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Native Plant Society of Texas

Recovering America’s Wildlife Act: Race to the Finish Line!

NPSOT Archive

**ARCHIVED POST **

RAWA Needs Your Support before May 20th

In an August post, and again in a November post, NPSOT encouraged members to support the bipartisan Recovering America’s Wildlife Act (RAWA).

Let’s help pass the Recovering America’s Wildlife Act (RAWA) in both houses of Congress before the House begins its recess on May 20th!

Passage of the Recovering America’s Wildlife Act will mean nearly $1.4 billion annually for wildlife conservation in the US – up to $50 million per year for projects in Texas to help stabilize at-risk populations of fish and wildlife. 

YOU CAN HELP NOW

  • Ask your US Representative and Senators Cornyn and Cruz to vote YES (again!) for the Recovering America’s Wildlife Act.
  • Ask everyone in your circle to do the same (again!)
  • Send a letter to Senators Cruz and Cornyn, and to all the U.S. Representatives from Texas. The letters can be scanned and emailed. Letters to Members of the US House of Representatives can be sent to firstname.lastname@mail.house.gov. Send to our senators via their website’s contact page. Sample letters are available HERE.
  • Contact your US Representative via his/her website or Washington D.C. office phone line. Find your US Representative contact information at https://www.house.gov/representatives/find-your-representative. If you phone, it’s okay to just leave a message!
  • Contact Senators Cornyn and Cruz via their websites or Washington D.C. office phone lines.

THE ASK IS SIMPLE

Vote YES when the Recovering America’s Wildlife Act comes up for a vote.

RESOURCES TO HELP YOU MAKE YOUR ASK:

The Texas Alliance for America’s Fish and Wildlife, txwildlifealliance.org, has a toolkit with info to help you and your members make the ask: https://www.txwildlifealliance.org/action-toolkit.

The Texas Alliance also has a Communications and Social Media Toolkit HERE with social media posts, sample newsletter text, graphics/photos, and Richard Heilbrun’s PowerPoint summary of the Recovering America’s Wildlife Act.

The Recovering America’s Wildlife Act video is HERE.

Contact VP Affiliations and Advocacy

Clarence Reed, VP Affiliations and Advocacy
Native Plant Society of Texas

More about the Act

**ARCHIVED POST** **ARCHIVED POST LINKS & PICTURES MAY NOT WORK** **ARCHIVED POST AUTHOR: stephanie

About the Region

2026 Fall Symposium Logo

This low-elevations region of Texas extends inland from the barrier islands, about 60 or so miles, and stretches from Brownsville to Louisiana. In total, it covers about 9.5 million acres, with a high point of 150 feet in elevation. More than 1000 species of plants can be found in this region. On the southern end, species more common in Mexico (such as Sabal mexicana) and Central America occur.

The barrier islands provide us with dune systems, and clay flats to the inland side, which have species found in these areas alone. Many plants here, such as Ipomoea pes-caprae (beach morning glory), can be found throughout tropical regions of the globe. I’ve encountered the same species on the beaches of Guam.

Once inland, vast marshes and wet prairies occur. Occasionally, oak (Quercus fusiformis) groves can be found. Common grasses include species of Bothriochloa, Paspalum, and Sporobolus; eastern gamagrass (Tripsacum dactyloides); and switchgrass (Panicum species). Many rivers and creeks cut through the Gulf Prairies, and along these riparian areas various species of trees, Sabal minor, and other plants adapted to clay soils can be found. Due to overgrazing, farming, and fire suppression, woody species such as mesquite (Prosopis glandulosa) and huisache (Acacia farnesiana), and invasive species such as chinaberry (Melia azedarach), Brazilian pepper (Schinus terebinthifolius), and Chinese tallow (Sapium sebiferum) have increased and displaced our native flora.

Source: Wildflowers of Texas by Michael Eason