Two surveys conducted in the last month highlight strong support across political, social and demographic lines for the Recovering America’s Wildlife Act, a potentially “game changing” proposal to provide $1.4 billion annually to state and tribal wildlife management efforts.
The bill passed the House in June but awaits action in the Senate.
Supporters of the legislation are hopeful the recent polling will help spur a Senate vote before the session ends this winter.
The bill would provide $1.3 billion for state agencies and $97.5 million for tribes in dedicated, annual funding to restore habitat and recover wildlife populations.
The monies would be used to execute state and tribal wildlife action plans on non-game species.
This is the fourth Congress in which the legislation was introduced. The three previous versions failed to pass either chamber.
But it hasn’t been for lack of popularity with voters.
The recent surveys by Data for Progress and Responsive Management show RAWA’s broad, bipartisan appeal.
The Data for Progress polling, conducted Sept. 16 to 19 among 1,215 likely voters, found 86% supported RAWA, including 92% of Democrats, 85% of Independents and 83% of Republicans.
The group did a similar poll in Dec. 2021 which found 84% of voters supported the bill.
The Responsive Management survey, performed Aug. 25 to 28 on a random sample of 1,002 U.S. residents age 18 and above, found 70% of Americans supported RAWA.
The information was fielded through a combination of telephone (including landline and cellular numbers) and online interviews.
The survey identified majority support for RAWA among every major demographic group examined in the research, including males and females; younger, middle-aged, and older residents; those of higher and lower education levels; and those in urban, suburban, and rural areas.
The bill was also supported across a range of outdoor recreation groups, including 80% of wildlife viewers, 78% of anglers, 77% of birdwatchers and 70% of hunters.
Prairie chicken booms and dances at Paul J. Olson Wildlife Area
Prairie chickens boom and dance on a lek at Paul J. Olson Wildlife Area near Wisconsin Rapids.
Paul A. Smith, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
The results underscore how a pro-wildlife bill can bridge the partisan divide even when Republicans and Democrats are at loggerheads on many issues.
The bill’s authors in the Senate are Sens. Roy Blount (R-Missouri) and Martin Heinrich (D-New Mexico). Critical for its chance of passage, 16 Republican Senators have signed on as co-sponsors. Support among Democrats is very strong.
“The results could not be clearer: The Recovering America’s Wildlife Act is one of the few bills that can unite this Congress and the American people,” said Mike Saccone, vice president for communications at the National Wildlife Federation. “Inaction is the ally of extinction. Congress should come together in the coming weeks to pass this landmark bipartisan legislation and secure our shared wildlife heritage for future generations.”
A model of RAWA funding shows Wisconsin would receive about $20 million a year from the bill.
The proposal does not have a “pay for” included in its current language but Senators are reportedly working on the issue. It could be passed as a stand-alone measure or included in a continuing resolution, a broad appropriations bill to provide funding to government departments, agencies and programs.
Supporters of RAWA have argued it makes financial and ecological sense to get ahead of habitat loss and wildlife population crises rather than respond with emergency action.
Egg take open houses: The public is invited to open houses at two of the egg take facilities run by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources to support the Lake Michigan salmon and trout fishery.
The Root River Steelhead Facility in Racine will be open 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Oct. 8 for guided tours and fish spawning demonstrations. Volunteers from Salmon Unlimited, Trout Unlimited and the Kenosha Sport Fishing and Conservation Association will provide educational fishing stations where visitors can try casting techniques and receive knot- and fly-tying lessons.
The facility is located at 2200 Domanik Drive, Racine.
The Besadny Anadromous Fish Facility in Kewaunee will be open 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Oct. 1 for salmon egg collection demonstrations, fishing displays, guided tours and an “adopt a sturgeon” program. The Algoma Kewaunee Great Lakes Sport Fisherman will be providing wagon rides, and food and drink will be available for sale.
The facility is located at N3884 Ransom Moore Lane, Kewaunee.
The DNR’s collection goals for the season are 750,000 brown trout eggs, 1 million coho salmon eggs and 2.5 million chinook salmon eggs. The eggs are provided to the state’s hatchery system and the resulting fish are stocked as fingerlings or yearlings.
For more information, visit dnr.wi.gov.
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