Young Joins Senators to Introduce Bipartisan Bill to Support Fish and Wildlife Restoration in the Great Lakes

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Todd Young (R-Ind.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Rob Portman (R-Ohio), and Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) introduced a bipartisan bill to support fish and wildlife in the Great Lakes.

As leaders of the Senate’s Great Lakes Task Force, the senators reintroduced the Great Lakes Fish and Wildlife Restoration Actto provide critical resources to conserve and restore fish and wildlife populations in the Great Lakes. The bill would authorize the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) to partner with other federal agencies, states, and tribes to develop and execute proposals for the restoration of fish and wildlife resources in the Great Lakes Basin.

“The Great Lakes play a crucial role in Indiana’s ecosystem,” said Senator Young. “I’m proud to introduce the Great Lakes Fish and Wildlife Restoration Act to help restore wetlands, watersheds, and grasslands that add to the diversity of Hoosier wildlife.”

“The reauthorization of the Great Lakes Fish and Wildlife Restoration Act would be a strong step towards conserving one of the country’s most vital recreational fisheries. Since 1998, this program has supported anglers across the Great Lakes through projects like wetland restoration and the detection of lake trout spawning in the wild. On behalf of the sportfishing industry, we are grateful to Senators Klobuchar and Portman for leading this important effort,” said Connor Bevan, Inland Fisheries Policy Manager at the American Sportfishing Association.

“The Alliance for the Great Lakes greatly appreciates the leadership of Senator Klobuchar to reauthorize the Great Lakes Fish and Wildlife Restoration Act.  For more than two decades this important program has provided grants to protect and restore fish and wildlife and their habitat in the Great Lakes Basin and is critical to the preservation of these resources,” said Joel Brammeier, President and CEO of the Alliance for the Great Lakes.

This legislation would provide assistance to Great Lakes fish and wildlife agencies to encourage cooperative conservation, restoration, and management of the fish and wildlife resources and their habitats by reauthorizing $6 million annually through 2027 to implement restoration projects and USFWS activities of regional importance to the Great Lakes. It would serve an important role in implementing the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) and renew continued cooperative efforts to address impacts associated with invasive species throughout the Great Lakes Basin.

The Great Lakes Fish and Wildlife Restoration Act has been endorsed by Alliance for the Great Lakes, Ducks Unlimited (DU), Great Lakes Fishery Commission, Great Lakes Commission, Pheasants Forever/Quail Forever, and The Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition. 

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