Through the National Fish Habitat Partnership (NFHP) (www.fishhabitat.org), the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and partners are providing more than $39.2 million to support 95 fish habitat conservation projects in 24 states. The USFWS is providing $5.8 million this year, with non-governmental organizations, state resource agencies, and other partners contributing an additional $33.3 million. This represents a 5.7:1 leveraged funding match for NFHP funding.
These projects empower and boost locally led conservation efforts that restore and reconnect habitats to create more robust fish populations, better fishing, and healthier waterways. Twenty individual Fish Habitat Partnerships across the nation make up our national efforts and work with a variety of partners, including private landowners, farmers and ranchers, Tribes, non-profit organizations, state, federal and local government agencies, and many others to achieve fish habitat conservation goals that protect, restore and enhance habitat conditions locally for fish.
In 2023, project types include removing 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 , reducing erosion from farm and ranchlands, restoring stream banks, combatting the impacts of drought, and conducting monitoring and assessments to identify conservation needs for fish and their habitats. Anticipated benefits include more robust fish populations, better fishing, and healthier waterways. This year’s projects meet local priorities that span from restoring urban streams to reconnecting tidal wetlands and are in areas ranging from Hawaii to Vermont. Projects target and address limiting factors to improve habitat, water quality, and benefit our nation’s fisheries resources. This funding will also support the coordination of the individual Fish Habitat Partnerships and the operations of the National Fish Habitat Board to help establish national priorities and under NFHP.
“Conservation is a team sport, and no program embodies that quite as well as National Fish Habitat Partnership and our network of partnerships across the country,” said Robert Boyles, Director of the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources and Chairman of the National Fish Habitat Board. “Our nation’s rivers and waterbodies connect us, and NFHP projects take actions to directly improve aquatic resources and fish populations for all. The implementation of these projects announced today is critical in meeting our objectives to protect, restore and enhance fish habitat.”
NFHP uses a nationally focused aquatic conservation strategy to maximize the reach of limited fish habitat conservation dollars. Under NFHP, federal, state, tribal, and privately raised funds are leveraged through regional Fish Habitat Partnerships to address the nation’s biggest fish habitat challenges. The USFWS is a key partner in implementing the partnership, providing leadership and technical expertise on the local, regional, and national levels, as well as financial assistance directly to partners for on-the-ground conservation projects. Since 2006, the USFWS has provided over $56.5 million to conservation projects which leveraged at a 4:1 ratio to provide over $292.7 million in funding support for fish habitat conservation projects that improve angling and recreational opportunities across the nation. NFHP assembles the collective expertise of federal, state, and non-governmental organizations to identify and prioritize conservation work to achieve significant benefits for fish and other aquatic resources for the American people.
About the National Fish Habitat Partnership:
Since 2006, NFHP has supported 1,378 projects benefiting fish habitat in all 50 states. This effort works to conserve fish habitat nationwide, leveraging federal, state, tribal, and private funding resources to achieve the greatest effect on fish populations through priority conservation projects of 20 regionally-based Fish Habitat Partnerships. In 2020, NFHP was recognized by Congress as part of the America’s Conservation Enhancement (ACE) Act. NFHP guidance and policies are developed in conjunction with our partnerships and National Fish Habitat Board. For more information, visit: https://fishhabitat.org/ or contact Ryan Roberts, rroberts@fishwildlife.org or Shannon_Boyle@fws.gov.
2023 National Fish Habitat Partnership List
Project Name | Fish Habitat Partnership | NFHP Project Funds | Total Leveraged Contributions | USFWS Region | State |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ACFHP Operational Support | Atlantic Coastal FHP | $85,000 | $146,707 | 4, 5 | Multiple |
Paulina Dam (NJ 21‐2) Removal on the Paulins Kill, NJ | Atlantic Coastal FHP | $50,000 | $275,000 | 5 | NJ |
Salt Marsh Restoration and Donor Marsh at Wards Creek, North River Wetlands Reserve, Carteret County, NC | Atlantic Coastal FHP | $159,658 | $189,117 | 4 | NC |
Engineering, Design and Permitting for the Removal of the Lower E.R. Collins Dam (NJ Dam #24‐28) on the Pequest River | Atlantic Coastal FHP | $57,398 | $525,000 | 5 | NJ |
CFPF Coordination Operational Support | California Fish Passage Forum | $85,000 | $85,000 | 8 | CA |
Little Case Fish Passage Project | California Fish Passage Forum | $26,000 | $614,000 | 8 | CA |
Mid‐Klamath Tributary Fish Passage Improvement Project | California Fish Passage Forum | $45,188 | $45,746 | 8 | CA |
Native Fish Passage in San Joaquin River at Eastside Bypass Control Structure** | California Fish Passage Forum | $51,890 | $6,273,000 | 8 | CA |
North Fork Ryan Creek Fish Passage Design | California Fish Passage Forum | $60,500 | $5,525 | 8 | CA |
Designing for Sturgeon Passage in San Joaquin Eastside Bypass** | California Fish Passage Forum | $49,387 | $6,276,000 | 8 | CA |
Driftless Area Restoration Effort national fish habitat partnership, Cordination, and Operational Support | Driftless Area Restoration Effort | $85,000 | $85,000 | 3 | Multiple |
Bruce Valley Creek DARE Habitat Improvement Project‐WI | Driftless Area Restoration Effort | $25,000 | $34,000 | 3 | WI |
Promoting the Restoration of DARE Streams as an Alternative to Facility Upgrades for Municipalities | Driftless Area Restoration Effort | $40,000 | $40,000 | 3 | WI |
Casey Springs DARE Brook Trout Habitat Project‐IA | Driftless Area Restoration Effort | $36,000 | $37,276 | 3 | IA |
Evaluating the Distribution and Drivers of Sculpin and Brook Trout Populations in NE Iowa; Advancing DARE in the Volga River Watershed | Driftless Area Restoration Effort | $36,000 | $52,000 | 3 | IA |
Crowdsourcing DARE Water Quality Monitoring APP | Driftless Area Restoration Effort | $15,000 | $15,000 | 3 | WI, IA, MN, I |
Traverse Valley Creek DARE Habitat Improvement Project‐ WI | Driftless Area Restoration Effort | $25,000 | $36,500 | 3 | WI |
Partnership Operational Support | Desert FHP | $85,000 | $75,000 | 1, 2, 6, 8 | Multiple |
White River Conservation and Restoration | Desert FHP | $54,843 | $104,279 | 6 | UT |
Cottonwood Creek Fish Habitat Restoration | Desert FHP | $94,802 | $320,236 | 1 | OR |
EBTJV Operations | Eastern Brook Trout Joint Venture | $85,000 | $44,048 | 5 | WV |
Quinapoxet Dam Removal, Worchester, MA | Eastern Brook Trout Joint Venture | $50,000 | $1,350,000 | 5 | MA |
Evaluation and Mitigation Steps for Threats to the Moshannon Creek Watershed Upstream of Roup Run | Eastern Brook Trout Joint Venture | $43,500 | $47,266 | 5 | PA |
Cady Brook Culvert Replacement, Cady Brook, Hartland, Vermont | Eastern Brook Trout Joint Venture | $41,560 | $66,000 | 5 | VT |
Lower Wells Brook Stream Restoration: Post‐Construction Evaluation and Maintenance Dover Plains, NY | Eastern Brook Trout Joint Venture | $14,977 | $83,636 | 5 | NY |
Operations/Base Funding: Coordination, Communications Science Team | Fishers and Farmers Partnership | $85,000 | $61,643 | 3 | IA |
Huzzah/Shoal Creeks Woodlands for Wildlife, MO | Fishers and Farmers Partnership | $75,000 | $249,500 | 3 | MO |
Habitat Restoration Landowner Education Outreach on the Vermillion River, MN | Fishers and Farmers Partnership | $29,571 | $69,561 | 3 | MN |
Devils Creek Watershed Rusk County, WI | Fishers and Farmers Partnership | $32,688 | $53,675 | 3 | WI |
Leveraging State Water Quality Initiative Funds to Increase Boone River Watershed Oxbow Restorations for Topeka Shiner and Water Quality, IA | Fishers and Farmers Partnership | $31,102 | $41,963 | 3 | IA |
Jumpstarting Conservation Drainage in Illinois for Improved Water Quality, IL | Fishers and Farmers Partnership | $82,395 | $92,710 | 3 | IL |
Bighorn River Side Channel Reactivation | Great Plains FHP | $78,500 | $78,500 | 6 | MT |
Silver Lake Outlet Modification | Great Plains FHP | $55,500 | $230,000 | 3 | MN |
Upper Yellowstone Project Prioritization Plan | Great Plains FHP | $62,000 | $62,000 | 6 | MT |
Operational Support ‐ Hawaii FHP | Hawaii Fish Habitat Parntership | $85,000 | $25,000 | 1 | HI |
Estuarine Habitat Restoration at Kīholo Fishpond | Hawaii Fish Habitat Parntership | $87,440 | $87,440 | 1 | HI |
Alakoko/Hūleʻia Aquatic Habitat Restoration | Hawaii Fish Habitat Parntership | $62,205 | $62,205 | 1 | HI |
KPHFP Coordination and Operational Support | Kenai Peninsula FHP | $85,000 | $85,000 | 7 | AK |
Stream Watch: Deepening Impact of Volunteer Fish Habitat Stewardship | Kenai Peninsula FHP | $24,266 | $24,267 | 7 | AK |
Quartz Creek Watershed Instream Flow Reservations and AWC Nominations | Kenai Peninsula FHP | $41,413 | $41,413 | 7 | AK |
Freshwater Invasive Species Mitigation and Control on the Kenai Peninsula | Kenai Peninsula FHP | $43,655 | $43,682 | 7 | AK |
Creating Kenai Watershed Stewards Through Adopt‐A‐Stream Program | Kenai Peninsula FHP | $26,683 | $26,786 | 7 | AK |
Designing of nature‐based stormwater management solutions for urban areas along the Kenai River | Kenai Peninsula FHP | $13,628 | $25,000 | 7 | AK |
Mat‐Su Salmon Partnership Outreach and Coordination | Mat‐Su Salmon Habitat Partnership | $85,000 | $123,931 | 7 | AK |
Anadromous Waters and Elodea Surveys in the Remote Western Matanuska‐Susitna Borough: Phase 2 | Mat‐Su Salmon Habitat Partnership | $53,112 | $41,222 | 7 | AK |
Monitoring Juvenile Salmon and Stream Temperatures in the Little Susitna Watershed | Mat‐Su Salmon Habitat Partnership | $66,454 | $20,134 | 7 | AK |
Removing Salmon Barriers Through the Mat‐Su Fish Passage Program | Mat‐Su Salmon Habitat Partnership | $30,079 | $150,000 | 7 | AK |
Midwest Glacial Lakes Partnership Operations | Midwest Glacial Lakes Partnership | $60,271 | $74,650 | 3 | MI |
Phase 4: Data and Approaches to Support Conservation Efforts of the Midwest Glacial Lakes Partnership | Midwest Glacial Lakes Partnership | $133,425 | $87,975 | 3 | MI |
Fostering Stewardship on Michigan’s Glacial Lakes | Midwest Glacial Lakes Partnership | $68,910 | $69,410 | 3 | MI |
Linking Forests Water Fisheries in the Midwest Glacial Lakes Region: Building a Shared Conservation Funding Vision | Midwest Glacial Lakes Partnership | $30,000 | $30,000 | 3 | MN |
Nutrient and sediment loadings in Clear Lake of Steuben County, Indiana: Water quality improvement and sustainable fish habitat | Midwest Glacial Lakes Partnership | $59,450 | $44,555 | 3 | IN |
ORBFHP Operational Support | Ohio River Basin FHP | $85,000 | $ ‐ | 3, 4, 5 | Multiple |
Callen Run Dam Removal | Ohio River Basin FHP | $86,000 | $105,320 | 5 | PA |
Eelgrass (Vallisneria Americana) restoration in the Eel River of northern Indiana | Ohio River Basin FHP | $30,000 | $58,400 | 3 | IN |
PLCI Coordination Operational Support | Pacific Lamprey Conservation Initiative | $85,000 | $191,000 | 1,7,8 | Multiple |
Distribution and Life History of Larval and Spawning‐Stage Pacific Lamprey in the Susitna River Drainage (AK) | Pacific Lamprey Conservation Initiative | $25,000 | $25,000 | 7 | AK |
Scott Valley, Klamath Basin, Lamprey Passage, Habitat Evaluation and Public Outreach | Pacific Lamprey Conservation Initiative | $21,631 | $21,750 | 8 | CA |
West Fork Smith River Coon Creek Lamprey Passage and Channel Improvement | Pacific Lamprey Conservation Initiative | $50,000 | $284,381 | 1 | OR |
Integrating Lamprey into Restoration Projects & Lamprey ID Workshop Series in Washington & Alaska | Pacific Lamprey Conservation Initiative | $85,000 | $159,200 | 1 & 7 | WA & AK |
San Luis Obispo Pacific Lamprey Monitoring & Outreach | Pacific Lamprey Conservation Initiative | $20,160 | $6,550 | 8 | CA |
Salmon River Lamprey Distribution and Habitat Assessment | Pacific Lamprey Conservation Initiative | $45,848 | $45,010 | 8 | CA |
eDNA lamprey bile acids monitoring to assess impacts of adult translocation in Upper Columbia Basin above Wells Dam | Pacific Lamprey Conservation Initiative | $27,885 | $49,183 | 1 | WA |
PMEP Operations | Pacific Marine and Estuarine FHP | $85,000 | $14,500 | 1, 8 | OR |
Flower Pot Creek Fish Passage and Tidal Reconnection Project | Pacific Marine and Estuarine FHP | $74,500 | $958,775 | 1 | OR |
Smith River Estuary Backwater Habitat Enhancement Project (Tedsen Backwater) | Pacific Marine and Estuarine FHP | $49,169 | $461,155 | 8 | CA |
Clayton Beach Nearshore Restoration Project | Pacific Marine and Estuarine FHP | $70,000 | $70,000 | 1 | WA |
Blowers Ranch Morton Creek Restoration | Pacific Marine and Estuarine FHP | $69,246 | $547,058 | 1 | OR |
Reservoir Fisheries Habitat Partnership Coordination and Operational Support | Reservoir FHP | $85,000 | $32,789 | 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8 | Multiple |
Pymatuning Shoreline Stabilization and Fish Habitat | Reservoir FHP | $75,000 | $163,174 | 5 | PA |
Lake Shelbyville Fish Habitat Development and Restoration Project | Reservoir FHP | $30,000 | $74,315 | 3 | IL |
Rend Lake Fish Habitat Development and Shoreline Protection / Restoration Project | Reservoir FHP | $40,000 | $740,288 | 3 | IL |
Three‐Mile Lake Restoration Project | Reservoir FHP | $40,000 | $3,250,723 | 3 | IA |
Farms and Fish: utilizing water‐saving technology to improve sport fish habitat, water quality, climate adaptation, and economic opportunity for Island Park Reservoir and the Henry’s Fork of the Snake River, Idaho | Reservoir FHP | $50,000 | $106,195 | 1 | ID |
McFarland Lake Restoration | Reservoir FHP | $32,056 | $700,270 | 3 | IA |
SARP Operations | SE Aquatic Resources Partnership | $85,000 | $78,000 | 2,3,4,5 | Multiple |
Restoring Oyster and Salt Marsh Fish Habitat with Living Shorelines at the N.C. Aquarium | SE Aquatic Resources Partnership | $43,560 | $46,758 | 4 | NC |
SEAKFHP Coordination and Operations | Southeast Alaska FHP | $85,000 | $85,000 | 7 | AK |
TWC Ecosystem‐Based Conservation Plan for the Greater Chilkat Watershed: $70K requested | Southeast Alaska FHP | $70,000 | $137,560 | 7 | AK |
ADFG Instream Flow Protection in Southeast Alaska | Southeast Alaska FHP | $72,712 | $72,712 | 7 | AK |
SAWC Fish Habitat and Restoration Assessments: Filling Gaps in Southeast Alaska | Southeast Alaska FHP | $50,000 | $50,000 | 7 | AK |
TU AK Fish Habitat Mapping and Community Science Project | Southeast Alaska FHP | $50,300 | $51,483 | 7 | AK |
Metlakatla Indian Community Fish Passage Improvements | Southeast Alaska FHP | $95,975 | $3,000 | 7 | AK |
Engaging Tribal & Community Partners for Salmon Habitat Hand Tool Restoration: Margaret Creek Watershed, Tongass NF | Southeast Alaska FHP | $70,023 | $ ‐ | 7 | AK |
Partnership Coordination | Southwest Alaska Salmon Habitat Partnership | $85,000 | $255,000 | 7 | AK |
Instream Flow Protection for Aniak River | Southwest Alaska Salmon Habitat Partnership | $66,572 | $128,794 | 7 | AK |
Western Native Trout Initiative FY23 Operational Support | Western Native Trout Initiative | $85,000 | $211,820 | 1,2,6,7,8 | Multiple |
Reconnecting Canyon Creek | Western Native Trout Initiative | $50,000 | $3,221,302 | 1 | ID |
River Bend Ranch Restoration and Passage Project Phase 2 | Western Native Trout Initiative | $40,000 | $158,575 | 6 | WY |
Restoring the Northern Extent of Coastal Cutthroat Habitat in the Copper River Watershed, AK | Western Native Trout Initiative | $46,750 | $808,439 | 7 | AK |
South Flat Creek Channel Restoration Phase 2 | Western Native Trout Initiative | $50,000 | $515,000 | 6 | WY |
Implementing Actions to Recover Native Lahontan Cutthroat Trout in the Upper Walker Basin | Western Native Trout Initiative | $55,666 | $99,393 | 8 | CA |
Clear Fork of Muddy Creek Cutthroat Restoration Barrier Project | Western Native Trout Initiative | $24,640 | $93,000 | 6 | CO |
Great Lakes Basin Operational Support | Great Lakes Basin FHP | $85,000 | $85,000 | 3 | Multiple |
NFHP Board and Science and Data Committee support | NFHP Board | $363,424 | $363,424 | HQ | Nationally |
Funding totals | $5,825,567 | $33,356,854 |
