On Endangered Species Day, Blumenthal & Grijalva Introduce Legislation to Protect At-Risk Wildlife

[WASHINGTON, DC] - U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and U.S. Representative Adelita S. Grijalva (D-AZ) today introduced the Extinction Prevention Act, legislation that would provide much-needed funding for some of the country's most imperiled yet vastly underfunded wildlife species.

"This legislation recognizes that saving wildlife from extinction requires more than just rhetoric-real resources are essential," said Blumenthal. "Endangered species and their habitats can be sustained, but only if we back words with action."

"As the loss of biodiversity accelerates at an alarming rate, we cannot afford to keep treating conservation as an afterthought," said Grijalva. "The Extinction Prevention Act makes long-overdue investments in some of the most imperiled and overlooked species in our country, from North American butterflies to Southwest desert fish that are uniquely adapted to survive in some of the harshest environments on Earth. In Arizona and across the Southwest, these native fish species are already facing devastating threats from drought, water scarcity, habitat destruction, and climate change. We have a responsibility to future generations to make sure we do not lose these species forever."

This legislation would create four separate funds of $5 million per year through Fiscal Year 2032 with the purpose of providing financial assistance to projects that help conserve and recover four groups of species: North American butterflies, Pacific Island plants, freshwater mussels, and Southwest desert fish. Habitat protection for these species is chronically underfunded despite them being among the species most at risk of extinction:

• North American butterflies-one of the fastest declining groups of all endangered species-have not seen a single species improve among the 39 listed.

• The situation is equally dire in Hawaii and the Pacific Islands, where nearly 400 plant species are threatened or endangered, representing almost a quarter of all listed species. In Hawaii, over 200 plant species have dwindled to fewer than 50 wild individuals.

• Freshwater mussels are currently the most imperiled animal group in the country, with 70 percent of U.S. species at risk of extinction and 38 species already lost.

• Southwest desert fish are being threatened by drought and water scarcity, resulting in significant population and habitat reductions. Currently, over 45 species are listed as endangered or threatened.

Targeted funds under the legislation would support on-the-ground conservation projects to stabilize and save from extinction the most critically endangered species from each of the four groups. States, Tribes, research institutions, nonprofit organizations, wildlife management authorities, and others may apply for these funds.

The legislation is cosponsored by U.S. Senators Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), and Cory Booker (D-NJ) and endorsed by the Center for Biological Diversity, the Animal Welfare Institute, the American Bird Conservancy, the Endangered Species Coalition, and the Sierra Club.

"Some of America's most amazing and vulnerable species are rapidly disappearing for the appalling reason that we've failed to invest in their recovery," said Stephanie Kurose, deputy director of government affairs at the Center for Biological Diversity. "The Extinction Prevention Act will help deliver the emergency support needed to save the most critically endangered animals and plants that make up our natural heritage. We're so thankful to Sen. Blumenthal and the other sponsors for helping to give these species a fighting chance."

Text of the Senate legislation can be found here.

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