This week, the House Natural Resources Committee advanced the Restore Our Parks and Public Lands Act, a bill that seeks to fund the maintenance backlog on national parks, wildlife refuges and public lands. The American Fisheries Society and The Wildlife Society urged the committee to consider funding for proactive fish and wildlife conservation.

More than one-third of all U.S. wildlife species are at-risk due to habitat loss and degradation, invasive species, disease, and pollution. Without adequately managed, healthy populations of fish and wildlife on our public lands, the benefits provided through the improvement of recreational access and enhancement to our nation’s public lands will be diminished. The Recovering America’s Wildlife Act (H.R. 4647) would meet this need by proactively funding conservation of at-risk fish and wildlife species. Like the Restore Our Parks and Public Lands Act, the Recovering America’s Wildlife Act would dedicate a portion of existing energy and mineral royalties from federal lands and waters to fund the conservation and monitoring of state-identified at-risk species, known as Species of Greatest Conservation Need, which will allow Congress to adequately fund an existing proactive conservation funding model in a collaborative, non-regulatory manner. Tell your member of Congress to support the H.R. 4647.