Teaming With Wildlife: Wildlife Conservation and Restoration Program

Dedicated Federal Funding for Wildlife

The Wildlife Conservation and Restoration Program (WCRP), created by Congress in 2000, authorizes federal funding to state fish and wildlife agencies for wildlife conservation and related recreation and education. While the program is on the books, it is not currently receiving any funding. The Teaming with Wildlife Coalition is working to find a permanent, stable funding source for the Wildlife Conservation and Restoration Program.

• State-by-state allocations at various funding levels (.pdf, 65KB)

The Teaming with Wildlife Act

The proposed Teaming with Wildlife Act would provide a reliable and increased amount of funding for preventing wildlife from becoming endangered. The bill would dedicate a portion of existing federal revenue from on-shore and off-shore oil and mineral development activities to the Wildlife Conservation and Restoration Program.

• Teaming with Wildlife Act Fact Sheet - March 2009
• Teaming with Wildlife Act (Senate Bill) - March 2009
   

Climate Change Legislation

Several pending bills to address global climate change include funding for the Wildlife Conservation and Restoration Program in order to help fish and wildlife agencies protect fish and wildlife and their habitats as they are affected by global warming. These bills would provide funding from the auction of "credits" for allowable emissions of global warming pollution. Because this funding is based on new revenues, it would not increase the federal deficit and would not come at the expense of other federal funding. These bills could generate from $500 million to more than $1 billion for wildlife conservation. (more...)

Conservation and Reinvestment Act

The Conservation and Reinvestment Act (CARA) was an historic conservation bill that almost passed Congress in 2001, after years of work by a national coalition of conservation supporters. CARA would have guaranteed $3.1 billion a year in funding for state, federal, and local conservation programs by dedicating a portion of existing federal revenue from oil and gas development. Title III of the law would have provided $350 million a year for the Wildlife Conservation and Restoration Program.