Heitkamp Helps Introduce Bipartisan Bill to Sustain Fish & Wildlife and Protect Sportsmen's Rights

Press Release

U.S. Senator Heidi Heitkamp today announced that she helped introduce bipartisan legislation that would help sustain fish and wildlife populations throughout the country while preserving sportsmen's rights.

Heitkamp, a member of the Congressional Sportsmen's Caucus, joined with U.S. Senators Jim Risch (R-ID), Joe Manchin (D-WV), and Lamar Alexander (R-TN) to introduce the Recovering America's Wildlife Act. It would redirect existing federal resources to state-led wildlife conservation efforts, enabling state agencies and their partners to work to conserve state species of greatest conservation need. The bill would also preserve sportsmen's access to lands and wildlife-associated recreation long-term.

"North Dakota has a proud hunting and fishing tradition, and maintaining wildlife populations is important for recreation and our economy," said Heitkamp, vice chair of the Senate Congressional Sportsmen's Caucus. "Our bipartisan bill would provide much-needed support to state fish and wildlife agencies to protect animal populations that are in decline. As a leader of the Congressional Sportsmen's Caucus, I'm working in a bipartisan way to make sure future generations of North Dakotans get to enjoy the great outdoors, and to keep North Dakota a top destination for recreational tourism."

This new bill builds on several other pieces of legislation Heitkamp helped introduce that would support hunters and fishers throughout North Dakota. In August 2017, Heitkamp and Risch introduced the bipartisan Modernizing the Pittman-Robertson Fund for Tomorrow's Needs Act that would improve and preserve the continued user-pay funding of wildlife conservation by extending financial promotion of hunting and recreational shooting. In March 2017, she introduced the bipartisan Sportsman's Act, which would expand Pittman-Robertson funding for public target practice and marksmanship ranges in North Dakota.

"This legislation puts states back in control of conservation efforts and affords them greater flexibility to meet their state-specific needs, while also protecting the legacy of hunting and the value the industry brings to wildlife conservation," said Risch. "Additionally, by engaging in these proactive, voluntary conservation actions, we will save millions of tax dollars that are otherwise spent on restoring threatened and endangered species."

"In West Virginia hunting, fishing and outdoor activities are family traditions deeply ingrained in who we are as a state," said Manchin. "The Recovering America's Wildlife Act will ensure we continue to promote our state's unique wildlife and preserve our rich outdoor traditions. That's why I am proud to introduce this bipartisan bill to make West Virginia even more wild and wonderful."

"This legislation is based upon a sound conservation principle: take money created by an environmental burden and use it for an environmental benefit," said Alexander. "This proposal will help provide more resources so that Tennessee, one of the most biologically diverse states, can improve its own plan to preserve wildlife."