Just Announced... Plenary Session Speakers at AFWA's Annual Meeting

100th Annual Meeting Plenary Session
Milestones in American Conservation—Learning from the Past, Envisioning our Future

SPEAKERS:
Tom Strickland, Assistant Secretary of Interior for Fish & Wildlife and Parks
Douglas Brinkley, Acclaimed Author & Historian

In honor of the 100th meeting of the Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies, join us for a special Plenary Session on Monday, September 27 from 8:00 am to 10:00 am in Grand Rapids, MI that will challenge you to consider whether the future of American conservation and its challenges are not so different from the past.

Tom Strickland, Assistant Secretary of Interior for Fish & Wildlife and Parks and Chief of Staff to Secretary of the Interior, Ken Salazar, will discuss the accomplishments of the U.S. Department of the Interior during this current Administration and share the federal vision for natural resource management and the importance of North America’s fish and wildlife agencies to its success.

Acclaimed historian Dr. Douglas Brinkley, author of The Wilderness Warrior: Theodore Roosevelt and the Crusade for America and professor of history at Rice University, will offer his insights about the “naturalist president” and how Roosevelt’s achievements can inspire the legacy we promote as today’s caretakers of America’s fish and wildlife and their habitats.

Following the Plenary, Mr. Brinkley will sign copies of his book.

AFWA Welcomes Matt Menashes as Director of Operations

The Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies is pleased to welcome Matt Menashes as the new Director of Operations. Matt brings 10 years of association management and a background in coastal and marine policy to the position. Matt will focus on the Association’s internal business operations and fisheries and aquatic resources issues, and will staff the Fisheries and Water Resources Policy and Ocean Resources Policy committees.

Prior to coming to the Association, Matt was the Executive Director of the National Estuarine Research Reserve Association (NERRA) for two years. NERRA represents the state agencies and universities that operate the nation’s 27 estuarine research reserves in partnership with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

“A good part of my career has been working with state agencies to support their resource and program needs,” said Matt. “One of my proudest career accomplishments was collaborating with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game to establish the Kachemak Bay research reserve in the late 1990s. And for the past two years, I was honored to represent the state agencies that operate the research reserves in their dealings here in Washington, DC. I am looking forward to continuing to support the states while assisting Ron (Regan) and the rest of the AFWA staff in day-to-day operations"

From 2000 through 2008, Matt was President/CEO of the Paddlesports Industry Association, a trade association representing the manufacturers, retailers and outfitters of canoes, kayaks and rafts. His sdditional experience includes nearly seven years with NOAA and two years on Capitol Hill. He has served on the boards of the American Canoe Association, Paddler Magazine and the International Whitewater Hall of Fame.

Matt holds a bachelor’s degree in political science and a master’s degree in marine policy from the University of Delaware.

You can contact Matt at 202/624-3602; mattm@fishwildlife.org

Teaming With Wildlife Week Celebrates the 10-year Anniversary of the State Wildlife Grants Program

Through September 11, Teaming With Wildlife Week will celebrate the 10-year anniversary of the State Wildlife Grant program, which funds state-based conservation efforts to prevent wildlife from becoming endangered.

The State Wildlife Grants (SWG) Program provides federal grant dollars to every U.S. state and territory to support the development and implementation of their unique State Wildlife Action Plans. Wildlife Action Plans assess the health of each state’s wildlife and habitats; identify the problems they face; and outline the actions needed to conserve them over the long term.
For more than a decade, the SWG Program has served as a stable federal funding source for state fish and wildlife agencies in excess of $600 million. This stability has been critical to the recovery and conservation of many species in greatest need of conservation.

“The SWG program is part of the Department of the Interior’s ongoing commitment to the essential conservation efforts of states,” said Secretary of the Interior, Ken Salazar. “In our challenging economic climate, the program ensures that states will have the necessary resources to help conserve their highest priority wildlife, plants, and habitats – an investment that will pay dividends for years to come.”

“The SWG Program was created to meet a long-standing need for funding the conservation of fish and wildlife species that are typically neither hunted nor fished,” said Ron Regan, Executive Director at the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies. “The program has been an important source of funds to help keep America’s common species common and to conserve wildlife before they become too rare and costly to protect them.”

States and their partners have used funding from the SWG Program to combat invasive species, protect natural areas, restore habitat, conduct research and implement monitoring programs that will provide better data on imperiled species and their habitats. Priority for use of grant funds is placed on those species and habitats with the greatest conservation need.

Teaming With Wildlife Week is sponsored by the national, bipartisan Teaming With Wildlife coalition, composed of 6,300+ conservation organizations and nature-based businesses including state fish and wildlife agencies, wildlife biologists, hunters and anglers, birdwatchers, hikers and other conservationists. The Teaming With Wildlife coalition is working to prevent wildlife from becoming endangered by supporting increased funding for wildlife conservation, education and nature-based recreation.

Across the country, state fish and wildlife agencies are hosting Teaming With Wildlife Week events. For more information, visit http://www.teaming.com/.

To learn more about funding allocations through the State Wildlife Grants Program for state, commonwealth, territories, and the District of Columbia visit the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Program Web site at http://wsfrprograms.fws.gov/.

AFWA’s President John Frampton Appointed to New Wildlife and Hunting Heritage Council

John Frampton, the President of the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies and Director of the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, was appointed to the new Wildlife and Hunting Heritage Conservation Council (WHHCC) today by Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack. The announcement was made at a joint federal agency press conference to name the 18 Council members who will serve two-year terms on the official advisory group which was chartered to provide advice to the government on wildlife conservation and hunting issues and on carrying forward the nation’s hunting tradition.

“It is an honor to be appointed to the Wildlife and Hunting Heritage Council and represent state fish and wildlife agencies to advance one of our most important agency functions—hunting and shooting sports,” said Frampton. “More effective cooperation between the states, federal agencies, Native American Tribes and our wildlife conservation and archery, shooting and hunting sports industry colleagues is the key to success to ensure Americans have enhanced opportunities to enjoy the benefits of our great outdoors.”

The Executive Director of the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, Ron Regan, will serve as an ex officio member of the Council. The WHHCC will meet twice yearly.

Barham Testifies on Impacts of Gulf Oil Spill on Fish, Wildlife and Habitats

Robert Barham, Secretary of the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries delivered testimony today before the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Insular Affairs, Oceans and Wildlife regarding the impacts of the Gulf oil spill on fish, wildlife and their habitats.

“The economy and culture of coastal Louisiana is a unique blend of many things similar to the unique blends prepared by our great chef’s in New Orleans when they prepare that succulent dish of gumbo,” said Barham. “In the case of coastal Louisiana our coastal ecology and fishing is and always has been the main ingredient. At this point the main ingredient is threatened and the future is anything but certain.”

Secretary Barham’s full testimony can be viewed at http://resourcescommittee.house.gov/images/Documents/testimony_barham.pdf

Association Testifies on Sikes Act Amendment

The Association testified on May 25 in support of an amendment to the Sikes Act, which would clarify its application to Army National Guard (ANG) bases. Where title to the land is held by the state and not the federal government, these ANG bases—if they have significant natural resources subject to the requirements of an Integrated Natural Resource Management Plan jointly concluded by the DoD installation, the state fish and wildlife agency, and the USFWS—would be eligible for funding under the Sikes Act.

State fish and wildlife agencies have long enjoyed a good relationship with military installations, and the Sikes Act Improvement Act of 1997 directed the preparation, development and implementation of INRMPs, and with respect to the fish and wildlife conservation provisions, requires that they be mutually agreed to by the DoD installation, state fish and wildlife agency and USFWS.

“We can all be proud of the conservation benefits achieved from this often unknown and unheralded success story of public lands management on approximately 30 million acres,” observed Gary Taylor, AFWA's Legislative Director, in the Association's testimony. “Our successes have certainly substantiated that not only is achievement of the military preparedness mission and sound stewardship of the land and its fish and wildlife resources not mutually exclusive, they are indeed mutually necessary and beneficial.”

Six State Fish and Wildlife Agencies to Receive Nearly $5 Million in State Wildlife Grants

Approximately $5 million will be distributed to state wildlife agencies in Arkansas, Iowa, Maine, Michigan, Nebraska and Washington through the State Wildlife Grants Competitive Program to support cost-effective conservation aimed at preventing wildlife from becoming endangered, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced yesterday.

The State Wildlife Grants Competitive Program provides federal dollars to support the development and implementation of each state’s unique State Wildlife Action Plan, which assesses the health of wildlife and habitats, identifies the problems they face and outlines the actions needed to conserve and recover imperiled fish and wildlife species over the long term.

“Across the country, conserving high quality habitat, restoring degraded lands and waters and removing invasive species are among the top priorities for conservation,” said Ron Regan, Executive Director of the Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies. “Though the challenges to keeping wildlife from becoming endangered are greater than ever before, State Wildlife Action Plans present a national action agenda for the conservation of wildlife species that have not benefited from conservation attention due to lack of funding.”

Priority for State Wildlife Competitive Grant funding is placed on multistate, cooperative conservation projects focused on species and habitats with the greatest conservation need. States and their partners will match the federal funding by more than $2 million in non-federal funds.

“We can wait for wildlife to decline and react to problems with expensive, last-ditch efforts or we can take proactive, cost-effective steps to prevent wildlife from becoming endangered before it is too late,” said Mark Humpert, Teaming With Wildlife Director at the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies. The 6,300-member Teaming With Wildlife coalition, made up of organizations and businesses, strongly supports increased State Wildlife Grant funding for wildlife conservation, education and nature-based recreation. “The State Wildlife Grants Program helps states turn the trend around and reduce the need for listing many species and costly recovery efforts,” added Humpert.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has awarded State Wildlife Competitive Grants to the following projects:

Arkansas Game and Fish Commission: Coordinated Multi-State Response to a Deadly, Emerging Threat – White-Nose Syndrome in Bats—to support a multi-regional coordinated response to white-nose syndrome (WNS), an emerging threat to cave-dwelling bats. State partners include Alabama, Delaware, Florida, Michigan, North Carolina, Tennessee, West Virginia and Wisconsin as well as Bat Conservation International (Austin, TX). Federal funds awarded: $998,834; non-federal match: $450,797

Iowa Department of Natural Resources: The Use of Fire and Grazing to Improve Grassland Habitats for Species of Greatest Conservation Need (SGCN)—to support the development of an effective management framework for increasing the diversity of grasslands in working landscapes, thereby increasing the capacity of these areas to support viable populations of SGCN. Project activities will take place on both public and private lands. Iowa DNR will partner with the Missouri Department of Conservation as well as personnel from Illinois and Oklahoma to accomplish project goals. Federal funds awarded: $732,904; non-federal match: $317,113

Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife: The Conservation of Marsh Tidal Birds: Guiding Action at the Intersection of Our Changing Landscape—to provide information for the New England and Mid-Atlantic coast states to protect regionally important habitats for tidal marsh birds (including 26 species of greatest conservation need) and to provide a regionally consistent platform for tidal marsh monitoring in anticipation of sea-level rise and upland/watershed development. Primary state partners include Connecticut, Delaware and Maryland with work also occurring in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island and Virginia. Federal funds awarded: $760,202; non-federal match: $412,159

Michigan Department of Natural Resources: Oak Savanna, Pine Barrens and Jack Pine Restoration in Michigan and Ohio for Species of Greatest Conservation Need—to restore and enhance 600 acres of oak savanna in Michigan and Ohio for the recovery and benefit of the Karner blue butterfly and restore 400 acres of pine barrens and jack pine forest in Michigan for the recovery and benefit of Kirtland’s warbler. The project also will potentially benefit 188 species of greatest conservation need. Forty-five percent (or 450 acres) of the project lands fall under private ownership. Federal funds awarded: $852,484; non-federal match: $383,000

Nebraska Game and Parks Commission: Nebraska Natural Legacy Project: Phase III—to implement conservation partnerships and actions on private and public lands in Nebraska and South Dakota to enhance and improve native prairies, wetlands and woodlands for the benefit of SGCN in both states. This project will benefit Bell’s vireo, greater prairie chicken, ottoe skipper, swift fox and the Northern red belly dace. Federal funds awarded: $1,000,000; non-federal match: $333,333

Washington Department of Game and Fish: State Wildlife Grants Effectiveness Monitoring—to implement the third phase of development of a spatially enabled decision support system, which allows states to share common data with their conservation partners and strategically prioritize actions across multiple states. The system will facilitate strategic implementation of State Wildlife Grant program funds across multiple states including Washington, Idaho, Montana and Oregon. Federal funds awarded: $514,059; non-federal match: $171,353

Congress created the State Wildlife Grants Program in FY2002, funded from the Land and Water Conservation Fund. Funds appropriated under the program are allocated to each state and other eligible jurisdictions according to a formula based on land area and population. Since the program’s inception, Congress has distributed more than $500 million for conservation work on state and private lands.

To view the State Wildlife Grant allocations for each state, go to http://wsfrprograms.fws.gov/Subpages/GrantPrograms/SWG/SWG09Apportionment.pdf.

For more information about State Wildlife Action Plans and to read an accomplishments report, visit www.wildlifeactionplans.org.