The Recovering America’s Wildlife Act (H.R.2773) passed the U.S House of Representatives by a vote of 231-190 on Tuesday June 14. The bill has 194 bipartisan cosponsors and bill sponsor Representative Debbie Dingell worked with House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) to bring the bill to the floor for a vote, bringing it before the House Rules Committee on June 13. Passage of the bill is the farthest the bill has gotten as a stand-alone bill and attention will now turn to the Senate where a companion bill that does include several policy differences passed committee in late April.

The Wildlife Management Institute (WMI) recently conducted a study that developed a quantitative approach for evaluating the effectiveness of Recruitment, Retention, and Reactivation (R3) programs and events, with the goal of helping state fish and wildlife agencies improve the way they recruit, retain, and reactivate hunters and anglers. This study was funded by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service Wildlife and Sportfish Restoration (USFWS-WSFR) Program with Multi-State Conservation Grant funds administered by the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (AFWA). The project was a collaborative effort between WMI, Chase & Chase Consulting, and eight test states.

The U.S. Department of the Agriculture (USDA) will be expanding investments through a new pilot program to support conservation and restoration of big game migration corridors and seasonal ranges on private lands in Wyoming. On May 20, Under Secretary Robert Bonnie announced that the department was prioritizing investments for voluntary conservation efforts on working landscapes in the state. The department has had extensive engagement with local stakeholders that helped to develop the pilot program; using lessons learned from the Wyoming pilot, the department plans to scale the model up across the West. Bonnie made the announcement during remarks at the Yellowstone National Park 150th Symposium in Cody.