WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. House of Representatives’ overwhelming vote (366-21) for the America's Conservation Enhancement Act tees up a major win for wildlife. The bill, which passed the Senate unanimously in May and is expected to pass it again before heading to the president’s desk, will deliver significant resources for habitat restoration and other conservation programs.

“Many of America’s treasured ecosystems, from wetlands to coastlines, remain existentially threatened in our rapidly changing world,” said Andrew Wilkins, director of land conservation policy at the National Wildlife Federation. “The ACE Act supports collaborative habitat restoration across the country. We expect the Senate will send the bill to the president’s desk soon. We thank the many members of Congress instrumental in supporting this bill, which underscores a bipartisan, national consensus in favor of habitat conservation.”

Key provisions of the ACE Act will:

• Increase funding for the North American Wetlands Conservation Act;
• Provide grants for states and Tribal nations so they can compensate livestock producers for losses due to predation by federally protected species such as grizzly bears;
• Reauthorize the National Fish Habitat Partnership, which supports collaborative efforts to restore and conserve aquatic ecosystems;
• Reauthorize the Chesapeake Bay Initiative and the Chesapeake Watershed Investments for Landscape Defense Program;
• Reauthorize the Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act, which helps protect water, oceans, coasts, and wildlife from threats posed by invasive species;
• Reauthorize the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation Act.