Raúl Grijalva: “this week will mark the 20th anniversary of the creation of the North American Waterfowl Management Plan, a joint…”

“this week will mark the 20th anniversary of the creation of the North American Waterfowl Management Plan, a joint conservation strategy implemented by both the United States and Canada to protect and restore wetland habitat stretching across North America. Soon after the establishment of this comprehensive strategy in 1986, the Congress, led by the Dean of the House, John Dingell, authorized the North American Wetlands Conservation Act to establish a matching- grant program to take the goals of the North American plan off the drawing board and into the landscape of the North American continent. As many Members know, the North American Wetlands Conservation Act has demonstrated time and time again that it is one of our greatest wetlands conservation success stories. Grants under the act have not only generated hundreds of millions of non-Federal matching funds; these contributions have been converted into acquisition, conservation, protection and restoration of millions of acres of wetlands across the United States, Canada and Mexico. Few Federal programs deliver such a bang for the buck. Although the current authorization of appropriations does not expire until next year, there is no reason why we should not reauthorize this highly popular and effective conservation program to ensure its future success.…”