Delaware Sen. Tom Carper signs on to bipartisan wildlife recovery bill

WILMINGTON — U.S. Sen.  Tom Carper, D-Del, has signed onto the Recovering America’s Wildlife Act, which would dedicate $1.4 billion annually to locally led efforts to help at-risk wildlife species nationwide.

The bill would send $11.5 million to the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control for implementation of its wildlife action plan. The plan identifies 692 priority species, including the Atlantic horseshoe crab, Delmarva fox squirrel and Bethany Beach firefly.

“Delawareans can be proud that Senator Carper is among the first to champion the historic Recovering America’s Wildlife Act,” Jen Adkins, executive director of the Delaware Nature Society, said. “This commonsense, cost-effective approach will address the wildlife crisis at the scale necessary, creating jobs that protect the First State’s outdoors heritage.”

A similar bill passed the U.S. House of Representatives last session with support from U.S. Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester, D-Del. U.S. Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del, backed its Senate companion last session, which passed out of committee but never received a floor vote despite having 47 bipartisan cosponsors.

Under the Recovering America’s Wildlife Act, federally recognized tribal nations would share $97.5 million annually to fund wildlife conservation efforts in the lands they manage.