Oklahoma U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe is part of a Republican-led effort in the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee to reintroduce a Wildlife Innovation Act. The act is meant to promote wildlife conservation, help in the management of invasive species and help protect endangered species.
Officially, it is called the WILD Act or Wildlife Innovation and Longevity Driver. Inhofe joined Committee chairman, Sen. John Barrasso, a Republican from Wyoming. The Act is also cosponsored by Democrats Cory Booker of New Jersey, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island and GOP Sen. John Boozman of Arizona.
“The WILD Act supports animal conservation efforts and includes a reauthorization of the Partners for Fish and Wildlife Act I originally authored in 2006,” Inhofe said. “Private landowners have a vested interest in the conservation of species and are the first line of defense for the protection of fish and wildlife habitats. The Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program has been successful in bringing private, local and federal stakeholders together to improve over 300,000 acres of wildlife habitat in Oklahoma alone. I look forward to working with my colleagues to move the WILD Act through the Senate swiftly and reauthorize this successful program.”
Specifically, the WILD Act will:
· Reauthorize and fund the Department of the Interior’s Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program until fiscal year 2022;
· Require federal agencies to implement strategic programs to control invasive species;
· Reauthorize legislation to protect endangered species such as elephants, great apes, turtles, tigers, and others;
· Establish monetary-prize competitions for technological innovation in the following categories:
o the prevention of wildlife poaching and trafficking;
o the promotion of wildlife conservation;
o the management of invasive species;
o the non-lethal management of human-wildlife conflicts; and
o the protection of endangered species.
