Section 6 of the Endangered Species Act
Cooperative Endangered
Species Conservation Fund
The
Cooperative Endangered Species Conservation Fund (Section 6 of the
Endangered Species Act) provides funding to States and Territories
for species and habitat conservation actions on non-Federal lands.
States and Territories must contribute a minimum non-Federal match
of 25% for the estimated program costs of approved projects, or
10% when two or more States or Territories implement a joint project.
A State or Territory must currently have, or enter into a cooperative
agreement with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) to receive
grant funds.
Four
grant programs are available through the Cooperative Endangered
Species Conservation Fund, they include the "Traditional"
Conservation Grants and the "Nontraditional" Grants: Habitat
Conservation Plan Land Acquisition, Habitat Conservation Planning
Assistance, and Recovery Land Acquisition Grants.
A variety of tools are available
under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) to help States and landowners
plan and implement projects to conserve species. The Cooperative
Endangered Species Conservation Fund (section 6 of the ESA) has
been available for several years to provide grants to States and
Territories (hereafter, "States") to participate in a
wide array of voluntary conservation projects for candidate, proposed,
and listed species.
"Traditional"
Section 6 Conservation Grants
The Conservation Grants program provides financial assistance to
States to implement conservation projects for listed species and
species at-risk. Funded activities include habitat restoration,
species status surveys, public education, and outreach, captive
propagation and reintroduction, nesting surveys, genetic studies,
and development of management plans. The project selection process
is generally conducted by Service Endangered Species staff in conjunction
with the States. Funding is allocated by formula to the Service
Regions based on the number of species covered in the cooperative
agreements with the States within that Region. Regional offices
then further allocate the funding to the States within that Region
by formula or through a competitive process.
2008 Traditional S6 Grant Awards for the upper Midwest
2007 Traditional S6 Grant Awards for the upper Midwest
2006 Traditional S6 Grant Awards for the upper Midwest
"Nontraditional"
Section 6 Grants
Habitat
Conservation Planning (HCP) Assistance Grants
Through the
development of regional Habitat Conservation Plans (HCPs), local
governments incorporate species conservation into local land use
planning, which streamlines the project approval process and facilitates
economic development. The Habitat Conservation Planning Assistance
Grants program provides funding to States to support the development
of HCPs. Planning assistance grants may support planning activities
such as document preparation, outreach, and baseline surveys,
and inventories.
The
Habitat Conservation Planning Assistance Grants program first
received funding in fiscal year 2001 of $6.635 million. In FY
2004, the Service awarded funding to 22 out of 22 eligible proposals
to provide project funding in 11 States and one Territory. The
funding for the Habitat Conservation Planning Assistance Grants
is competed for at the National level.
Habitat
Conservation Plan (HCP) Land Acquisition Grants
The HCP
Land Acquisition program was established by Congress in fiscal
year 1997. This program was designed to reduce conflicts between
the conservation of listed species and land uses on specific parcels
of land. Under this program, the Service provides grants to States
for land acquisitions that are associated with approved HCPs.
The Service considers the use of Federal acquisition dollars by
States for habitat protection within and adjacent to HCP areas
to be an important and effective mechanism to promote the recovery
of threatened and endangered species.
The
HCP Land Acquisition program has three primary purposes: 1) to
fund land acquisitions that complement, but do not replace, private
mitigation responsibilities contained in HCPs, 2) to fund land
acquisitions that have important benefits for listed, proposed,
and candidate species, and 3) to fund land acquisitions that have
important benefits for ecosystems that support listed, proposed
and candidate species.
The
program received $6 million in appropriated funds in each of its
first 3 years (fiscal years 1997-1999). We received $15 million
in fiscal year 2000 and were able to fund 15 proposals. In fiscal
year 2004, we received approximately $49 million and fully or
partially funded 15 out of 16 eligible proposals. A National competition
will be held to select proposals for funding in FY 2005.
Recovery
Land Acquisition Grants
Loss of habitat is the primary threat
to most listed species and land acquisition is often the most
effective and efficient means of protecting habitats essential
for recovery of listed species before development or other land
use changes impair or destroy key habitat values. Land acquisition
is costly and often neither the Service nor the States individually
have the necessary resources to acquire habitats essential for
recovery of listed species. Recovery Land Acquisition grant funds
are matched by States and non-federal entities to acquire these
habitats from willing sellers in support of approved species recovery
plans.
Because
the existing HCP Land Acquisition Grants Program provides substantial
funding for land acquisitions associated with HCPs, the Recovery
Land Acquisition Grants Program will not be used to fund land
acquisitions associated with permitted HCPs.
The
Recovery Land Acquisition Grant program first received funding
in fiscal year 2001 of $10.427 million. In FY 2004, the program
awarded funding to 32 projects in 24 States, with at least one
proposal funded in each Service region. For fiscal year 2005,
competition for the Recovery Land Acquisition grants will be held
at the Regional level.
2009 Non-traditional S6 Grant Awards for the upper Midwest
2008 Non-traditional S6 Grant Awards for the upper Midwest
2007 Non-traditional S6 Grant Awards for the upper Midwest
2006 Non-traditional S6 Grant Awards for the upper Midwest
Participation
in the Cooperative Endangered Species Conservation Fund programs
is limited to State agencies that have a current cooperative agreement
with the Secretary of the Interior. That is, only State agencies
that have a cooperative agreement with the Secretary of the Interior
may apply directly for Cooperative Endangered Species Conservation
Fund grant funding. However, individuals or groups (for example
land conservancies, community organizations, or conservation organizations)
may work with a State organization that has a cooperative agreement,
on conservation efforts that are mutually beneficial, as a subgrantee.
Grant agreements will be used to implement selected projects.
A proposal
must include 25 percent non-Federal cost share (the cost-share may
be an in-kind contribution, including equipment, materials, operations,
and maintenance costs). This cost share decreases to 10 percent
if 2 or more States or Territories are contributors to the proposal
and its activities as per section 6 of the ESA.
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