Wildlife measure gets split support among Oklahoma Representatives

NAWA would help fund mule deer and other wild game habitat.

 

The recent U.S. House approval of a measure called the Recovering America’s Wildlife Act came with a split vote by Oklahoma’s representatives.

The final vote was 231-190.

Rep. Tom Cole voted in support of H.R. 2773 (117)) while Reps. Stephanie Bice, Kevin Hern, Frank Lucas and Markwayne Mullin opposed the bill pushed by Michigan’s Rep. Debbie Dingell. Her bill would fund state, tribal and territorial endangered species conservation efforts.

The bill was supported by the Biden administration and reports indicated it has support in the Senate.

The bill’s current language would provide $1.39 billion annually to state agencies and tribes to recover at-risk wildlife species, with $97.5 million of that going to tribal nations according to Outdoor Life.

The website indicated state agencies identified 12,000 plant and wildlife species in need of conservation help.

A minimum of 15 percent of the total funding would go toward recovering specie that are listed as threatened or endangered; a 2018 report found that more than 150 U.S. species have gone extinct, while an additional 500 species haven’t been seen in decades and are potentially extinct.