The National Fish Passage Program
Early in the history of the United States, rivers ran wild, and fish followed them according to their needs. All river fish migrate between feeding and spawning areas and make other seasonal movements to important habitats. In the ensuing years, thousands of culverts, dikes, water diversions, dams, and other artificial barriers were constructed to impound or redirect water for irrigation, flood control, electricity, water supply, and transportation. All of these changed the natural features of countless waterways, blocking the natural migration of fish to historic habitat used for reproduction and growth. As a result, some populations of native fish are gone and others are on the brink of disappearing. An estimated 2.5 million of these barriers still exist, many of which no longer serve their original purpose and were abandoned years ago. Launched by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 1999, the National Fish Passage Program (NFPP) is a voluntary, non-regulatory effort that provides financial and technical assistance to remove or bypass these artificial barriers that impede the movement of fish and contribute to their decline.
Fish Passage Program Creates Jobs Too!
Removal of fish barriers is technical work that requires local contractors and workers. Through the NFPP, these projects create and support jobs in local communities. Based on estimates from the Economic Policy Institute and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, each $1 million of fish passage improvement projects creates between 20 to 54 new jobs in the areas which the barriers exist, most of which can be initiated within 3-6 months. And this doesn’t include secondary job creation!
The in-the-water fish passage projects delivered by the NFPP have historically depended on and supported a myriad local hires, including general contractors, construction contractors, engineering and design professionals, and state, tribal and NGO personnel, as well as unskilled laborer and volunteer groups from local schools and conservation organizations. The ability to partner on larger scale projects (e.g., large dam removals) could potentially double the amount of jobs created over the life of the project.
For an example of the labor, equipment, and expertise involved in one of these multi-partner projects, click below to see:
- a dam removal in progress!
- the Sandy River flowing freely after the removal of the Marmot Dam
- more of the Marmot Dam removal story
- the demolition of the Embrey Dam in Fredicksburg, Virginia
The Fish Passage Program Leverages Federal Funding !
Working with over 700 partners, the National Fish Passage Program is highly effective at leveraging Federal appropriations, with an average match of $3 in partner funding for each Federal dollar. True to the Service’s mission, the work to date has directly benefited over 85 federal trust fish and other aquatic species.
Click here to see a list of FY 2008 approved NFPP projects!
National Fish Passage Program Fact Sheet!
Reconnecting Aquatic Species to Historical Habitats
The NFPP has become one of the Service’s most popular programs and is a model for collaborative conservation. The program embraces partners from every level of government and a wide range of private and civic conservation groups, most of which add significant matching funds that maximizes taxpayer dollars, and allows citizens at a number of different levels to become directly involved in restoration work that provides important benefits to native aquatic species populations.
Since 1999, working with over 700September 11, 20095 federal trust fish and other aquatic species across the Nation by:
- Removal or bypass of 749 barriers across the country, work that supported nearly 15,000 jobs in local communities
- Re-opened 11,249 miles of river, and
