North American Grasslands Conservation Act

The vast majority of Arkansas’ native grasslands and prairies have been lost to land conversion and urban development.  Grasslands provide habitat to a wide array of wildlife species, including elk, bobwhite quail,  and the Western meadowlark  which teeters at the edge of  extinction.

Over the past decade, millions of acres of grasslands have been lost or degraded in the U.S. These  lands are critical to agriculture, hunting, and recreation, and provide important cultural and economic benefits.

Native grasslands and healthy working grasslands not only provide soil, water, and wildlife benefits, but they sequester a significant amount of carbon, making them a natural climate solution.

Modeled after the hugely successful North American Wetlands Conservation Act, Senate co-sponsors introduced the North American Grasslands Conservation Act in July 2022.

The North American Grasslands Conservation Act would invest $290 million in voluntary initiatives to collaboratively conserve and restore native grasslands by addressing the following:

• Establishes a North American Grassland Conservation Strategy for the protection, restoration, and management of grassland ecosystems.
• Establishes a flexible Grassland Conservation Gran t Program for voluntary, incentive-based conservation of grasslands, including restoration of degraded grasslands and more.
• Creates National and Regional Grassland Conservation Councils to recommend and approve grassland conservation projects to be funded under the program.
• Establishes research initiatives on native seed crop systems and regenerative grazing practices.

Click here to read the full bill text.