Congress authorized the grant program to support the North American Waterfowl Management Plan and other multinational efforts to restore wetlands and waterfowl populations continent-wide. The grant program stimulates partnerships by providing matching funds to acquire, restore and enhance wetlands and associated habitats across North America. To date, more than $320 million in grants have been awarded to more than 900 partners for 731 projects in Canada, Mexico, and the United States. Partners in these wetlands conservation projects contributed $817 million - much more than the one-to-one match required by law. As a result of these cooperative projects, millions of acres have been acquired, restored, and enhanced in the United States, Canada and Mexico and additional acres have been affected in Mexico through conservation education, studies on the sustainable use of wetlands resources and development of management plans. The funding cap for a Standard Grant is $1 million.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service administers the grant program; however, projects are selected by the North American Wetlands Conservation Council. The Council is made up of nine members: the Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; the Executive Secretary of the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation; four directors of state fish and wildlife agencies, one from each migratory bird flyway; and three individuals, each representing a different nonprofit organization actively carrying out wetlands conservation projects. In reviewing grant applications, the North American Wetlands Conservation Council considers:
-The extent to which the project fulfills the purposes of the North American Wetlands Conservation Act, the North American Waterfowl Management Plan, or the Tripartite Agreement on wetlands between Canada, U.S. and Mexico,
-The availability of sufficient non-Federal moneys to carry out the project and to match Federal contributions,
-The extent of the public-private partnership developed,
-The consistency with the National Wetlands Priority Conservation Plan developed under the Emergency Wetlands Resources Act of 1986,
-The extent to which the project supports conservation of migratory nongame birds and endangered species,
-The overall value of the projects design, and
-The recommendations of other partnerships carrying out projects under the Act, Plan, or Agreement.
Final funding approval is given by the Migratory Bird Conservation Commission. Members of the Commission are the Secretary of the Interior, who serves as chairman; two members of the U.S. Senate; two members of the U.S. House of Representatives; the Secretary of Agriculture; and the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.
In addition to grant instructions, the program
