The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today announced $19 million in competitive funding for 40 states and territorial fish and wildlife agencies under the Landowner Incentive Program (LIP). The program supports collaborative efforts with private landowners interested in conserving natural habitat for species at risk, including federally listed endangered or threatened species and proposed or candidate species, on private land while these individuals continue to engage in traditional land-use practices.
In the Service’s Midwest Region, six states will share in more than $4 million in Landowner Incentive Program funds.
Funded through competitive grants with money from the Soil and Water Conservation Fund, LIP establishes or supplements existing landowner incentive programs that provide technical or financial assistance to private landowners. All grants need to be matched by at least 25 percent from a non-federal source.
Landowners interested in participating in the LIP should contact their State fish and wildlife agency. For more information about the grant programs, please visit the Service’s Website at:
You may also contact: Landowner Incentive Program, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Division of Federal Assistance, 4401 N. Fairfax Drive, MS-FA4020, Arlington, VA 22203. Phone: (703) 358-2156.
The Catalogue for Federal Domestic Assistance number is 15.633.
Midwestern states with LIP funding are:
IOWA $655,000
ILLINOIS $705,000
MICHIGAN $655,000
MINNESOTA $905,000
MISSOURI $420,900
WISCONSIN $704,643
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 95-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, 63 Fish and Wildlife Management offices and 81 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 Assistance program, which distributes hundreds of millions of dollars in excise taxes on fishing and hunting equipment to state fish and wildlife agencies.
