Wetlands Conservation Extension Act Advances

[Chris Merkord]

Wetlands in Horicon National Wildlife Refuge, Wisconsin. The North American Wetlands Conservation Act has helped conserve 27.5 million acres of wetland habitat since 1990. (Credit: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)

The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee recently advanced the North American Wetlands Conservation Extension Act—a bill (S. 741) that would reauthorize the North American Wetlands Conservation Act (NAWCA) through 2017. NAWCA was originally passed in 1989 to support some of the activities of the North American Waterfowl Management Plan, which provides a strategy for cooperation among North American countries relating to the protection of wetlands and their associated upland habitats.
NAWCA funds wetlands conservation programs through a competitive grants process, which requires a private match in funds. In the last 23 years, NAWCA has provided $1.28 billion in grants awarded to approximately 2,300 projects. These projects have brought in almost $3 billion in matching funds and affect 27.5 million acres of habitat. Many important wetland areas across the country have received funding through this program, including the Prairie Pothole region in the Dakotas and wetlands in the Great Lakes Basin.
Sources: Greenwire (February 6, 2014), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (accessed February, 2014), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Standard Grants (accessed February, 2014), Ducks Unlimited (accessed February, 2014)

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