ContactsJoshua Winchell,
202/208-5634
Interior Secretary
Gale A. Norton today announced the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will distribute
more than $523 million in excise taxes paid by America's recreational shooters,
hunters, anglers and boaters, to state fish and wildlife agencies to support
fish and wildlife conservation and education programs.
With this
distribution, the nation’s preeminent wildlife management funding mechanisms
will mark a major milestone.
“ Both
the Dingell-Johnson Sport Fish and Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration
accounts have passed the $5 billion mark,” said Norton. “That
means that since establishment of these crucial programs in 1950 and 1937
respectively, anglers and hunters have paid more than $10 billion for fish
and wildlife management. By supporting these excise taxes, sportsmen and
women are contributing critical funds for maintaining and restoring our fish
and wildlife resources.”
Eight Midwestern
states will receive a total of more than $57.5 million in Sport Fish Restoration
funds, and more than $47 million in Wildlife Restoration funds.
State agencies
use the money to support conservation programs such as fish and wildlife
monitoring, habitat improvement, acquisition of land for habitat conservation
and species protection, research, education, and other programs. The funds
also help pay for hunter safety, aquatic education, and fish and wildlife-related
recreation projects. The funds are apportioned by formula under the two Federal
Assistance programs.
The Wildlife
Restoration apportionment for 2006 totals more than $233 million, with nearly
$42 million going for hunter education and shooting range programs. The apportionment
for Sport Fish Restoration for 2006 totals more than $290 million.
Apportionments
in the Fish and Wildlife Service’s Midwest Region are as follows:
Wildlife
Restoration:
Illinois:
$5,802,025
Indiana: $3,876,243
Iowa: $4,190,996
Michigan:
$9,583,810
Minnesota:
$10,892,793
Missouri:
$6,906,341
Ohio: $6,502,757
Wisconsin:
$9,776,002
Sport
Fish Restoration:
Illinois:
$5,018,151
Indiana: $3,946,507
Iowa: $4,120,414
Michigan:
$8,158,817
Minnesota:
$7,032,747
Missouri:
$6,123,566
Ohio: $5,362,406
Wisconsin:
$7,302,015
Wildlife Restoration
funds are made available to states based on land area (land plus inland waters,
such as lakes and large rivers) and the number of hunting license holders
in each state. Distribution of hunter education funds is based on the relative
population of each state.
The Service distributes Sport Fish Restoration funds to the states based on
the land and water area (land plus inland water, plus the Great Lakes and marine
coastal areas) and the number of fishing license holders in each state.
Wildlife Restoration
is guided by the Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration Act of 1937 and is
funded by the collection of excise taxes and import duties on firearms, ammunition,
and archery equipment. States use these funds to manage wildlife populations,
conduct habitat research, surveys and inventories, and to administer hunter
education programs.
Sport Fish
Restoration is guided by the Dingell-Johnson Sport Fish Restoration Act of
1950 and is funded by the collection of excise taxes and import duties on
sport fishing equipment and tackle, motorboat and small engine fuels and
pleasure boats. States use Sport Fish Restoration program funds to stock
fish; acquire and improve sport fish habitat; provide aquatic resource education
opportunities; conduct fisheries research; and construct boat ramps, fishing
piers, and other facilities necessary to provide recreational boating access.
Federal Assistance
funds pay for up to 75 percent of the cost of each project while the states
contribute at least 25 percent.
Visit the
Service's Division of Federal Assistance web site at <http://federalaid.fws.gov> for
state-by-state funding allocations.
The U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service is the principal Federal agency responsible for conserving,
protecting and enhancing fish, wildlife and plants and their habitats for
the continuing benefit of the American people. The Service manages the 95-million-acre
National Wildlife Refuge System, which encompasses 545 national wildlife
refuges, thousands of small wetlands and other special management areas.
It also operates 69 national fish hatcheries, 64 fishery resources offices
and 81 ecological services field stations. The agency enforces federal wildlife
laws, administers the Endangered Species Act, manages migratory bird populations,
restores nationally significant fisheries, conserves and restores wildlife
habitat such as wetlands, and helps foreign and Native American tribal governments
with their conservation efforts. It also oversees the Federal Assistance
program, which distributes hundreds of millions of dollars in excise taxes
on fishing and hunting equipment to state fish and wildlife agencies.
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