How to Become a Partner

Prospective partners include private landowners, Indian Tribes, counties, and other non-Federal landowners. If you are interested, the process for developing your project is explained below.

Project Development

An interested landowner is encouraged to contact a Partners for Fish and Wildlife biologist to discuss his/her ideas for a project.

Your project needs to meet the following conditions in order to qualify for assistance from the Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program:

• Your project must restore or enhance habitat.
• Your project must benefit U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service trust species, such as migratory birds, or threatened and endangered species.
• Your project must be located on nonfederal land.
• Your project should reestablish natural communities with little maintenance.
• There should be a reasonable expectation of success in achieving project objectives.
• Partners for Fish and Wildlife projects are not eligible to be used as compensatory mitigation for purposes of meeting state and federal regulatory program requirements

After discussing the project and determining the habitat improvements that can be made on the property that would benefit wildlife, the landowner determines the amount of cost-sharing he/she would be able to provide. Contributions (i.e., labor for constructing project or monitoring the project) by the landowner are encouraged and taken into consideration when the Service selects projects for funding. Cost-sharing can be in several forms, such as direct funding of labor for project planning, implementation, or monitoring. Labor from volunteers such as the Boy Scouts to help plant vegetation or other project related activities can also be used.

The landowner fills out a project application form. The application includes a general description of the project, the habitat and species it will benefit, the proposed project location, and anticipated costs. The application can be submitted to the Arizona Partners Program at any time. Projects are selected for funding two times per year (fall and winter) by the Arizona Partners State Committee.

All proposed projects are evaluated by the Service using comments from the State Committee. The Committee is comprised of representatives from State and Federal agencies, National Wildlife Refuge managers, and non-governmental conservation organizations (such as The Nature Conservancy).

Proposed projects are ranked using the following criteria.

Project Criteria

The criteria used to evaluate and rank proposed projects are as follows.

Benefits Federal trust species with emphasis on species-at-risk.**

Benefits a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service National Wildlife Refuge.**

Fosters partnerships & good working relationships.

Overall fish and wildlife value of the project.

High likelihood of project success.

Habitat is being protected, restored, or created.

Prevention of habitat fragmentation.

Reasonable cost/acre and length of Partners agreement.

Enrolls additional acres in Partners Program.

Promotes education and outreach of Arizona’s natural resources.

** = Criteria that are emphasized.

Click here for printable version of project criteria.

Projects that receive the highest ranking for funding are those that provide direct benefits to threatened and endangered species or provide benefits to a National Wildlife Refuge. A Private Land Agreement is developed between the Service and the landowner in which the landowner agrees to maintain the restored or improved site for at least a minimum of 10 years.