JACKSON, Miss. — Thirteen local and national conservation groups are thanking Senator Roger Wicker for cosponsoring the Recovering America’s Wildlife Act with a half-page ad in the Sunday Clarion-Ledger and a digital ad campaign.

The bipartisan Recovering America’s Wildlife Act will prevent extinctions by dedicating $1.4 billion annually for collaborative efforts on behalf of at-risk wildlife species. Mississippi will receive $15.6 million each year to help more than 300 species in need, including bobwhite quail, pallid sturgeon and red-cockaded woodpeckers. 

Click here to see the half-page ad.

“This will be the most important piece of wildlife legislation within the past fifty years, if it passes,” said Ashlee Ellis Smith, CEO of the Mississippi Wildlife Federation. “We thank Senator Wicker for co-sponsoring this fiscally responsible effort to help at-risk wildlife with collaborative, voluntary measures.” 

The Senate bill has 32 bipartisan cosponsors, including 16 Republicans. More than 160 representatives have signed onto the House version of the legislation. Senator Wicker sits on the Senate Environment and Public Works committee, which could vote on the bill in early April, during National Wildlife week. 

“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.”

Nationwide, the Recovering America’s Wildlife Act dedicates funding to collaborative wildlife restoration efforts, largely led by the states and Tribes. Federally recognized tribal nations, such as the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, would share $97.5 million annually.

A recent nationwide poll of nearly 1,199 likely voters found that 87 percent of likely voters supported the bill, with only 7 percent opposed. 

“Wildlife conservation is an issue that unites all Mississippians. We hope to see this bill make it to the President’s desk this year,” said Smith. 

The ad was paid for by the National Wildlife Federation. The Mississippi Wildlife Federation, The Nature Conservancy, Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation, Backcountry Hunters and Anglers, the National Wild Turkey Federation, Audubon, B.A.S.S., Coastal Conservation Association Mississippi, the Conservation Fund, the Land Trust for the Mississippi Coastal Plain, Wildlife Mississippi, and Ducks Unlimited participated in the campaign.