Sponsors (9)
The bill provides multi-year funding, science, and coordination to improve wildlife movement, habitat connectivity, and public safety, but does so with open-ended federal spending, limits on federal leverage over private working lands, added administrative requirements, and potential privacy and oversight concerns for landowners and taxpayers.
State and Tribal wildlife agencies and programs receive multi-year funding, grants, and technical support (FY2026–2031) so they can plan and deliver sustained habitat connectivity, migration mapping, and conservation projects.
Rural communities, motorists, and landowners benefit from actions (wildlife-crossing pilots, grants, mapping and project funding) that reduce wildlife-vehicle collisions and improve public safety near roads and highways.
Indian Tribes, States, and private landowners retain existing treaty, wildlife, and property rights and local control over wildlife management, protecting Tribal sovereignty and private-property protections from being altered by this Act.
Taxpayers face open-ended federal spending risk because multiple provisions authorize "such sums as necessary" and ongoing staffing/operations through FY2026–2031, potentially increasing federal budget obligations.
By preserving existing energy, mining, water, and other rights and limiting how agencies can use funds to require changes on private or working lands, the Act may constrain federal conservation tools and produce patchwork protections across States and Tribes.
New reporting, matching, and coordination requirements (including competitive matching shares) could impose administrative burdens on State, Tribal, and local agencies and slow project delivery or exclude under-resourced partners.
Based on analysis of 10 sections of legislative text.
Creates grant, research, and mapping programs to fund voluntary conservation and infrastructure projects that improve wildlife movement and connectivity, and authorizes funding for FY2026–FY2031.
Introduced January 23, 2025 by Ryan Zinke · Last progress January 23, 2025
Provides federal grants, research funding, mapping support, and interagency coordination to identify, conserve, and improve habitat corridors and seasonal movement areas used by migratory big game and other native wildlife. Creates a competitive matching-grant program administered through the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, a State and Tribal Migration Research Program run by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, continuation of a USGS Corridor Mapping Team, and a Senior Executive Service coordinator in the Office of the Secretary to oversee implementation. Emphasizes voluntary, nonregulatory actions on private, Tribal, State, and Federal lands, protects existing property, access, and resource rights, requires State/Tribal support for proposals, sets a default federal cost-share (90% federal / 10% non-Federal) with waiver authority for Tribes and disadvantaged areas, and authorizes unspecified funding for FY2026–FY2031 with at least half of some program funds dedicated to big-game movement areas.