Each year the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service builds partnerships and provides funding support for a wide range of projects through this Program. Under the established guidelines, the Alaska Region of the Service provides up to 50 percent of the cost for qualifying projects and the partners/cooperators provide no less than 50 percent. Partners may provide their share of the cost in the form of cash, materials, equipment, land, water or other qualifying in-kind services, and the list of partners always includes state, local and private entities.
"In the past five years alone, the Challenge Cost Share Program has leveraged over 2.1 million dollars of Service funds into 177 projects worth more than1 million dollars," said David Allen, Alaska Regional Director of the Fish and Wildlife Service. "Many of the partnerships weve made over the years have continued. For example, since 1997 more than three dozen science camps have been held all around Alaska, and hundreds of students from Bush communities have had the chance to work side by side for a summer with scientists."
This years projects include a camp for native children of the Aleutian Chain, an outreach opportunity for on-site resource interpretation, a study of the ecological diversity of arctic coastlines, almost a dozen different youth science camps, numerous Alaska wildlife monitoring programs, and a trail improvement project on the Kenai Peninsula. Partners include 30 Alaska Native traditional, cultural, village, and corporate organizations, the Boy Scouts of America, city and town governments, seven businesses including three airline companies and ARCO Alaska, Inc., 33 education entities such as the University of Alaska - Fairbanks and numerous school districts, the Alaska Natural History Association, the Alaska Marine Highway, more than a dozen state, federal and foreign agencies, and several conservation organizations.
For individuals or groups interested in learning more about the Challenge Cost Share Program, contact Dr. William (Bill) Kirk with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service at (907)786-3391, or send an e-mail to the address: bill_kirk@fws.gov">
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 93-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge System comprised of more than 500 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small wetlands, and other special management areas. It also operates 66 national fish hatcheries, 64 fish and wildlife management offices, and 78 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 governments with their conservation efforts. It also oversees the Federal Aid program that distributes hundreds of millions of dollars in excise taxes on fishing and hunting equipment to state fish and wildlife agencies.
LinksStory Leads: Highlights of the Challenge Cost Share Program for 2000
