Representative Don Beyer, D-VA, has introduced the Wildlife Corridors and Habitat Connectivity Conservation Act of 2026, which would establish a national framework for identifying, designating and protecting wildlife corridors across the country. The bill is co-led by Reps. Vern Buchanan, R-FL, Zoe Lofgren, D-CA, and Ryan Fitzpatrick, R-PA, and aims to strengthen coordination among federal agencies, land managers, states and tribes, allowing them to manage national parks, wildlife refuges, forests and public lands as a unified ecosystem rather than detached units, according to Defenders of Wildlife.
“Rep. Beyer, Buchanan, Lofgren and Fitzpatrick’s legislation would address a key driver of the biodiversity crisis by enhancing wildlife connectivity across our public lands,” said Christian Hunt, director of national wildlife refuges and parks program at Defenders of Wildlife. “The science is clear – where wildlife movement is restricted, local extinctions follow. This bill offers a durable, long-term solution that will be critical to reversing that trend.”
Wildlife corridors are often fragmented by logging, mining, roads and urban development. When pathways are broken, wildlife becomes isolated in smaller, disconnected patches, which increases the risk of population decline and extinction.
The bill’s introduction comes as concerns increase over the many thousands of collisions between vehicles and wildlife each year, which kill people and animals and cause millions of dollars of property damages. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law provided $350 million to be spent over five years on building crossings to help the issue, but the funding runs out this year. Conservation groups have been urging Congress to renew the program.
Wildlife crossings could lead to a 97 percent reduction in wildlife-vehicle collisions, Rene Callahan, executive director of Bozeman, Montana-based ARC Solutions recently told the Traveler.
“Habitat loss and fragmentation are major drivers of declining wildlife populations. Rep. Beyer’s bill directly addresses this alarming reality and helps prevent further degradation,” said Kelly Cox, senior policy and planning specialist for national wildlife refuges and parks. “Wildlife corridors reconnect landscapes, reduce wildlife-vehicle collisions and help species adapt to an ever-changing world.”
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