Funding could stall wildlife bill in Senate
The U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday passed the Recovering America’s Wildlife Act, legislation that would provide $1.4 billion annually to states and tribes for threatened and endangered wildlife programs.
The 231-190 vote included yeas from 215 Democrats and 16 Republicans.
The action, the furthest the proposal has advanced since being introduced in 2016, was hailed by dozens of conservation and environmental groups.
Collin O’Mara, president and CEO of the National Wildlife Federation, called RAWA “the most important wildlife conservation legislation in half a century.”
The bipartisan support in the House affirms there is “consensus across the political spectrum that we can, and we must, prevent extinctions from our backyards to the backcountry,” O’Mara said.
Proponents of the bill cite its prescription for proactive, on-the-ground projects to implement state wildlife action plans and projections it would create more than 30,000 jobs and stimulate $93 billion in total economic activity.
The fate of RAWA now falls to the Senate, which in April advanced it out of committee.
However, questions remain about the dollars.
The House version would fund RAWA with general tax revenues.
But a Congressional Budget Office cost estimate found RAWA would increase the federal deficit by $14.1 billion from 2022 to 2032.
Tom Cors, director of North America Policy and Government Relations at The Nature Conservancy, said it’s likely RAWA will need a “pay for” to get approved by the Senate.
One could be at hand, however. More than a dozen conservation organizations and land trusts, including The Nature Conservancy, Ducks Unlimited, Pheasants Forever and The Conservation Fund, as well as the IRS and Justice Department, are asking Congress to pass the Charitable Conservation Easement Program Integrity Act (S. 2256/H.R. 4164).
The legislation would put an end to fraudulent, syndicated conservation easements.
According to IRS data, bad actors claimed $36 billion in unwarranted charitable deductions from 2010 through 2018.
That stands in contrast to the 2,000 to 2,500 conservation donations made for truly charitable purposes each year which result in about $1 billion in claimed deductions each year, according to the Land Trust Alliance.
Passing the easement integrity bill would safeguard the taxpaying public while ensuring the incentive for land conservation remains available for landowners acting with true charitable intent, the Alliance said in a statement.
The bill would disallow charitable deductions when a profit is made in a short time from the donation of a conservation easement.
Eliminating the fraudulent tax breaks could provide the treasury with the $14.1 billion RAWA is expected to cost over the next decade.
Efforts to move both bills forward will intensify over the summer, Cors said.
In its RAWA vote, the House delegation from the Badger State was split along party lines. All Democrats (Reps. Ron Kind, Gwen Moore and Mark Pocan) voted in favor of the bill while all Republicans (Reps. Scott Fitzgerald, Mike Gallagher, Glenn Grothman, Bryan Steil and Tom Tiffany) were opposed.
Deer farm depopulated
The Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection released information Friday on the May 18 depopulation at a Langlade County deer farm infected with chronic wasting disease.
The action had been reported May 27 by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
The cull removed 47 deer at Van Ooyen Whitetails in Antigo. The fatal neurological disease was detected at the captive facility last August and the herd had been under quarantine.
Indemnity payment to Van Ooyen will be made from federal funds, according to DATCP. The amount was not disclosed.
The farm is prohibited from holding deer or other cervids for five years and during that time must maintain fences and submit to inspections.