Virginia congressman appointed to Migratory Bird Conservation Commission
Panel will consider 32 proposals at first meeting
WASHINGTON – March 11, 2009 – The group that oversees expenditure of duck stamp funds and NAWCA (North American Wetlands Conservation Act) monies, the Migratory Bird Conservation Commission, has a new member. Virginia Congressman Robb Wittman (R-VA) was appointed by Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi on March 6, 2009.
The first meeting of the current panel takes place today. Thirty-two funding proposals for grants under the North American Wetlands Conservation Act (NAWCA) are under consideration. Wittman will join the Secretaries of the Interior Ken Salazar and Agriculture Tom Vilsack, EPA Administrator Steve Johnson, Senators Thad Cochran (R-MS) and Blanche Lincoln (D-AK) and Congressman John Dingell (D-MI). The focus of the group is on proposed habitat purchases and leases.
Wittman, who represents the First District of Virginia, is an avid waterfowler and a long time champion of the Chesapeake Bay.
With more than a million supporters, Ducks Unlimited is the world’s largest and most effective wetland and waterfowl conservation organization with more than 12 million acres conserved. The United States alone has lost more than half of its original wetlands - nature’s most productive ecosystem - and continues to lose more than 80,000 wetland acres important to waterfowl each year.
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Kristin Schrader kschrader@ducks.org 734-623-2000