Letter
Letter to Congress Regarding the Recovering America's Wildlife Act, November 27, 2023
November 27, 2023
The Honorable Martin Heinrich
709 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
The Honorable Thom Tillis
113 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Dear Senators:
“Through the greatness and the beauty of creatures one comes to know by analogy their maker” (Wis 13:5). On behalf of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development, I write in support of the Recovering America’s Wildlife Act of 2023 (S. 1149). This bipartisan legislation provides investment for regional and local species and ecosystems conservation efforts throughout the United States, including territories and tribal nations.
By investing $1.3 billion annually in state or territory fish and wildlife agencies, funding will not only be directed and allocated locally for the protection of species but will also support local economies, respecting the principle of subsidiarity. The economy may benefit from improved tourism and recreation as well as the estimated 34,000 direct annual jobs created from conservation and forestry efforts. Additionally, almost $100 million is directed to conservation in tribal nations, the first peoples responsible for stewardship of our lands. With monetary, human and environmental awareness, the Recovering America’s Wildlife Act responds to social and economic dimensions of a true integral ecology outlined by Pope Francis in his encyclical Laudato si’ (cf. no. 49).
The Recovering America’s Wildlife Act provides for our shared responsibility, in every region, to protect wildlife and prevent species disappearance or extinction. Thank you for your bipartisan efforts to support wildlife conservation and to preserve the gifts endowed to us by God.
Sincerely,
Most Reverend Borys Gudziak
Archbishop of Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Philadelphia
Chair, Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development