Today, Senators James Risch (R-ID), Joe Manchin (D-WV), Lamar Alexander (R-TN) and Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND) introduced S. 3223 the “Recovering America’s Wildlife” (RAW) Act in the U.S. Senate.
The following statement is from Jamie Rappaport Clark, president and CEO of Defenders of Wildlife:
“While we support funding wildlife conservation at every level, we oppose the RAW Act as currently written. Last February, we identified concerns with the legislation that was introduced in the House of Representatives that have not yet been fixed in this Senate version.
“For instance, the RAW Act does not provide funding for federal agencies charged with managing federal trust species, fails to extend the proposed funding program to Native American tribes to conserve wildlife resources on tribal lands, and could allow badly-needed conservation funds to be directed to recreational investments like boat ramps that have no direct benefit for wildlife.
“We encourage the Senate and House to address the shortcomings in this legislation and ensure that federal funding supports federal and state agencies and tribal governments that are essential partners in fish and wildlife conservation.”
For nearly 80 years, Defenders of Wildlife has worked to protect and restore America’s wildlife at risk of extinction, advancing a vision of a future in which wildlife thrives, sustained by broad public support and a resilient network of healthy lands and waters. With a network of more than 2 million supporters, Defenders is an advocate for innovative solutions to safeguard wildlife for generations to come. To learn more, please visit https://defenders.org/newsroom or follow us on Instagram @defendersofwildlife.
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