U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids, Kansas’ only Democratic member of Congress, signed onto bipartisan legislation introduced Tuesday meant to protect vanishing grassland habitats.
Davis is co-sponsoring the North American Grasslands Conservation Act with a bipartisan group of members of the U.S. House of Representatives from South Carolina, Pennsylvania and California.
According to a release from the National Wildlife Federation, the legislation — which was also introduced in the Senate two years ago — will “help counter and reverse the staggering and ongoing loss of grasslands.” The group says the conversion of grassland habitat to cropland has “exacerbated the wildlife and climate crisis.”
The group’s president and CEO Collin O’Mara said in the release that the legislation would build on the lessons learned from the North American Wetlands Conservation Act, passed in 1989, to “save some of our most imperiled ecosystem.”
“Healthy grasslands and shrublands are essential to reducing flooding and wildfires,” O’Mara said, “sustaining robust wildlife populations and supporting local communities.”
The release says grasslands and sagebrush are “some of the most threatened ecosystems in the world,” and the loss of the habitats have resulted in steep population declines among several bird species.
“Protecting North America’s grasslands is essential to Kansas’ wildlife, ranchers and environment,” said Alfonso Leyva, president of the Kansas Wildlife Federation. “The North American Grasslands Conservation Act provides the tools and support needed to restore these vital ecosystems while empowering land stewards to lead the way.”
The legislation, which was referred to the the House Committee on Natural Resources and the House Committee on Agriculture, would offer $60 million to support grassland and sagebrush habitats, including grassland conservation easements.
