Habitat restoration

Partners for Fish and Wildlife

The Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program restores, enhances, and protects important fish and wildlife habitats on private lands through partnerships. We work with private landowners and other partners to restore and manage wetland, forest and upland habitats to benefit migratory birds and fish, pollinators, and federally listed species. The voluntary cost-share program offers a chance to regain some of Vermont's most important natural resources and builds on the strength and interest of committed individuals and organizations to accomplish shared conservation goals. Private landowners provide long-term stewardship of the land and are a key component in all successful restoration projects.

The Vermont Partners Program at the Lake Champlain Fish and Wildlife Conservation Office in Essex Junction helps:

  • Restore the habitats of federal trust species on private lands, including tribal, county and municipal lands
  • Restore wetlands, riparian riparian
    Definition of riparian habitat or riparian areas.

    Learn more about riparian
    , in-stream and native upland habitats
  • Remove barriers to fish passage fish passage
    Fish passage is the ability of fish or other aquatic species to move freely throughout their life to find food, reproduce, and complete their natural migration cycles. Millions of barriers to fish passage across the country are fragmenting habitat and leading to species declines. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's National Fish Passage Program is working to reconnect watersheds to benefit both wildlife and people.

    Learn more about fish passage
  • Leverage funds and resources through efficient state, federal and private partnerships

Partners Program biologists work with local landowners and other conservation partners to provide technical assistance on a broad array of restoration activities. And they help identify, assess, plan, and implement numerous restoration practices such as planting native trees and shrubs, wetland restoration, invasive species invasive species
An invasive species is any plant or animal that has spread or been introduced into a new area where they are, or could, cause harm to the environment, economy, or human, animal, or plant health. Their unwelcome presence can destroy ecosystems and cost millions of dollars.

Learn more about invasive species
control, dam removal, and culvert replacements.

For more information contact Chris Smith or visit the North Atlantic Conservation Planning Atlas.

Aquatic Connectivity

Americans derive significant economic, recreational, ecological and health benefits from robust aquatic habitats, including recreational fishing opportunities, favorable water quality and healthy wildlife communities. Improving fish passage, habitat connectivity and habitat stability is a priority for the Lake Champlain FWCO. Over the last 200 years, transportation and milling/manufacturing infrastructure has fragmented watersheds in Vermont and in the Adirondack Region of New York. Dams and undersized road crossings have segmented habitat on every major river system. These barriers impede fish passage to historic spawning waters, coldwater refuge streams and feeding grounds.

Additionally, channelization and channel modifications have changed instream habitats, causing a large number of rivers to be no longer suitable for many native fish and other aquatic organisms. Since Tropical Storm Irene devastated much of the Champlain Valley with record flooding, there has been an urgent need for instream habitat restoration on several streams. In the wake of the road rebuilding, most waterways were left widened, flat and devoid of any fish habitat or riparian (riverbank) buffers.

The Lake Champlain FWCO works to improve and maintain those benefits for Americans by conserving the quantity and quality of habitat for fish and by restoring access to those habitats. We administer habitat improvement and fish passage grants through the National Fish Passage Program and National Fish Habitat Partnership. The National Fish Passage Program provides funds to landowners, agencies and organizations to remove barriers to fish passage and allow fish movement within river systems, wetlands and coastal areas. Additionally, funds are provided for projects that will reduce impacts of flooding by correcting improperly designed road crossings, and ineffective culverts or other storm water abatement and control structures. Fish Habitat Partnerships also offer landowners, governments, and organizations help in restoring land for fish and wildlife. They help leverage resources and maximize conservation for fish and aquatic ecosystems.

We focus on restoring connectivity among those waters essential to landlocked Atlantic salmon and Eastern brook trout; however, all fish and aquatic organisms benefit from our work. We work with partners to remove dams, install fish passage structures where dams can't be removed, replace undersized culverts and bridges with structures that will allow fish to move up and downstream. These new structures are also designed to be resilient to future floods. We also restore and stabilize in-stream habitat to insure those important areas remain viable for fish, despite fluctuations in climate, such as flooding and high temperatures.

For more information contact Julie Butler or David Minkoff visit Northeast Fish and Aquatic Conservation.

VIDEO - Mill Pond Dam Removal

Aquatic Connectivity Fact Sheet

Riparian Restoration

Stable riverbanks with strong native plant communities, called riparian buffers, are part of a healthy ecosystem and are vital to many fish and wildlife species. Riparian buffers provide important nesting and foraging sites for a host of migratory bird species and contribute to healthy fish habitat through shade and cool water temperatures, biotic inputs, and woody debris. Riparian buffers also reduce sediment and nutrient inputs into our rivers and lakes by filtering and absorbing runoff from residential areas and farms. Priority species such as the wood turtle, monarch butterfly, landlocked Atlantic salmon, and brook trout benefit from riparian habitat restoration projects in Vermont.

The Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program provides financial and technical assistance to design and implement riparian habitat restoration projects in Vermont. USFWS staff work with local partners to conduct site assessments and design restoration plans. Restoration plans are designed to benefit fish and wildlife species and are based on the historic natural community associated with the site’s soils with an emphasis on early successional species that will set the stage for a successful transition to a mature riparian community. On average, the Vermont Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program plants 15,000 native trees and shrubs each year.

All of our projects occur on private land in partnership with willing landowners. Many projects occur on agricultural land in conjunction with USDA Farm Bill programs such as the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP). Our local partners for these projects include the Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS), the Farm Service Agency (FSA) and the Vermont Agency of Agriculture Food and Markets (VTAAFM). Outside of the agricultural landscape, we work with many conservation districts, watershed groups, and other non-profit organizations to identify and implement riparian restoration projects.

For more information contact Katie Kain.

VIDEO - All in for Salmon Habitat

Riparian Restoration Fact Sheet

Wetland Restoration

Wetlands are extraordinary, diverse places that provide critical habitat for countless birds, mammals, fish, plants, and invertebrates.  From nesting habitat for wood ducks to spawning grounds for northern pike, wetlands are vitally important to many fish and wildlife species. In addition to wildlife habitat, wetlands provide numerous benefits such as storing and slowly releasing floodwater to lessen floods, removing sediment and pollutants from our lakes and rivers, recharging aquifers, and providing tremendous recreation opportunities among other values.

While these important places account for only about five percent of the state of Vermont, their importance is tremendous. Unfortunately over 35 percent of the wetlands in the state have been lost or degraded by efforts to ditch, drain or fill them in. Because of the many functions and values they provide and the extent of degraded wetlands, the Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program works with landowners and other agencies such as the Natural Resources Conservation Service to restore these vital habitats throughout the state.

For more information contact Ryan Crehan.

VIDEO - Restoring Vermont's Wetlands

Wetland Restoration Fact Sheet

Young Forest Management

Throughout the northeast forested habitats are maturing. Many migratory bird species and rare/declining species are dependent on the early successional stages of the northern forest to complete their life history. Through the development of forest management plans and the careful selection of appropriate sites, early successional management can provide critical habitat while increasing forest diversity. Early successional management utilizes a variety of mechanical and manual vegetative manipulation to set back forest succession. The Vermont Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program works with local partners such as Audubon Vermont to complete young forest management in high priority habitat areas.

For more information contact Katie Kain.

Schoolyard Habitat

Purpose

Does your school have an underutilized area that you would like to see restored for wildlife habitat and a place for students to learn about the natural world?  Would you like to create an outdoor classroom on your school grounds or a trail or boardwalk to explore a nearby wetland, forest or pond?  Would you like to engage your students in a hands-on project?

We can help!  The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service can assist you in designing and implementing a schoolyard habitat/outdoor classroom with your school and may be able to provide funding to make the project happen.

Mission

The mission of the Schoolyard Habitat Program is to get students outside to experience nature. To accomplish this, biologists help schools create natural spaces on school grounds where students can observe, draw, write, think and question. Schoolyard Habitat projects provide habitat for local and migratory wildlife, including songbirds, small mammals, reptiles, amphibians, and insects. In many cases, these habitats also provide a vegetative buffer to nearby streams, lakes and wetlands, reducing pollution reaching these waterways.

Activities

Our office has partnered with several Vermont schools to implement Schoolyard Habitat Projects; these included restoring wetland habitat, building nature trails, creating a native shrub nursery, installing wood duck boxes, removing invasive plants, planting wetland and riparian trees and shrubs, and hands-on ecology lessons. With long-term care from students and teachers, these projects provide students with a powerful example of land conservation and stewardship.

For more Information contact Katie Kain or visit the Schoolyard Habitat Program and Project Guide.

Facilities

We work with others in Vermont and New York to protect and restore fish and wildlife, and their habitats throughout the Lake Champlain, Connecticut River, and Hudson River watersheds.

News

Mouth open on goldish silvery fish in murky water
Recovering populations of Clear Lake hitch isn’t just a goal for the Robinson Rancheria Pomo Indians of California; it’s critical to their culture and way of life.
Laysan albatross flying above Kahuku Golf Course
The golf industry is getting greener and improving its environmental game with bird-friendly best practices.  A growing number of clubs have converted out of play rough into protected areas where little to no maintenance occurs and wildlife are free to live undisturbed. Others are taking on new...
A grass-like pool surrounded by rock.
Habitat enhancement? Playing God? Johnny Appleseed-ing? Guerilla botany? No matter what it's called, the rare plants atop a stone mountain need all the help they can get.
Crane removing dam with danger sign in the foreground
More than half a million dams block our nation’s rivers, and many are nearly invisible. Underneath their murky waters, they halt the free flow and exchange of fish, nutrients and sediments, and they pose a deadly risk to recreationists and families across the country. We at the U.S. Fish and...
A new culvert extends beneath a road in Wasila, AK, to improve fish passage for salmon.
Known as a “coho factory,” thousands of juvenile fish call these Wasilla waters home. But one question is still puzzling regional engineers and biologists: Where are all the adults?
small tortoise bends head down to eat green plant on ground
Multiple government agencies and conservation organizations are partnering to raise awareness and promote recovery of one of the desert’s most iconic species, the Mojave desert tortoise. This year’s “week” has expanded, with events for the whole family kicking off Sept. 30 and continuing until Nov...
Representatives from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, members of the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe, and other partners pose for the Numana Dam groundbreaking.
On September 13, the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service broke ground to commence construction on a fish passage project at Numana Dam in northern Nevada. Bureau of Indian Affairs, Bureau of Reclamation, Nevada Department of Wildlife and other partners joined the Service...
A closeup portrait of a female eastern indigo snake shows the iridescent black scales with a coral hue tinting her jaw and nose.
This large, docile nonvenomous snake nearly disappeared along with the sprawling longleaf forests of the Southeast. After falling under the protection of the Endangered Species Act in 1978 a multitude of agencies have labored to reestablish this iconic species.
2023 Earth Day collage of animals and Service's logo in the bottom right corner.
Since 1970, Earth Day has served to raise environmental awareness and involve citizens and communities in creating a cleaner, healthier world. Cahaba River National Wildlife Refuge in Alabama, we worked with partners to restore the natural habitat around a river once mined by coal companies.
Tulip farm in bloom with clouds and sunset in the distance.
People power the conservation work we do here in the Columbia Pacific Northwest Region. Today we are featuring the profile of Jarod Jebousek and the work he does to support the mission of the US Fish and Wildlife Service.
small pool of water with green brush on either side
On Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, there’s a promontory of land that overlooks the expanse of the base, including the Santa Margarita River flowing next to the flightline. In October, a group of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service employees joined their Marine Corps counterparts on the promontory to...
Large fish laying in an antler in water on top of a bed of colorful stones
When you look at a bull trout, you might just see a fish, but there is a bigger story at play. Its evolution, lifecycle, and relationship with the changing world underscore a much richer meaning of what this curious fish represents.
A crocodile suns on a log.
The armored and menacing-looking American crocodile, who lives in south Florida, can’t escape the ravages of a warming world. The federally threatened species suffers from rising temperatures and rising seas. Yet the reptile survives. For now.
landscape of green wetlands with houses on hills in background
San Diego County has more than 70 miles of coastline, home to hundreds of thousands of people as well as many wildlife species. The highly urban area is also congested, and conservation planning can be complicated.
hill covered entirely with green and brown plants
Just shy of 14 acres, Pepper Hill Farm is one of the oldest working farms in northern San Diego County. Read uses half of it to raise horses and boysenberries, while the other half remains native, home to quail, hawks, roadrunners, and the occasional rattlesnake, among other wildlife.
An uniformed adult stands in front of one end of a long drain pipe in a grassy prairie
After celebrating an enormously successful 100 years of conservation in 2020, the Fergus Falls Fish and Game Club is poised to embark on its next 100-year legacy. The club recently directed a sizeable donation to the Fergus Falls Wetland Management District as an anchor point for leveraging...
Aerial view of water and land split up
A multitude of benefits and a model for the future. That’s the result of the recently completed White Slough Tidal Wetlands Restoration Project.

Contact

Smith, Chris
Kain, Katie

Programs

Partners for Fish and Wildlife: Nevada Coordinator Susan Abele Meets with Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe Member to Conduct a Site Visit at Pyramid Lake Indian Reservation
The Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program provides free technical and financial assistance to landowners, managers, tribes, corporations, schools and nonprofits interested in improving wildlife habitat on their land. Since 1987, we have helped more than 30,000 landowners to complete more than 50,...
Juvenile Northern Pike in aquarium at Gavins Point National Fish Hatchery, South Dakota
The Fish and Aquatic Conservation program leads aquatic conservation efforts for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. We are committed to tackling the nation’s highest priority aquatic conservation and recreational challenges to conserve, restore, and enhance fisheries for future generations.