Support Reauthorization of the Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act

Representatives Ron Kind (D-WI) and Wayne Gilchrest (R-MD) have introduced bill H.R. 5756 to reauthorize the Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act (NMBCA). We need your organization's support to ensure that this bill passes. Note: If you are an individual and wish to help support this campaign, please click here.

NMBCA is one of the most important pieces of legislation for the funding of migratory bird conservation. It provides millions of dollars in matching, competitive grants for monitoring, habitat restoration, education, and other projects in the United States, Canada, Latin America, and the Caribbean.

NMBCA originally passed with an authorization of $5 million per year and began supporting projects in 2002. Its first appropriation was for $3 million ($2 million short of the authorized amount). Since then, funding for the program has been increased up to $4.5 million each fiscal year . In 2006, Congress reauthorized the Act and increased its authorized funding from $5 million to $6.5 million, to be phased in over the next five years.

Under the new reauthorization bill introduced by Kind and Gilchrest, the authorized fundsing would increase to $20 million by 2015!

Approximately 500 of the nearly 800 bird species in the United States are migratory birds. Hemisphere-wide habitat loss due to deforestation and development, as well as human created hazards, threaten the survival of these neotropical migrants. Conservation efforts are crucial, and the Act is a vital source of funding to sustain them.

American Bird Conservancy (ABC) has therefore initiated a coalition of Bird Conservation Alliance (BCA) member organizations and other groups that will work together for an early reauthorization of the NMBCA under the campaign, Act for Songbirds!. Additionally, the coalition will work to secure future full appropriations for the Act.

We need the support of your organization, birding group, or coalition. Help us pass H.R. 5756 and reauthorize the Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act. Your organization can be an important part of the Act for Songbirds Campaign and help the reauthorization effort by joining the Act for Songbirds Coalition and pledging its support today. To view a list of organizations that have pledged support so far, click here.