Policy News
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... Read More
A new marine fisheries policy was approved by the AFS Governing Board Atlantic City in August to inform the proposed Congressional re‐authorization and amendment of the Magnuson‐Stevens Fisheries Conservation and Management Act (MSFCMA), the federal law that governs fisheries management in offshore waters. Early this year, AFS President Steve McMullin empaneled a special committee of... Read More
In mid-July, Senator John Barrasso (R.-Wyo.), Chair of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, released a “discussion draft” of a bill that seeks to amend the Endangered Species Act. The committee held a hearing on July 17 to explore the proffered changes. The bill is largely based on the recommendations of the Western Governors Association for... Read More
The Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers have taken a new tack to repeal the 2015 Waters of the U.S. Rule or WOTUS Rule. On July 6, the agencies issued a supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking to amend a July 2017 proposed action that delayed the implementation of the WOTUS Rule with a... Read More
The bipartisan Recovering America’s Wildlife Act, S.B. 3223, was introduced in the Senate on Tuesday by Sen. James Risch (R-Idaho), and cosponsored by Senators Joe Manchin (D-W. Va.); Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.), and Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.). The bill would authorize up to $1.3 billion annually, subject to appropriations, for state fish and wildlife agencies to support... Read More
At the end of last month, Sen. Roger Wicker introduced S.3138, the “Advancing the Quality and Understanding of American Aquaculture Act,” or AQUAA Act, that provides for a regulatory system for marine aquaculture in the United States exclusive economic zone. The bill seeks to establish an Office of Marine Aquaculture within the National Marine Fisheries... Read More
Having worked on the long‐term recovery of the Gulf Coast following Hurricane Katrina, I am keenly interested in how our country plans for future disasters. One of the primary lessons learned from the 2005 hurricane season was that mitigation saves lives and property and reduces the costs to taxpayers in the long run. Over the... Read More
The House Rules Committee members heard testimony on H.R. 200 on Monday, a bill that seeks to amend the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSA). They will take up the bill again today and it could go to the full House tomorrow for a vote. However, the House is embroiled on immigration issues which... Read More
The American Fisheries Society (AFS), The Wildlife Society (TWS), and the National Wildlife Federation (NWF) hosted a Congressional briefing on the status of U.S. fish and wildlife, along with a new funding mechanism that could address the current wildlife crisis. The event focused on a recently released report, Reversing America’s Wildlife Crisis, which shows that... Read More
One year ago President Trump released his first budget proposal to Congress. The proposed cuts caused much consternation about the future of important fisheries and conservation programs. After a long slow crawl, Congress finally sent a budget deal to the President’s desk this spring. With the increase in the budget ceiling passed in early 2018,... Read More
