WASHINGTON — The bipartisan effort to reauthorize the America’s Conservation Enhancement (ACE) Act will benefit America’s wildlife, way of life, and sporting traditions. Championed by Senators Tom Carper (D-Del.) and Shelley Capito (R-W.Va.), the bill invests in wetlands, habitat restoration projects across the United States, and strategies to reduce conflicts between wildlife and livestock. 

“Roughly a third of all species in the United States are already at risk. This bill shows us once again that Americans cast aside partisanship when it comes to wildlife and our outdoor heritage,” said Mike Leahy, senior director of wildlife, hunting, and fishing policy at the National Wildlife Federation. “This bill would restore habitat for wildlife on our lands and in our waters and would help  wildlife thrive on working lands. We are specifically pleased to see additional funding for restoring wetlands via the North American Wetlands Conservation Act. This type of on-the-ground restoration has become even more essential now that the Supreme Court has removed Clean Water Act protections for most of the nation’s wetlands.”

Key provisions of the ACE Act will:

• Increase funding for the North American Wetlands Conservation Act;

• Provide grants for states and Tribal nations so they can compensate livestock producers for losses due to predation by a federally protected species such as grizzly bears; 

• Reauthorize the National Fish Habitat Partnership, which supports collaborative efforts to restore and conserve aquatic ecosystems; 

• Reauthorize the Chesapeake Bay Initiative and the Chesapeake Watershed Investments for Landscape Defense Program;

• Reauthorize the Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act, which helps protect water, oceans, coasts, and wildlife from threats posed by invasive species; 

• Encourage partnerships among public agencies and other interested parties for promoting fish conservation; and

• Reauthorize the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation Act.