Overview of the Division of Federal Program Activities

The Division of Federal Program Activities provides national oversight for a number of Fish and Wildlife Service programs, implemented at the field level, that promote the protection conservation, and restoration of our Nation's fish and wildlife resources. The activities implemented under these programs focus on preventing the degradation of fish and wildlife habitats. The Division's involvement includes: (1) providing expert habitat planning and ecological technical assistance; (2) working to conserve coastal habitats that have been nationally recognized as highly threatened; and (3) mapping, inventorying, and monitoring the Nation's wetlands, and (4) addressing the Service's ecological data needs through the formulation of resource data bases.

Advanced Project Planning (Branch of Federal Activities)

The Division's staff works closely with Service regional and field offices and other Federal agencies in support of Service involvement in water resource development project planning. Staff provide expert ecological advice and assistance to Federal agencies, States, Native American tribes, private industry, and the public to protect and conserve important fish and wildlife resources and their habitats.

Through Project Planning activities, the Service seeks to protect wetlands, uplands, river corridors, and deepwater habitats by ensuring that Federal projects (e.g., navigation, flood control, economic development) are designed and constructed to minimize adverse environmental impacts to fish and wildlife and their habitats. The Service also attempts to protect rare and declining species and their habitats before actions such as Federal listings for endangered or threatened species become necessary.

The Service also reviews and makes recommendations on permit and license activities of several Federal agencies including the Army Corps of Engineers, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, and Forest Service. Protecting the Nation’s remaining wetlands through the Corps-administered Clean Water Act section 404 regulatory program is essential to the fish and wildlife that depend on them. The Service also assists permit applicants and the Corps in developing mitigation banks, identifying valuable wetlands, and determining areas potentially suitable for disposal of dredged material.

Hydroelectric power projects licensed by FERC can result in significant impacts on the environment, such as blocking fish passage, injury to fish from passage over dams or through turbines, and reductions or fluctuations in river flow, which degrade or eliminate instream habitat. Through its involvement in analyzing and preparing recommendations on these projects, the Service can influence the manner in which a permitted and/or licensed activity is carried out to help protect and enhance fish and wildlife and their habitats.

Environmental Coordination (Branch of Federal Activities)

Through the NEPA process, the Service reviews and comments on the environmental planning activities of all Federal agencies to minimize adverse impacts that may occur to fish and wildlife. These environmental coordination responsibilities are carried out by Division staff and also include providing technical assistance and guidance to Service personnel to ensure compliance with NEPA on Service proposals. Environmental reviews for projects proposed by other Federal agencies are also an integral part of this process. The benefits of successful environmental coordination include favorable resolution of natural resource conflicts, timely coordination of Service activities pertaining to NEPA compliance, and more informed decision making.

The National Wetlands Inventory produces information, in the form of paper and digital wetlands maps, on the characteristics, extent, and status of the Nation’s wetlands and deepwater habitats. This information is used by government agencies at all levels, academic institutions, and the private individuals for many purposes including developing floodplain management plans, developing endangered species recovery plans, managing, restoring, and acquiring habitat, and preventing wetlands loss and degradation.

The NWI produces periodic reports on the status and trends of wetlands in the United States, that have been invaluable in the formulation of national, State, and local wetlands policy. In addition, the NWI, in cooperation with other Federal agencies, developed the National List of Wetland Plants, that is used as an aid in wetlands delineation.

Staff at the NWI Center, located in St. Petersburg, Florida, run a computer operation where the wetlands maps and digital data are distributed in coordination with 29 State-run distribution centers. Since 1994, NWI digital data have been available over the Internet to distribute wetlands data to users nationwide and to those from 44 countries around the world.

The newly created Branch of Habitat Assessment focuses on addressing the Service’s ecological data needs through the formulation of resource data bases. Staff develop and collect scientific and technical information to assist managers in making resource policy decisions that affect fish, wildlife, and their habitats. The information generated by staff will strengthen the Service’s capability to make more informed decisions on habitat issues and will lend greater scientific credibility to our conservation recommendations and assessments.

Using its authorities under the Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act, National Environmental Policy Act, Clean Water Act, Federal Power Act, and other statutes, the Service strives to protect fish and wildlife resources by coordinating with other Federal agencies to ensure that projects are designed to mitigate potential impacts on them. Efforts are made to become involved as early in the project planning process as possible to be the most effective in influencing project development.

The Marine Mammal Protection Act gives the Department of the Interior responsibility for managing polar bears, walrus, sea otters, manatees, and dugong. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, through the Fish and Wildlife Management Assistance program, manages polar bears and Pacific walrus in Alaska, and northern sea otters in Alaska and Washington. The Service’s Endangered Species program has lead responsibility for recovering sea otters in California, manatees, and dugong, all of which are listed under the Endangered Species Act.

The Marine Mammal Protection Act requires that marine mammals be maintained at, or returned to, healthy population levels, and maintenance of the health and stability of marine ecosystems on which they depend. The Act also established a moratorium on taking and importing marine mammals, with certain exceptions. For instance, Alaska Natives (Indians, Aleuts, and Eskimos) may hunt for subsistence and to make handicrafts of marine mammal parts.

Integrated Natural Resources Management Plans (INRMPs) are planning documents that allow Department of Defense (DoD) installations to implement landscape-level management of their natural resources while coordinating with various stakeholders. They are extremely important management tools that ensure military operations and natural resources conservation are integrated and consistent with stewardship and legal requirements.

INRMPs provide a framework for the use and conservation of natural resources on lands and waters under DoD control. While primarily used by installation natural resources managers, the INRMP also provides installation planners with baseline information necessary for the development of installation master plans and associated Geographic Information Systems. An INRMP also serves as a principal information source for preparing environmental assessments or environmental impact statements for new construction, military operations, and other proposed installation actions. In addition, INRMPs provide the basis for formulating the natural resources budget. Each plan balances the ecosystem-wide management of natural resources with mission requirements and other land use activities affecting those resources.

In the past, some Federal expenditures had the effect of encouraging development of fragile, high-risk coastal barriers. Legislation passed in 1982 and 1990 limits federally-subsidized development within a defined Coastal Barrier Resources System. The result is a savings in Federal dollars, the protection of human lives and the conservation of natural resources.

Coastal barriers are unique land forms that provide protection for diverse aquatic habitats and serve as the mainland's first line of defense against the impacts of severe coastal storms and erosion. Located at the interface of land and sea, the dominant physical factors responsible for shaping coastal land forms are tidal range, wave energy, and sediment supply from rivers and older, pre-existing coastal sand bodies. Relative changes in local sea level also profoundly affect coastal barrier diversity.