Recovering America’s Wildlife Act Is MIA

The released text of the year-end omnibus package did not include the bipartisan Recovering America’s Wildlife Act, which would prevent extinctions and help plants and wildlife thrive for future generations. The historic legislation stalled as the parties involved could not agree upon a fiscal offset.

“The bipartisan Recovering America’s Wildlife Act is the most important wildlife legislation in half an century, and we must find a way for it to pass. The historic legislation will empower states, Tribes, and territories to ensure that the full diversity of fish, wildlife, and plants thrive for future generations,” said Collin O’Mara, president and CEO of the National Wildlife Federation. “Inaction is the ally of extinction, and we will continue to push tirelessly to ensure that the bill does not meet the same fate facing thousands of species of wildlife and plants.”

The National Wildlife Federation thanked the bill’s champions, including Representative Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.), Senators Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), Representative Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.), Senator Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Senator Tom Carper (D-Del.), and the bill’s more than 240 House and Senate co-sponsors. The National Wildlife Federation pledged to keep working with its 52 state and territorial affiliates, more than 6 million members, states, territories, and Tribal Nations, and allies in the nonprofit and private sectors to pass the Recovering America’s Wildlife Act into law.