 Spotlighting the Work to Restore, Connect, and Conserve 30 Percent of Lands and Waters by 2030�
News and Updates
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The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced a record $1.5 billion in annual funding through the Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration (WSFR) Program to support state and local outdoor recreational opportunities, and wildlife and habitat conservation efforts. The core value of all WSFR Programs is fostering cooperative partnerships between federal and state agencies, working alongside hunters, anglers, and other outdoor interests, to enhance recreational opportunities while advancing sustainable resource goals. These goals are consistent with President Biden�s America the Beautiful initiative to support locally led efforts to conserve and restore our nation�s lands, waters, and wildlife.
The Departments of the Interior and Agriculture joined the Western Governors� Association to launch a Task Force on Collaborative Conservation designed to enhance collaboration across federal, state and local jurisdictions and focus on the strategic coordination necessary to meet our collective natural resource management challenges and improve environmental outcomes for communities across the West. The Task Force will help strengthen effective coordination and implementation of priority conservation programs and policies, including those affecting wildlife corridors, wildfire and drought resilience and response, and forest and rangeland restoration. It will also contribute to the development of a conservation atlas to advance the America the Beautiful initiative, while supporting the voluntary stewardship efforts of ranchers, farmers and other private landowners and to keep working lands working.
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Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland and Principal Deputy Director of the Fish and Wildlife Service Martha Williams visited the John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to discuss the important role of urban wildlife refuges in conservation and community-building, highlight the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law investments in the Delaware River Basin, and underscore the Department�s commitment to advancing environmental justice. The national wildlife refuge is part of the Urban Wildlife Conservation Program, which works through urban wildlife refuges, partnerships, and bird treaty cities across the nation. This kind of conservation stewardship and efforts to increase equitable access to public lands is an essential component of the America the Beautiful initiative.
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Fifteen projects in Maine will conserve more than 50,000 acres and create land conservation easements across the state, according to the Bangor Daily News. The funding from the Maine Community Foundation�s Maine Land Protection grant program total $619,000 and will go to conserving 7 acres of Wabanaki homeland for cultural uses; acquiring 8 acres to abut the Sewall Woods Preserve in Bath and extend the Whiskeag Trail system; and providing access to year-round outdoor recreation at Weston Woods & Waters.
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To mark the one-year anniversary of the Biden-Harris administration, Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland delivered remarks at the GreenLatinos Winter National Summit, where she highlighted the progress the Interior Department has made on advancing environmental justice and tackling the climate crisis. �America the Beautiful, at its core, is a call to action for all of us to do more for the planet, for the economy, and for future generations,� Secretary Haaland said. �It�s a vision that recognizes�that�nature offers some of the most cost-effective ways to address the climate crisis; that we need to do more to stem the steep loss of nature and wildlife; and that we need to address the inequitable access to the outdoors for communities of color.�
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