Loss and alteration of aquatic habitats are principal factors in the decline of native fish and other aquatic resources, and the loss of biodiversity. According to the Fish & Wildlife Service's strategic vision, seventy percent of the Nation’s rivers have altered flows, and 50 percent of waterways fail to meet minimum biological criteria. The Service has also documented that by 1990, approximately 53 percent of the Nation’s 221 million acres of wetlands had disappeared.

Goal: Americas streams, lakes, estuaries, and wetlands are functional ecosystems that support self-sustaining communities and fish and wildlife.

Waterfowl Habitat Restoration in Wisconsin’s Lake Superior Basin
By Ted Koehler

18 Mile Creek Culvert Replacement Video (7:13 seconds ~ 23 mb)

Fish Passage Activities by the Ashland NFWCO

Planning, Design and Construction of Fish Friendly Stream Crossings

Program Contacts

Fish & Wildlife Management Assistance Offices

The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service's Coastal Program - Great Lakes is developing innovative partnerships with local and statewide land trusts and other conservation partners to identify and protect some of the most valuable fish and wildlife habitat and species in the Great Lakes basin.  The program features non-regulatory, partnership-based efforts to achieve its mission. 

The Coastal Programs Mission is to conserve healthy coastal ecosystems for the benefit of fish, wildlife and people. It accomplishes this through cooperative partnerships that identify, restore and protect habitat in priority coastal areas. It works with a variety of partners, including other Federal and State agencies, local and tribal governments, businesses, conservation organizations and private landowners.

The Coastal Program is working to avoid further species declines by enhancing coastal areas and securing funding for conservation, including habitat restoration efforts.

The Ashland NFWCO assists Native American tribal governments in wildlife and habitat management in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan. We also assist landowners in restoring wetlands and other habitats in eight northern Wisconsin counties under the Service's Partners for Fish & Wildlife (PFW) program.  The goal of the PFW program is to increase fish and wildlife on private lands through habitat restoration.

Under this program the Ashland NFWCO provides technical and cost-share funding assistance to private landowners in the planning, design, and construction phases of stream, riparian forest, wetland, ephemeral wetland restoration and other wildlife habitat activities.

Restoring Fish and Wildlife Habitat (A Poster Presentation)

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The Ashland NFWCO welcomes questions or comments about fish and wildlife resources or about the programs of the Fish and Wildlife Service. Members of the staff are available for presentations to schools, civic groups, and others interested in fish and wildlife resources.

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