JACKSON, Miss. — Senator Roger Wicker is co-sponsoring the Recovering America's Wildlife Act, a bipartisan bill that will devote $1.4 billion annually to locally-led efforts to help at-risk wildlife species nationwide.

“This will be the most important piece of wildlife legislation within the past fifty years, if it passes,” said Ashlee Ellis Smith, CEO, Mississippi Wildlife Federation. “We thank Senator Wicker for co-sponsoring this fiscally responsible effort to help at-risk wildlife with collaborative, voluntary measures – including an increase to $15.6 million to Mississippi from the current $574 thousand it currently receives. More than 300 local species would benefit from the bill, including pallid sturgeon and red-cockaded woodpeckers.”

At least 15 percent of the funds will be used to help species already designated as endangered or threatened. Federally recognized tribal nations, such as the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, would share $97.5 million annually to fund wildlife conservation efforts on tribal lands.

“Saving the thousands of at-risk wildlife species will require bold, bipartisan leadership and unprecedented collaboration,” said Collin O’Mara, president and CEO of the National Wildlife Federation. “We are so grateful to Senator Wicker for leading the way on the historic Recovering America’s Wildlife Act that will have an immediate impact – saving species and creating jobs in Mississippi and all across the country.”

The Senate bill currently has 25 supporters, evenly split between Republicans and Democrats. Representative Steven Palazzo is among the more than 100 bipartisan supporters of the House version of the legislation.

“Wildlife conservation is a bipartisan issue that unites all Americans. We hope Senator Hyde-Smith and the rest of the Mississippi delegation will soon join Senator Wicker in cosponsoring this commonsense bill,” said Ellis Smith.