By Bryan Hendricks
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Fair winds are blowing for the bobwhite quail, and Arkansas has the momentum to reap the rewards.
A new bill that was recently introduced in the U.S. Senate will, if enacted, provide a major catalyst for declining species, such as quail, that are not threatened or endangered.
On Tuesday, Sens. James Risch (R-Idaho), Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.) introduced “The Recovering America’s Wildlife Act (Senate Bill 3223),” which will redirect $1.3 billion annually from energy development on federal lands and waters to the existing Wildlife Conservation Restoration Program.
The bill will not require taxpayers or businesses to pay any additional money. Instead, existing money will be reallocated toward conserving aquatic and terrestrial species of “greatest conservation need,” as identified by state agencies such as the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission. Such species in Arkansas include the northern bobwhite quail and the Ozark hellbender.
Read more about “The Recovering America’s Wildlife Act” and it’s potential impact on bobwhites and other species NOT on the threatened and endangered list HERE.
