March 2, 2022 The Honorable Deb Haaland Secretary U.S. Department of the Interior 1849 C Street, NW Washington, DC 20240 The Honorable Tom Vilsack Secretary U.S. Department of Agriculture 1400 Independence Ave., SW Washington, DC 20250 The Honorable Pete Buttigieg Secretary U.S. Department of Transportation 1200 New Jersey Ave., SE Washington, DC 20590 The Honorable Gina Raimondo Secretary U.S. Department of Commerce 1401 Constitution Ave., NW Washington, DC 20230 The Honorable Mike Conner Assistant Secretary of the Army (Civil Works) U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 108 Army Pentagon, Room 3E446 Washington, DC 20320-0108 The Honorable Michael Regan Administrator U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW Washington, DC 20004 The Honorable Deanne Criswell Administrator Federal Emergency Management Agency 500 C Street, SW Washington, DC 20024 The Honorable Brenda Mallory Chair Council on Environmental Quality 730 Jackson Place, NW Washington, DC 20506 Dear Secretary Haaland, Secretary Vilsack, Secretary Buttigieg, Secretary Raimondo, Assistant Secretary Conner, Administrator Regan, Administrator Criswell and Chair Mallory: On behalf of our millions of members and supporters, the undersigned hunting, fishing, and conservation organizations and businesses contributing to the $689 billion outdoor recreation economy write to express our interest in working closely with the Biden-Harris Administration and federal departments and agencies on implementation of the landmark Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA). The IIJA provides a critical infusion of resources to advance infrastructure solutions that recognize the value of natural systems and enhance climate resilience while connecting Americans to their public lands and waters. Our organizations worked diligently with Congress to help pass the IIJA, strengthening established conservation and recreation programs with a track record of success while helping to create new programs focused on infrastructure innovations that offer long-term benefits for climate resilience while better integrating our nation’s infrastructure system with our natural systems. We secured important wins to implement natural infrastructure solutions, restore and adapt existing and establish new recreation resources, advance wildlife crossings, ensure aquatic connectivity and fish passage, promote clean water, and sustain broad-scale restoration objectives in support of local communities throughout the country. We are now reaching out to you and your senior leadership to express our desire to remain constructive partners as the administration develops new spending plans, guidelines, and programs for IIJA implementation, and to offer expertise and resources to ensure IIJA funding is driven by science, targeted and strategic, built upon years of on-the-ground conservation and recreation partnerships, and sustainable for the long-term. With the challenges of a changing climate, ongoing human development pressures, mega-wildfires, the spread of invasive species, and other stressors that are leading to serious impacts on biodiversity, fish and wildlife habitats, and natural systems across the country, the conservation and recreation communities have continued to advance efforts that accomplish conservation at scale and advance collaborative conservation approaches with private landowners while maintaining Americans’ connections to public lands and waters. Large landscape and watershed approaches are most durable and lasting when they transcend ecological and social boundaries, are grounded in trust and partnership with local communities and decisionmakers, and embrace collaboration with private working landowners. These are neither new nor experimental concepts – the programs we have championed and reference in this letter are proven and cost-effective solutions that benefit the environment and people. These successful programs should be considered guides for strategically and effectively targeting IIJA funding. While the Administration has given broad direction for coordination with state, tribal, and local governments, the success of IIJA implementation will depend upon hunters, anglers, and other outdoor recreationists, conservationists, private landowners, scientists, and community-based stakeholders working collectively with federal partners to advance conservation and recreation objectives for the nation’s public and private lands and freshwater and marine resources. These stakeholders must be brought to the table early and often as full partners in IIJA project planning, development, and implementation. As your administration moves forward with IIJA implementation, our community is particularly interested in working with the Biden-Harris Administration on the following key areas: Building on Existing Partnerships Our community has worked tirelessly to build ground-up conservation and recreation programs with established delivery mechanisms that have stood the test of time and have led to significant conservation victories on public and private lands across the United States. Federal programs such as the North American Wetlands Conservation Act, Migratory Bird Joint Ventures, State and Tribal Wildlife Grants Program, National Fish Habitat Partnership Program, Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program, National Fish Passage Program, Land and Water Conservation Fund, the USDA & DOI Working Lands for Wildlife Program, EPA Geographic Programs, USDA Farm Bill Title II Conservation Programs (FSA Conservation Reserve Program and NRCS Regional Conservation Partnership Program, among others), USFS’ Good Neighbor and Stewardship Contracting authorities, Shared Stewardship Agreements, Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration and Joint Chief’s Programs, NOAA’s National Coastal Resilience Fund and Community-Based Restoration Program, DOI-USDA-DOD Sentinel Landscapes, and other partnership and collaborative conservation models should be maximized during IIJA implementation. Durable Conservation and Outdoor Recreation at the Landscape- and Watershed-Scale There are many exemplary models of progress in large landscape and watershed conservation and outdoor recreation across the country. It is important to harness the lessons learned from these landscapes and watersheds, including the effectiveness and scalability of collaborative conservation with private landowners, as the Biden-Harris Administration implements IIJA programs and funding streams to advance durable and lasting conservation at scale and connect Americans to their public lands and waters. We support efforts to leverage broad and diverse coalition structures that are already underway within priority regions – the Mississippi River Delta, Prairie Potholes, Sagebrush ecosystem, Great Plains Grassland, Southeastern Longleaf, Chesapeake Bay, Great Lakes, Puget Sound, Colorado River, Sacramento/San Joaquin, Klamath, Yakima, Columbia-Snake Basin, and Southeast Alaska, as examples – while also supporting new opportunities to build capacity and planning needs for communities that have often not had opportunities to engage in federal, regional, or state planning efforts nor access to federal resources. Addressing Capacity Needs and Other Barriers Our community is committed to working with the Biden-Harris Administration to address barriers to the utilization of
