The Recovering America’s Wildlife Act, long supported by TCA, passed in the U.S. House of Representatives June 14! If it also passes in the U.S. Senate, the measure will provide $1.3 billion annually to states for wildlife projects that will prevent extinctions and change the future of our nation’s wildlife for generations to come.
Texas’ share of the revenues would be approximately $50 million per year. The funds would be distributed to Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) and its sister agencies in other states to fund each state’s congressionally-mandated wildlife action plan. Conservation organizations, state agencies, municipalities, universities, private landowners, nature centers and others protecting and educating about wildlife could apply for competitive grants.
Texas has over 1,200 species that have been identified as at-risk of extinction, and the nation has more than 12,000.
Often described as the most important piece of wildlife legislation in the past 50 years, and called a “game-changer” by TPWD Executive Director Carter Smith, the Recovering America’s Wildlife Act was developed to address our growing wildlife crisis. More than a third of the country’s wildlife species are declining or at risk. There are three billion fewer birds in our skies than there were 50 years ago. Invasive species such as zebra mussels and emerging wildlife diseases such as the Chronic Wasting Disease, which threatens our state’s deer populations, threaten to alter the natural world on a grand scale. Especially impacted are pollinators like bees, birds, and bats that are essential for agricultural crops.
The bill now goes to the U.S. Senate. YOU can help get this crucial funding over the finish line. Ask the U.S. Senators from Texas, Sen. John Cornyn and Sen. Ted Cruz, to support the Recovering America’s Wildlife Act!
