Recovering America's Wildlife Act of 2021

Floor Speech

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Mr. PANETTA. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of Recovering America's Wildlife Act.

This is a proactive piece of bipartisan legislation that would help our State and Tribal fish and wildlife agencies with the recovery and conservation of close to 12,000 species of fish, wildlife, and plants.

Now, I support this bill not only as the United States Representative for the central coast of California, a district that values and cherishes our wildlife, but also as the vice chair of the Congressional Sportsmen's Caucus.

As some of the most passionate wildlife conservationists across our country, many sportsmen and -women, including those in the Congressional Sportsmen's Foundation, no matter what their political persuasion, support this critical piece of legislation.

In addition to enhancing the Pittman-Robertson and Dingell-Johnson Acts, sportsmen and -women want to ensure that our species are protected and perpetuated. From bighorn sheep to the Sierra Nevada red fox, from the California condors to the coho salmon, and from moose to monarch butterflies, the intent of this legislation is to protect those and thousands of other iconic animals well before they need to be listed as endangered or threatened.

This way, rather than impose burdensome and costly regulations on fish and wildlife managers, sportsmen and -women, and private businesses, those species can be recovered and renewed well before any measures are mandated.

Look, it is estimated that it costs the Federal Government more than $19 million, on average, to recover a single species once it is listed, including $1 million to just list the species and $18 million for the science and habitat work. Let's simply take 2,000 of the 12,000 species this bill would help conserve, and it would cost the Federal Government at least $38 billion. This bill is a preventative measure to ensure that does not happen.

Through this legislation, we would not only save billions of dollars by not having to list species, but we would save thousands of plants and animals by ensuring that they are protected.

By providing millions of dollars in funding for the on-the-ground efforts, we could recover, reintroduce, and restore wildlife, fish, flora, and fauna throughout our Nation.

As many species face the growing threat of becoming extinct at accelerated rates, due to changing global weather events and our climate crisis, this legislation and its proposed funding would protect those species well before they become endangered.

That is why sportsmen, community members, and my country members support this bill, and that is why I urge my colleagues to do the same by voting for and passing the Recovering America's Wildlife Act.

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