Arizona Wildlife Still Need RAWA

A bipartisan wildlife bill that supporters had dubbed “a priority and must-pass bill this year” has been left out of the omnibus spending package, leaving very few options for passing the bill this Congress.

The Arizona Game and Fish Department would have received $31 million annually to help 531 species of concern, including the Apache trout, Gila monster, and Sonoran pronghorn. See the Arizona Factsheet.

“This is a commonsense, cost-effective approach that has broad support on both sides of the aisle,” said Scott Garlid, Executive Director of the Arizona Wildlife Federation. “Wildlife in Arizona and around the country are increasingly at risk. Congress needs to get a bill like this done sooner rather than later,” said Garlid.

The $1.4B Recovering America’s Wildlife Act would distribute$1.3B a year amongst the state and territorial wildlife agencies. Federally-recognized tribes would spilt$97.5 annually to manage wildlife on their lands. It would also fund innovative programs to recover already endangered wildlife.

The bill passed the House in June and has 47 cosponsors in the Senate, including 16 Republicans. Despite its bipartisan support, RAWA stalled as a result of disagreements over a fiscal offset for the bill.

“The bipartisan Recovering America’s Wildlife Act is the most important wildlife legislation in half a century, and we must find a way for it to pass. The historic legislation will empower states, Tribes, and territories to ensure that the full diversity of fish, wildlife, and plants thrive for future generations,” said Collin O’Mara, president and CEO of the National Wildlife Federation. “Inaction is the ally of extinction, and we will continue to push tirelessly to ensure that the bill does not meet the same fate facing thousands of species of wildlife and plants.”

RAWA would save us money in the long-run — once a species reaches the point of needing the protection of the Endangered Species Act, recovery becomes significantly more uncertain, more difficult and more expensive. Proactive efforts taken earlier in a species’ decline are better for wildlife and cost less money. 

The National Wildlife Federation and their Arizona affiliate, the Arizona Wildlife Federation, will not give up. Wildlife still needs RAWA, and we will continue to work tirelessly to make it law.