatives in July as part of the Moving Forward Act.

“America’s wildlife are in crisis, with more than one-third of all wildlife species in the United States at heightened risk of extinction and in urgent need of immediate conservation attention. We have been proud to champion the Recovering America’s Wildlife Act with our allies at the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies and the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation,” O’Mara said. “This award is an honor and a challenge to the conservation community to build off the recent, historic success of the Great American Outdoors Act by passing the Recovering America’s Wildlife Act — and to secure our wildlife heritage for future generations.”

According to the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, “the Recovering America’s Wildlife Act represents the most significant and ambitious policy objective in a generation. The National Wildlife Federation, under Collin O’Mara’s leadership, maintains one of the most diverse affiliate networks in the conservation community. From traditional stakeholders in the hunting and fishing communities to birders and environmental organizations, the National Wildlife Federation has leveraged their organizational strength to bring a ready-made, diverse coalition able to tell the story of the Recovering America’s Wildlife Act from each of their unique lenses.”

About the Recovering America’s Wildlife Act:

• The bill will provide $1.397 billion in dedicated annual funding for proactive, on-the-ground wildlife conservation efforts in every state and territory. 
• The bill will fund additional recovery efforts for the approximately 1,600 U.S. species already listed as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act. 
• The majority of the money — $1.3 billion — will go to wildlife recovery efforts led by state wildlife agencies. This spending will be guided by the congressionally mandated State Wildlife Action Plans, which identify 12,000 species of concern nationwide. 
• 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 Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Act (Pittman-Robertson) and Federal Aid in Sport Fish Restoration Act (Dingell-Johnson), which funded state-led recovery efforts on behalf of game and fish species that faced potential extinction in the 20th century.