The bipartisan Recovering America’s Wildlife Act (RAWA), recently introduced by Representatives Dingell (D-MI) and Fortenberry (R-NE), will be the most significant investment in wildlife conservation in a generation. The bill will fund proactive efforts led by the states, territories, and tribes to address the nation’s looming wildlife crisis and to prevent species from becoming endangered.
RAWA will provide much needed funding to state fish and wildlife agencies to implement their congressionally mandated State Wildlife Action Plans in partnership with state-based conservation entities. The current levels of funding are less than five percent of what is necessary. State fish and wildlife agencies have identified more than 12,000 species in need of proactive conservation efforts in the United States, including the more than 1,600 U.S. species already listed as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act.
The Recovering America’s Wildlife Act will provide states, territories, and tribes with $1.39 billion annually to catalyze proactive, on-the-ground, collaborative efforts to restore essential habitat and implement key conservation strategies.
State fish and wildlife agencies have had great success in restoring fish and wildlife once on the brink – from turkey and elk to stiped bass and native trout. These species have been enhanced and restored thanks to dedicated funding for increased conservation efforts.
Currently, 80 percent of the funding for our state wildlife agencies comes from state hunting and fishing licenses and permits as well as federal excise taxes on hunting and fishing gear. This funding model has worked for decades but is no longer enough on its own.
This legislation follows the recommendation of a diverse group of conservation and industry leaders—the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies' Blue Ribbon Panel on Sustaining America’s Diverse Fish & Wildlife Resources.
AFFTA and the AFFTA Fisheries Fund have joined the Alliance for America’s Fish & Wildlife, a large and diverse coalition of organizations, agencies and industry groups, to push for passage of this legislation.
More Resources:
Reversing America’s Wildlife Crisis: Securing the Future of Our Fish and Wildlife. 2018 report by the American Fisheries Society, the Wildlife Society, and National Wildlife Federation.
Recovering America’s Wildlife Act and the Great American Outdoors Act
