Legislation includes NAWCA, Chesapeake WILD Act and PR Modernization Act.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – -(AmmoLand.com)- The Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works (EPW), led by Chairman John Barrasso (R-WY) and Ranking Member Tom Carper (D-DE), passed the bi-partisan America’s Conservation Enhancement (ACE) Act, which affects many important wetland habitat and wildlife conservation programs.
The package includes reauthorization of the North American Wetlands Conservation Act (NAWCA), the Chesapeake Watershed Investments for Landscape Defense (Chesapeake WILD) Act, the Pittman-Robertson Modernization Act, and reauthorization of the Chesapeake Bay Program, among other provisions.
“With this action today, the Senate is conserving wetland habitat across North America, guaranteeing future generations may enjoy our natural treasures from the Boreal forests of Canada to the Caribbean coastline,” said Ducks Unlimited CEO Adam Putnam. “Ducks Unlimited’s volunteers and supporters are proud to match this funding and make more of an impact, sooner. We thank Chairman Barrasso and Ranking Member Carper for their leadership in introducing this important legislation, and we urge their colleagues in the Senate to support its passage when it comes before their chamber for a vote.”
NAWCA is a voluntary matching grant program that leverages non-federal and federal funds for wetland restoration. Since enactment in 1989, NAWCA has conserved more than 30 million acres and created an average of 7,500 new jobs annually. Every dollar spent by the federal government, on average, receives a $3 match from program partners like Ducks Unlimited. NAWCA is the nation’s most successful wetlands conservation program. The ACE Act reauthorizes NAWCA at $60 million a year until 2024.
The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States and, historically, one of the most productive bodies of water in
