WASHINGTON —Today on the second anniversary of the Inflation Reduction Act, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced a nearly $20 million investment for endangered species recovery implementation efforts. The Service’s $25 million of the Inflation Reduction Act recovery implementation funds are reserved to support four focal species groups: Hawaiian and Pacific Island plants ($5 million), butterflies and moths ($5 million), freshwater mussels ($10 million), and southwest desert fish ($5 million). This investment builds on the $5.1 million in Inflation Reduction Act funding that was announced in 2023 specific to these groups.
“Today we celebrate the second anniversary of the Administration’s Inflation Reduction Act and its historic investments to recover our nation's threatened and endangered species,” said Service Director Martha Williams. “This funding allows the Service to focus on recovering special species like Hawaiian and Pacific Island plants, butterflies, moths, freshwater mussels and southwest desert fish and helping clean water, pollination and communities at the same time.”
The Service’s approach prioritizes funding all remaining recovery actions considered necessary to achieve the focal species’ recovery within approximately 10 years. The $20 million investment will be used to achieve impactful conservation for 15 species including – two butterflies, nine freshwater mussels, and four southwest desert fish – and address recovery support for about 425 Hawaiian plants by identifying translocation sites most resilient to climate change climate change
Climate change includes both global warming driven by human-induced emissions of greenhouse gases and the resulting large-scale shifts in weather patterns. Though there have been previous periods of climatic change, since the mid-20th century humans have had an unprecedented impact on Earth's climate system and caused change on a global scale.
Learn more about climate change and with greatest benefit for recovery.
The Service uses the best available science to develop recovery plans, which include scientific information and provide recovery criteria and implementation actions necessary to delist or downlist threatened or endangered species. The Service actively engages with Tribes, federal agencies, state and local governments, conservation organizations, communities and private citizens on recovery under the ESA to help inform ideas and innovative ways to conserve and restore imperiled species and carry out on-the-ground recovery implementation actions.
The Inflation Reduction Act is enabling the Department of the Interior to play a leading role in the transition to a clean energy economy, advancing key habitat restoration, land resilience and water projects, and securing environmental justice for historically disadvantaged communities. Guided by a restoration and resilience framework, the Department is implementing an overall $2 billion investment from the Investing in America agenda to restore lands and waters and advance climate resilience.
For more information on these species and to learn more about the Service’s Inflation Reduction Act-related efforts, visit the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s website.
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The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service works with others to conserve, protect and enhance fish, wildlife, plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. For more information, visit www.fws.gov and connect with us on social media: Facebook, Instagram, X (formerly known as Twitter), LinkedIn, Flickr and YouTube.
