| The Honorable Nancy Pelosi Speaker of the House United States House of Representatives Washington, D.C. 20515 The Honorable Kevin McCarthy Minority Leader United States House of Representatives Washington, D.C. 20515 The Honorable Peter DeFazio Chairman Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure United States House of Representatives Washington, D.C. 20515 | The Honorable Sam Graves Ranking Member Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure United States House of Representatives Washington, D.C. 20515 The Honorable Raul Grijalva Chairman Committee on Natural Resources United States House of Representatives Washington, D.C. 20515 The Honorable Rob Bishop Ranking Member Committee on Natural Resources United States House of Representatives Washington, D.C. 20515 |
June 29, 2020
Dear Speaker Pelosi, Minority Leader McCarthy, Chairman DeFazio, Ranking Member Graves, Chairman Grijalva, and Ranking Member Bishop:
On behalf of our organizations and our millions of members and supporters, we want to thank you for the positive wildlife and public lands conservation provisions in H.R. 2, the “Moving Forward Act.” We appreciate your tireless efforts in creating this massive $1.5 trillion infrastructure package. The investments it makes in wildlife and public lands conservation programs will create thousands of jobs and provide benefits to people, communities, biodiversity, and the environment. Several provisions included in H.R. 2 were highlighted in a letter sent May 18, 2020, focused on wildlife and land conservation, “Restoring Work, Restoring Wild,” that was signed by more than 200 conservation groups.
Specifically, the Moving Forward Act provides $300 million from the National Highway Performance Program for wildlife crossing projects. This funding can be used by states to reduce wildlife-vehicle collisions through wildlife mitigation measures, including construction of overpasses and underpasses for wildlife to safely cross highways. Each year, wildlife-vehicle collisions cost many lives and more than $8 billion in damage, but simple measures that H.R. 2 enables can reduce collisions by up to 97 percent.
The Moving Forward Act also includes the bipartisan Wildlife Corridors Conservation Act. This bill provides critical funding for states, tribes, landowners and federal agencies to identify and protect wildlife corridors. With one in five species at risk of extinction, biodiversity loss and fragmentation of natural habitats are among our nation’s greatest conservation challenges. Connecting habitats with corridors and crossings supports wildlife migration, creates more resilient landscapes, and allows native species to better adapt to a changing climate.
In addition, H.R. 2 authorizes a $3 billion grant program for coastal and Great Lakes resilience and restoration, as well as a separate grant program to build living shorelines to support flood resilience. Dedicated funding for this work not only helps restore habitat for declining and endangered fish and wildlife, but also helps mitigate the disproportionate burdens frontline communities are currently facing from sea level rise, hurricanes, and flooding—all of which are exacerbated by climate change.
Finally, the Moving Forward Act authorizes $50 million per year to the Legacy Roads and Trails Remediation Program. This program has a proven history of success and has created many thousands of jobs. Much of the infrastructure associated with the use of public lands has been abandoned, left in disrepair, is no longer needed, and can create hazards for public land users and wildlife. Road decommissioning, road and trail repair and maintenance, and removal of fish passage barriers are desperately needed to help restore watersheds and habitat, improve access to recreation, and provide drinking water protection.
We also want to express our appreciation that the Moving Forward Act embodies the principles of environmental justice and generally maintains the integrity of our nation’s bedrock environmental laws. These laws were designed to safeguard the environment, workers and the public, and create more resilient ecosystems, public health benefits, and quality of life improvements in communities throughout the United States.
We are grateful for these specific, strong provisions in H.R. 2 and urge Congress to adopt them without delay.
We look forward to working with you and other congressional leaders on additional important measures to put people back to work restoring public lands and maintaining abundant wildlife populations. Future legislation should continue to provide funding to conservation programs in desperate need. For example, the Bureau of Land Management Plant Conservation and Restoration Program requires additional funding to implement the National Seed Strategy, including the construction, operation and maintenance of up to five native seed storage facilities across the country. Native plant conservation programs are not only needed to protect the most imperiled species, but to ensure the long-term survival of all native plant species and plant communities.
We also believe it is necessary for any future legislation to address the threats that invasive species pose to infrastructure and communities. Invasive species negatively impact some of the most treasured and biologically significant landscapes in the United States and lead to degraded habitat for fish and wildlife, yet invasive species prevention and control programs are dramatically underfunded. Addressing the proliferation of invasive species, through humane and, whenever possible, nonlethal measures is crucial to protecting vital infrastructure and restoring degraded landscapes and will provide many jobs while generating substantial returns on investment.
Thank you for all of your work on the Moving Forward Act and in response to the COVID-19 crisis. We appreciate the beneficial provisions in the legislation that help biodiversity, the environment, and underserved communities. We look forward to continuing to work with you on additional conservation projects in desperate need of funding identified in our “Restoring Work, Restoring Wild” letter that would create many living wage jobs for people in the United States while also protecting our natural heritage.
Sincerely,
| Advocates for Snake Preservation Advocates for the Environment Alabama Rivers Alliance Alaska Clean Water Advocacy Alaskans for Wildlife All-Creatures.org American Indian Mothers Inc. (AIMI) Animal Legal Defense Fund Animal Welfare Institute Animals Are Sentient Beings, Inc. Animas Valley Institute Association for the Study of Literature and Environment (ASLE) Audubon Naturalist Society Audubon Society of Central Arkansas Cahaba Riverkeeper Californians for Western Wilderness Califronia Watershed Network Carnivore Conservation Act Cascades Raptor Center Cascadia Wildlands Center for Biological Diversity Center for Food Safety Champaign County (IL) Forest Preserve District Chesapeake Conservancy Christian Council of Delmarva Citizens Committee to Complete the Refuge Ciudadanos Del Karso Clark Fork Coalition Climate Law & Policy Project Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life Coalition to Protect America’s National Parks Conservation Council For Hawaii Cool Planet Cougar Rewilding Foundation Defenders of Wildlife Delaware Valley Ornithological Club Delta Institute Earth Action, Inc. Earth Ministry/Washington Interfaith Power & Light Earth Path Sanctuary Earthjustice Earthworks Eastern Coyote/Coywolf Research Eastern Oregon Legacy Lands Endangered Habitats League Endangered small animal Conservation fund Endangered Species Coalition Environmental Action Committee of West Marin Environmental Protection Information Center Florida Wildlife Federation Footloose Montana Franciscan Action Network Friends of Alaska National Wildlife Refuges Friends of Animals Friends of Bell Smith Springs Friends of Blackwater, Inc. Friends of Hackmatack National Wildlife Refuge Friends of the Bitterroot Friends of the Eel River Fund for Wild Nature Gallatin Wildlife Association Geos Institute Global Justice Ecology Project Grand Canyon Trust Grand Staircase Escalante Partners Oasis Earth Ocean Conservation Research Oceanic Preservation Society Oregon Wild OVEC-Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition Patagonia Pathways: Wildlife Corridors of NM Paula Lane Action Network, Sonoma County Pelican Island Audubon Society Pennsylvania Habitat Connectivity Pesticide Free Zone Physicians for Social Responsibility - Philadelphia Predator Defense Prince Georges Audubon Society, Incorporated Project Coyote Public Citizen Public Lands Project Puget Soundkeeper Alliance Rachel Carson Council Rainforest Biodiversity Group Raptors Are The Solution Residents for a Liveable Moreno Valley Resource Renewal Institute RESTORE: The North Woods Rio Grande Waterkeeper (WildEarth Guardians) Rocky Mountain Wild Rogue Riverkeeper Russian Riverkeeper Sacramento River Watershed Program Salem Audubon Society San Jose Peace and Justice Center San Luis Valley Ecosystem Council SanDiego350 Santa Clara Valley Audubon Society Save Our Sky Blue Waters SAVE THE FROGS! Sierra Club Sky Island Alliance Social Compassion in Legislation Soda Mountain Wilderness Council South East Idaho Environmental Network South Florida Wildlands Association Southern Maryland Audubon Society Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance Southwest Environmental Center Tennessee Ornithological Society Tennessee Riverkeeper The Lands Council The Living Cosmos Society Toxic Free NC Trout Headwaters, Inc. | Audubon Society of Central Maryland Bark Battle Creek Alliance & Defiance Canyon Raptor Rescue Bayou City Waterkeeper Berkeley Partners for Parks Bernheim Arboretum and Research Forest Bird City Wisconsin Bird Conservation Network Bonobo Conservation Initiative Born Free USA Boulder Rights of Nature Brighter Green Buffalo Field Campaign Cahaba River Society Audubon Society of Central Maryland Bark Battle Creek Alliance & Defiance Canyon Raptor Rescue Bayou City Waterkeeper Berkeley Partners for Parks Bernheim Arboretum and Research Forest Bird City Wisconsin Bird Conservation Network Bonobo Conservation Initiative Born Free USA Boulder Rights of Nature Brighter Green Buffalo Field Campaign Cahaba River Society Turtle Island Restoration Network Unexpected Wildlife Refuge Union of Concerned Scientists Utah Native Plant Society Ventana Wilderness Alliance Western Environmental Law Center Western Great Lakes Bird and Bat Observatory Western Watersheds Project Western Wildlife Conservancy Western Wildlife Outreach, WA Wild Horse Education Wild Nature Institute Wild Virginia Wild Zone Conservation League WildEarth Guardians Wilderness Watch Wildlands Network WildWest Institute Wisconsin Society of Ornithology Wyoming Wildlife Advocates Xun Biosphere Project Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative Yuba River Waterkeeper |