WASHINGTON, D.C. — This week a broad coalition of 117 conservation, environmental, outdoor recreation, faith, and public health groups called upon the leadership of the U.S. House and Senate to ensure that any infrastructure or economic stimulus package includes funding for the restoration of America’s watersheds. The groups urged Congressional leaders to increase investments in watershed restoration programs at EPA, Army Corps, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

“We urge you to prioritize robust investments in programs that protect and restore America’s iconic aquatic ecosystems as part of any infrastructure or economic recovery package,” the organizations wrote in the letter. “They enjoy broad, bipartisan support, and their success hinges on the construction and maintenance of shovel worthy infrastructure projects, many of which have long been on the books.  At a time when lawmakers need to make targeted decisions to jumpstart our nation’s economy and build more resilient communities, restoring America’s great waters, which are a vital part of our nation’s infrastructure, offers one of the best returns on investment.”

The letter’s signatories are the National Wildlife Federation, 1000 Friends of Florida, Advocates for Clean & Clear Waterways Alabama Rivers Alliance, Albemarle-Pamlico National Estuary Partnership, Alice Ferguson Foundation, American Chestnut Land Trust, American Rivers, American Sportfishing Association, Amigos Bravos, Angler Action Foundation, Anthropocene Alliance, Association of National Estuary Programs Audubon Florida, Audubon Mid-Atlantic, Audubon Naturalist Society, Audubon of Southwest Florida, Black Warrior Riverkeeper, Inc., Blue Water Baltimore, Buzzards Bay Coalition, Capital Region Land Conservancy, Catskill Center for Conservation and Development, Chesapeake Conservancy, Chesapeake Legal Alliance, Citizens Against Widening the Industrial Canal, Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana Coastal Bend Bays & Estuaries Program – Texas Committee on the Middle Fork Vermilion River, Delaware Audubon Society, Delaware Highlands Conservancy Delaware Nature Society, Delaware Riverkeeper Network Delaware-Otsego Audubon Society Ducks Unlimited, Earth Force, Environmental Defense Fund, Environmental Law & Policy Center Everglades Foundation, Flint River Watershed Coalition, Florida Bay Forever, Florida Oceanographic Society, Florida Wildlife Federation, Friends of Hopewell Valley Open Space, Friends of St Clements Bay, Friends of the Cacapon River, Friends of the Rappahannock, Friends of the Rivers of Virginia, Friends of the Upper Delaware River Great Egg Harbor Watershed Association, Green Valleys Watershed Association, Healthy Gulf, Holy Spirit Missionary Sisters, USA-JPIC Hoosier Environmental Council, Huron River Watershed Council, Illinois Council of Trout Unlimited, IRL Council and Indian River Lagoon National Estuary Program, Izaak Walton League of America, Kentucky Resources Council, Kentucky Waterways Alliance, Lackawanna River Conservation Association, Lake Erie Advocates, Lake Hopatcong Foundation, League of Conservation Voters, Lehigh Valley Audubon Society, Mill Creek Alliance, Minnesota Environmental Partnership, Musconetcong Watershed Association, National Aquarium, National Audubon Society, National Parks Conservation Association, New Jersey Sustainable Business Council, Newtown Creek Coalition, NYenvironcom, Ohio Conservation Federation, Ohio River Foundation, Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition, Orange County Audubon Society, Otsego Land Trust, Patuxent Tidewater Land Trust, Peace River Audubon, Peconic Estuary Partnership, Citizens Advisory Committee, Pennsylvania Council of Churches, Pennypack Ecological Restoration Trust, Pocono Heritage Land Trust, Potomac Conservancy, Potomac Valley Audubon Society, Puget Sound Partnership, Rachel Carson Council, Redbudsuds, Religious Coalition for the Great Lakes, Rivanna Conservation Alliance, Rock Creek Conservancy, Safe Healthy Playing Fields Inc., Sanibel Captiva Conservation Foundation, Save Our Wild Salmon Coalition, Save The River, Schuylkill Headwaters Association, Inc., SERCAP, INC., Sierra Club, Sierra Club Alabama Chapter Mobile Bay Group, Surfrider Foundation, The Alliance for the Great Lakes, The Bay Foundation, The Piedmont Environmental Council, The Watershed Center Grand Traverse Bay, The Wetland Trust, Inc., Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, Tip of the Mitt Watershed Council, Transition Howard County, Trout Unlimited, UC Davis, UrbanPromise Ministries, Valley Forge Audubon Society, Valley Watch, Inc., Virginia Conservation Network, West Virginia Rivers Coalition, Western Pocono Trout Unlimited.