WASHINGTON D.C. (February 26, 2019) – The following statement is from WCS Executive Vice President for Public Affairs, John Calvelli, regarding today’s passage of S. 47 – the Natural Resource Management Act, which is now expected to go to the president for his signature. This bipartisan legislation contains many separate bills, many of which will benefit conservation. Foremost among the provisions to improve international conservation is inclusion of the Wildlife Innovation and Longevity Driver (WILD) Act:

“WCS is grateful to Senators John Barrasso and Tom Carper and Reps. Alan Lowenthal and Don Young for their leadership on the WILD Act, and to Senators Lisa Murkowski and Maria Cantwell for including it in the bipartisan lands package. By extending the MSCF for 5 more years, the Congress is renewing its longstanding support for protecting the world’s iconic species—elephants, rhinos, tigers, great apes, marine turtles, and now tortoises and freshwater turtles.” – John Calvelli, WCS Executive Vice President for Public Affairs

BACKGROUND:

Led by Senators John Barrasso and Tom Carper in the Senate and Representatives Alan Lowenthal and Don Young in the House, the WILD Act will renew U.S. efforts to save iconic species in the wild, support conservation and fight the progress of invasive species in the U.S., and promote innovative solutions to some of conservation’s most difficult problems.

The WILD Act reauthorizes the Multinational Species Conservation Fund (MSCF), which has helped conserve some of the world’s most iconic species--elephants, rhinos, tigers, great apes, and marine turtles—for 30 years.

The WILD Act also expands the Marine Turtle Conservation Act to include tortoises and freshwater turtles, the most vulnerable group of vertebrates on the planet.

S. 47 permanently extends the Land and Water Conservation Act, a key U.S. law that has helped to protect wild places in the United States for 55 years.

The bill also reauthorizes the Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act, which supports the conservation of millions of birds from more than 300 species that breed in North America and winter in the tropics.