The House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Federal Lands will hold a hearing on the Recovering America’s Wildlife Act, HR4647, this Thursday, February 15 at 2:30 EST! This is an important step in advancing the bill!
What is it?
The Recovering America’s Wildlife Act (RAWA) (H.R. 4647)
- Would provide funding for proactive, non-regulatory fish and wildlife conservation programs.
- The estimated allocation to Montana if this bill is successful would be over $29 million, and would only require a 25 percent non-federal match that could be achieved via in contributions, private donations, or from the state’s general fund.
- Given the recent cuts to Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks (MFWP) budget of over $1 million, the funding provided by RAWA would help MFWP maintain and expand its current fish and wildlife management and conservation efforts.
- A few programs and issues that RAWA funding could support include:
- Providing continued boat inspection and decontamination to prevent the spread of aquatic invasive species such as zebra or quagga mussels,
- Providing support to research on emerging threats to Montana’s fishery including proliferative kidney disease, which shut down the Yellowstone River during the summer of 2016,
- Funding to support projects that identify core seasonal and migratory habitat for species of greatest conservation need and funds to secure those habitats,
- Working with private landowners to implement voluntary conservation and management actions without requiring public access, and
- Creating and implementing wildlife conservation education programs and projects, including public outreach intended to foster natural resource stewardship similar to the highly successful Montana WILD nature center and educational programs for children and the public.
- Passage of RAWA would dedicate annual funding to the federal Wildlife Conservation and Restoration Program, using existing revenue from the development of energy and mineral resources on federal lands and waters.
According to the 2017 Outdoor Industry Association Report, consumers who participate in activities like camping, fishing, skiing, boating, and biking add $7.1 billion to the state’s economy, including $2.2 billion.
We want a targeted push for calls to the members of Congress on the Federal Lands Subcommittee. We are asking AFS members to CALL their members of Congress BEFORE THURSDAY especially if their representative is on the Federal Lands subcommittee and ask them to:
1) attend the hearing
2) speak up in support of the bill at the hearing
3) CO-SPONSOR the bill before the hearing
What can you do?
Greg Gianforte (our representative) is on the Subcommittee on Federal Lands https://naturalresources.house.gov/federallands/
Give him a call:
Phone: (202) 225-3211
Fax: (202) 225-5687
Send him an email: https://gianforte.house.gov/contact/email