CAPE CORAL, Fla. — A new bill from Congressman Byron Donalds aims to streamline the federal approval process for state wildlife conservation plans, which currently can take up to 18 months to receive Department of the Interior sign-off.
The Make SWAPS Efficient Act passed the House of Representatives earlier this month by a unanimous vote of 400 to 0. The legislation would require the Department of the Interior to approve State Wildlife Action Plans within six months, with automatic approval if the deadline is missed.
"The current federal system was too slow. Surprise, surprise, very inefficient," Donalds said.
Every state in the U.S. develops its own plan to conserve wildlife, known as a State Wildlife Action Plan. While these plans require federal approval, the lengthy process has frustrated state officials who say delays make it difficult to implement necessary logistics, manpower and equipment for effective conservation efforts.
"And if they can't do it in 6 months, it should be deemed approved. That's all we did. Very common-sense stuff," Donalds said.
Matt DePaolis, Environmental Policy Director at SCCF, supports the legislation's potential impact on conservation efforts.
"It's really important that we move forward with these conservation plans when we have them and for them not get lost in bureaucracy," DePaolis said.
DePaolis emphasized that these plans protect endangered species like the Florida panther while preventing other species from declining to critically low populations.
"The more that we can do to protect the habitat and prevent them from getting to that endangered space, the less work we will have to do to recover their species," he said.
The preventive conservation approach can save taxpayers millions of dollars in the long run, according to DePaolis. Donalds expects the bill will pass the Senate by unanimous consent and be signed into law by President Trump.
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