Inflation Reduction Act - One Year Anniversary

Over the course of 2023, the Northeast Region has received big investments from the Inflation Reduction Act to conserve endangered species and their habitats. 

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Funding supports recovery planning efforts for a small and stunning fish — the candy darter. It also is being used to protect over 30 species of freshwater mussel throughout the region. And finally, it is going directly to fish passage fish passage
Fish passage is the ability of fish or other aquatic species to move freely throughout their life to find food, reproduce, and complete their natural migration cycles. Millions of barriers to fish passage across the country are fragmenting habitat and leading to species declines. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's National Fish Passage Program is working to reconnect watersheds to benefit both wildlife and people.

Learn more about fish passage projects in the Northern Forest (which extend into the Midwest Region) to tackle barriers holding fish back from their homes. 

Signed by President Biden on Aug. 16, 2022, the Act creates an avenue to focus on fish and wildlife that have been historically underfunded. During a crisis of extinction, the Service is working together with other agencies and partners to establish recovery plans and implementation guidelines, as well as share ideas and innovative ways to conserve and restore imperiled species. 

It is diversity of species that supports the health of an ecosystem. And while many of our Region’s species supported by the Act are underwater, effectively out of sight and out of mind for most folks, they add to the strength and resiliency of their collective homes, benefitting wildlife and people.

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Open rivers and streams allow migrating fish to reach their spawning grounds, leading to big economic impacts for commercial fishing. Waterways full of freshwater mussels are cleaner and healthier not only for the other species that live in and around them, but for the human communities that rely on the water for drinking. And a little clown-colored fish deserves as much a chance to thrive as any large charismatic animal. 

The Service has demonstrated success in recovering and de-listing species on the Endangered Species List — more than 100 plant and animal species have been taken off the list through incredible and effective conservation work and partnerships. Through the Inflation Reduction Act, 36 projects benefitting 580 species across the nation have been funded — spelling a much brighter future for fish, wildlife and people.