The Wildlife Society-April 2009 Issue

Teaming with Wildlife Act Introduced

On 19 March, Senator Tim Johnson (D-SD) introduced the Teaming with Wildlife Act of 2009 (S.655) which would secure dedicated funding for state-level wildlife management and conservation efforts. The Act would use a portion of the royalties collected from mineral development on federal lands and outer continental shelf oil development to allocate states $350 million per year over five years (fiscal years 2011-2016).

The funds would be transferred directly to the Wildlife Conservation and Restoration Program. The Program, enacted in 2000, created a federal fund to support state conservation and education programs for all species through an amendment to the Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration Act. The 2000 legislation also required states to create comprehensive wildlife conservation strategies – also known as wildlife action plans – that identify conservation challenges and prioritize needs. Wildlife action plans have been developed for all 50 states, six territories, and D.C., with the focus of preventing wildlife from becoming endangered.

Since its 2000 enactment, however, The Wildlife Conservation and Restoration Fund has only received appropriations for one fiscal year. In the meantime, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has administered an alternative in the form of the State and Tribal Wildlife Grants program, offering states and tribes matching grants to fund projects that address wildlife action plan goals. Unfortunately, because the SWG program depends on the annual appropriations process, it has been unable to meet all the states’ long-term planning needs.

Historically, the majority of wildlife conservation funding has come from state hunting and fishing license sales and the federal excise taxes on hunting and fishing equipment created by the Pittman-Robertson and Dingell-Johnson Acts. State wildlife agencies require additional, long-term funding to conserve all wildlife species. The Teaming with Wildlife Act would alleviate the problems associated with short-term funding cycles, and make up to 75 percent of a state project’s costs eligible for federal funding.

The Act was cosponsored by Senators Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Jon Tester (D-MT), and John Thune (R-SD), and is currently under consideration by the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.

See also: WPN Volume 18, Issue 3, Article 6Sources: The Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, Office of Senator Johnson, The Teaming with Wildlife Act