A Republican-authored wildlife conservation bill that would rearrange the Endangered Species Act elicited sharply conflicting assessments and a few hints of potential accord Wednesday.
Introduced as an alternative to the bipartisan but long-stalled “Recovering America’s Wildlife Act,” the new measure is dubbed the “America’s Wildlife Habitat Conservation Act.” The two plans share certain broad goals as well as the name “wildlife,” but differ in dramatic ways.
The new bill would authorize $300 million for state-level habitat conservation. The older bill offered $1.3 billion.
Advertisement
The GOP plan’s funding depends on annual congressional appropriations and would end after five years. “RAWA” guaranteed funding for the long term.
