A NOTE FROM THE CHAIR
Last fall the Senate unanimously passed the Wildlife Innovation and Longevity Driver Act, also known as the WILD Act, which reauthorized a number of programs important to wildlife conservation both in the United States and internationally.
Foremost in my mind was the reauthorization of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program: the voluntary, private lands conservation program within the agency. The Partners program has worked cooperatively with landowners across the country for over 30 years, delivering conservation results that benefit wildlife while simultaneously meeting landowner goals and objectives for their land.
This melding of public and private resources, and agency-landowner visions of success, exemplifies the best way to work to conserve our natural resources.
This month, the companion bi-partisan bill, House Resolution 5885 (also known as the WILD Act), was introduced. In addition to reauthorizing the Partners program, the Act reauthorizes the Multinational Species Conservation Fund (MSCF), a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service program that provides resources to conserve species such as rhinos, tigers, elephants, great apes, and marine turtles. It expands the Marine Turtle Conservation Act and creates a new prize competition for innovation in wildlife conservation.
It is great to see support from both sides of the aisle for the Partners program and other efforts that illustrate no matter how divided our nation may seem at times, there are still efforts and issues that we can all agree on.
Yours in Conservation,
Jim Stone
Ovando
