In a letter to House and Senate leadership yesterday, the National Association of State Foresters joined with dozens of diverse organizations, businesses, professional societies, state agencies, and tribal nations to request that the bipartisan Recovering America’s Wildlife Act (HR 3742) be included in a future economic recovery package.
The Recovering America’s Wildlife Act will put Americans back to work expanding our recreational infrastructure, restoring our natural resources, and investing in on-the-ground projects in every state, territory, and tribal lands.
…This legislation will also provide $97.5 million annually to Tribal nations for on-the-ground conservation projects that create jobs…The Recovering America’s Wildlife Act would be the only federal conservation program that guarantees sustained funding to Tribal governments to continue this work.
…This legislation will save taxpayers money in the long run because it is based on the simple premise that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Rather than defaulting to regulation and litigation, this bill saves America’s imperiled wildlife through collaboration and constructive partnerships in every state, territory, and tribal lands. If we invest proactively now, we can prevent more and more of the 12,000 Species of Greatest Conservation Need from requiring listing as endangered or threatened under the Endangered Species Act. Doing so will save American taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars compared to if all those species had to be listed (estimated at a minimum of $6.7 billion annually).
Read the letter in full by clicking the link below.