A bipartisan bill reauthorizing and funding several conservation programs and issuing grants for livestock predations has passed the Senate on a voice vote earlier this month.
S.3051, America’s Conservation Enhancement (ACE) Act, authored by Sens. John Barrasso (R-WY) along with Tom Carper (D-DE), would additionally address the threat of emerging wildlife diseases such as chronic wasting disease (CWD), invasive species and establish partnerships for promoting fish conservation.
The bill is supported by several recreation associations such as Ducks Unlimited, conservation organizations and agriculture groups, including the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, American Sheep Industry Association, among others.
“At a time when our nation is divided over so many issues, this bill shows once again that Americans come together over concerns about wildlife, public lands, and conservation,” said Jesse Deubel, executive director of the New Mexico Wildlife Federation. “This common-sense bill will help wildlife and fish populations flourish through better management practices, habitat restoration, and disease research.”
Depredation
While most of the bill’s language focuses on conservation, a section addresses livestock losses due to depredation from federally protected species such as wolves and grizzly bears. Additionally, it issues permits for authorizing the taking of black vultures and common ravens from killing livestock during the calving and lambing season.
The bill defines livestock as “animal generally used for food or in the production of food or fiber,” and includes horses, mules, and guard animals engaged in protecting livestock.
The ACE Act authorizes $15 million each fiscal year from 2021-2025 to the secretary of agriculture and secretary of interior in grants to subsidize existing programs states and tribes currently have to assist livestock producers.
The funding would cover livestock losses due to depredation, including proactive and nonlethal activities to reduce the risk of livestock loss due to depredation on federal, state, or private land.
Each year states and tribes would need to submit reports detailing the amount of claims paid out and expenditures to receive the grants provided in the bill. Some exclusions include damage to real or personal property other than livestock and excludes damage to other animals and vegetation.
“The Wyoming Stock Growers Association commends Senator Barrasso for the inclusion of critical provisions in the America’s Conservation Enhancement Act that addresses the impacts of certain wildlife species on livestock,” Jim Magagna, executive vice president of the Wyoming Stock Growers Association, said in a press release. “The provision for depredation payments related to the depredation of livestock by listed species targets losses that cannot be eliminated by the use of nonlethal control methods while sharing a burden that to date has been carried solely by the State of Wyoming.”
“We applaud the establishment of a system for the direct permitting of raven ‘take’ by livestock producers facing depredation on calves and lambs. In addition, the focus on CWD is timely as this devastating wildlife disease impacts the state’s ability to manage its wildlife populations on both private and public lands.”
The bill would fund $5 million for fiscal years 2021-2025 to establish a CWD task force to develop an interstate action plan for state and federal cooperation relating to the disease. It would also fund a study by the National Academy of Sciences regarding the pathways and mechanisms of CWD transmission in the U.S. Lastly, it would provide $1.2 million to the National Chronic Wasting Disease Herd Certification Program of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service and the U.S. Geological Survey to study the geographic patterns of cervids affected with CWD.
Included with these provisions, the ACE Act would:
• Reauthorize the North American Wetlands Conservation Act until 2025;
• Fund the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation Act $25 million each fiscal year from 2021 to 2025;
• Renew the Chesapeake Bay Program until 2024;
• Modernize the Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration Act “to provide financial and technical assistance to the states for the promotion of hunting and recreational shooting’’; and
• Codify “strategic actions of national fish habitat partnership programs that lead to better fish habitat conditions and increased fishing opportunities” by establishing a National Fish Board.
“Measures like these support the conservation of wetlands and waterfowl habitat for landowners, farmers, hunters, anglers, and all kinds of outdoor enthusiasts across the country for years to come,” Dan Wrinn, national director of government affairs for Ducks Unlimited, said in a press release.
Lastly, the bill would establish the Theodore Roosevelt Genius Prize for reducing human-predator conflict. The prize would be awarded for the use of technology that promotes nonlethal methods to reduce conflicts.
The House of Representatives passed a related bill in November 2019. The bill, H.R. 925, written by Rep. Mike Thompson (D-CA-5), contains the same appropriations and provisions. The ACE Act was amended to include the Genius Prize and now moves to the House of Representatives. — Charles Wallace, WLJ editor
