Through the National Fish Habitat Partnership program, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and partners are providing more than $18 million to support 83 fish habitat conservation projects in 34 states. The USFWS is providing $4 million this year, with nongovernmental organizations, state resource agencies, and other partners contributing an additional $14 million, more than a 3-to-1 match.

The USFWS and state fish and wildlife biologists will work with contractors and other personnel on funded projects in priority areas to restore stream banks, remove man-made barriers to fish passage, reduce erosion from farm and ranchlands, and conduct studies and assessments to identify conservation needs for waterways, fish and their habitats. Anticipated benefits include more robust fish populations, improved angling opportunities, and healthier waterways. The National Fish Habitat Partnership program is a national investment strategy to maximize the impact of limited fish habitat conservation dollars on the ground. Under the program, federal, state, tribal and privately raised funds are leveraged through regional Fish Habitat Partnerships to address the nation’s biggest fish habitat challenges. The Service 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.

The partnership brings the collective expertise of federal, state and non-governmental organizations to identify and prioritize conservation work to get the greatest benefit for fish and other aquatic resources and ultimately for the American people. “We depend on the efforts of these 20 unique partnerships to help us improve fish habitat. By working together, we can maximize our conservation achievements,” said Margaret Everson, Principal Deputy Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. “These projects represent some of the best collaborative initiatives in conservation today,” said Ed Schriever, director of the Idaho Department of Fish and Game and chair of the National Fish Habitat Board. “The leveraging of resources through our partnerships is remarkable, and it proves we can collectively achieve more to benefit fish habitat.”

View the full list of projects on the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service website.

About the National Fish Habitat Partnership:
Since 2006, the National Fish Habitat Partnership has supported 935 projects benefiting fish habitat in all 50 states. The partnership works to conserve fish habitat nationwide; leveraging federal, state, tribal, and private funding resources to achieve the greatest impact on fish populations through priority conservation projects of 20 regionally-based Fish Habitat Partnerships. The Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies has supported the National Fish Habitat Partnership since its inception in 2006. For more information, visit:

http://fishhabitat.org/
http://www.facebook.com/NFHAP
https://twitter.com/FishHabitat