The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service signed a formal agreement with the Sand County Foundation December 16 designed to foster collaboration with private landowners on habitat improvement projects that benefit fish and wildlife, Director Steve Williams announced.
The Sand County Foundation is a non-profit conservation organization which encourages and assists private landowners in improving habitat conditions on their land. The Foundation has pledged $100,000 annually, through its Leopold Stewardship Fund, as a cost-share for on-the-ground projects done in cooperation with the Services Partners for Fish and Wildlife and Coastal Programs.
"This Memorandum of Agreement launches an important new opportunity for the Service and its private landowner partners to benefit wildlife species around the nation," said Williams.
"The Sand County Foundation has long recognized the importance of involving private landowners in the stewardship of at-risk wildlife species. Landowners and other citizens throughout the country are willing and eager to bear their share of responsibility for wildlife conservation. Programs such as the Leopold Stewardship Fund and those of the Fish and Wildlife Service can provide the technical and financial assistance needed to stimulate that involvement and lessen the risk of species listing," said Brent Haglund, the foundation president.
The FWS Partners and Coastal programs are voluntary, non-regulatory programs which provide assistance to communities and landowners for habitat restoration and protection. Sand County Foundations Leopold Stewardship Fund is used to support landowner enhancement of habitat for wildlife species that could be listed if conservation is not improved. The Service and the Foundation will develop criteria for providing shared funding for on-the-ground projects with landowners.
"We see these kinds of partnerships among government, dedicated conservation organizations, and private landowners as the way of the future for shared stewardship of our valuable wildlife resources," said Williams.
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45. 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 100-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 resource 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.
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