Congress Passes Bipartisan ACE Act

On October 1, 2020 the House passed the bi-partisan America’s Conservation Enhancement Act (ACE) on a voice vote, joining with the Senate’s earlier passage of this important conservation bill.

Here are key provisions:

Establishing a chronic wasting disease task force to develop an interstate action plan for state and federal cooperation relating to the disease;

Commissioning a study by the National Academy of Sciences regarding the pathways and mechanisms of the transmission of chronic wasting disease in the US;

Reauthorizing the North American Wetlands Conservation Act until 2025;

Encouraging partnerships among public agencies and other interested parties for promoting fish conservation;

Reauthorizing the Chesapeake Bay Program until 2025 and reauthorizing the Chesapeake Bay Gateways and Watertrails Network and the Chesapeake Bay Gateways Grants Assistance Program until 2025;

Reauthorizing the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation Act until 2025;

Establishing a program to provide grants to states and Indian tribes to compensate livestock producers for losses due to predation by federally protected species such as wolves or grizzly bears; and

Establishing a Theodore Roosevelt Genius Prize for technological innovation to reduce human-predator conflict using non-lethal means.