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Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program

Program Coordinator: Heather Rawlings ( Heather_Rawlings@fws.gov )

Of Interest: National Partners for Fish and Wildlife Web Site

Swallowtail butterfly Wood ducks on a restored wetland in Antrim County, Michigan. Brook trout captured in Emmet County, Michigan. Rare massasauga rattlesnake in Alcona County, Michigan.

The Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program (Partners) is a voluntary habitat restoration program that provides restoration expertise and financial assistance to private landowners, Tribes, and other conservation partners that willingly restore fish and wildlife habitat on their property. The Partners Program differs from other Federal programs in that it focuses on restoring habitat for migratory birds such as shorebirds, songbirds, waterfowl; anadramous (migratory) fish such as salmon, and declining plant and animal communities such as native prairie and stream habitats. All private landowners and Tribes are eligible for the program. Program participation is voluntary and project implementation is based on fish and wildlife benefits. Since the Partners program was initiated in Michigan in 1988, over 1,500 projects have been completed.

Alpena National Fish and Wildlife Conservation Office (NFWCO) became involved with the Partners Program in 1998 and has partnered on projects in five counties in northern Michigan through 2000. In 2001, the program was expanded to 22 counties covering the tip of the lower peninsula of Michigan. From 2001 to 2007, the office has coordinated $800,000 in habitat restoration projects restoring 770 acres of wetlands, 64 acres of native grasslands, 146 in-stream river-miles, and opening 120 river-miles to fish passage.

Partners Projects

View representative projects completed by the Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program

Program Objectives

1. To implement and promote habitat conservation on private lands for the direct benefit of Federal trust species.
   

2. To provide leadership and develop partnerships necessary to accomplish habitat conservation.
   

3. To educate the general public on the importance of habitat conservation and encourage their participation in these efforts.

A "Federal trust species" is generally a native species that utilizes habitat across international borders or are endangered, threatened or candidate species. The Great Lakes basin provides critical breeding, feeding, and resting areas as well as migration corridors for waterfowl, colonial nesting birds, non-game birds, and many other species of migratory birds. Thirty-one species of migratory non-game birds of management concern to the Service are found in the Great Lakes ecosystem. Native mussels are being seriously impacted by zebra mussels and are in danger of extinction from the Great Lakes basin. Fish species of special interest include lake trout, lake sturgeon, lake whitefish, walleye, yellow perch, brook trout, muskellunge, Pacific salmon and landlocked Atlantic salmon.

A recent survey of biological diversity in the Great Lakes basin identified 130 globally rare or endangered plant and animal species or ecological communities. The bald eagle, peregrine falcon, Kirtland’s warbler, piping plover, Mitchell’s satyr blue butterfly, Indiana butterfly, gray wolf, Eastern prairie fringed orchid, dwarf lake iris, lake sturgeon, deepwater sculpin and pugnose shiner are a few of the many threatened, endangered, and candidate species which inhabit the Great Lakes ecosystem.

Common Questions About the Partners Program

Answers for common questions about the Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program

Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program Fact Sheets

Updated! Partners Program Fact Sheet (pdf 200 Kb)
New! Partners Program Accomplishments (pdf 52 Kb)
New! Michigan Partners Program Coordinators (pdf 64 Kb)
New! Crapo Creek Restoration Fact Sheet (pdf 202 Kb)
New! Black River Restoration Fact Sheet (pdf 261 Kb)
New! Manistee River Restoration Fact Sheet (pdf 84 Kb)

Michigan Coordinators

1. Heather Rawlings Alpena National Fish and Wildlife Conservation Office Federal Building, 145 Water St., Alpena, MI 49707 2. Michelle Vander Haar (989) 777-5930 x12 Shiawassee National Wildlife Refuge 6975 Mower Rd., Saginaw, MI 48601 3. Gib King (517) 351-2241 Michigan Private Lands Office 2651 Coolidge Rd., Suite 101, E. Lansing, MI 48823 4. Tom Eitniear (517) 351-6283 Ecological Services, East Lansing Field Office 2651 Coolidge Rd., Suite 101, E. Lansing, MI 48823 5. Jim Hazelman (517) 351-6235 Assistant State Coordinator 2651 Coolidge Rd., Suite 101, E. Lansing, MI 48823 Jim Hudgins (517) 351-4230 State Coordinator, Michigan Private Lands Office 2651 Coolidge Rd., Suite 101, E. Lansing, MI 48823