17 



Mr. Dennis. Thank you. 



I am not going to comment on the National Parks Foundation 

 other than to say there is a major difference in that the Fish and 

 WildUfe Foundation does receive Federal financing. But it goes a 

 lot further than that. 



First of all, the Foundation has received very strong support 

 from the Committee over the years which has been essential to its 

 success. 



Secondly, I personally have been very impressed with the way 

 the Fish and Wildlife Foundation works with its host agency, with 

 the Fish and Wildlife Service. The needs assessment they do with 

 the Fish and Wildlife Service, rather than something that could be 

 perceived as threatening, is probably one of the more useful tools 

 the Fish and Wildlife Service has. It shows what works well, helps 

 them identify new programs and expands the ability of the Fish 

 and Wildlife Service to get the job done through the programs and 

 projects funded through the Fish and Wildlife Foundation. 



Also, the Foundation is very careful to try to supplement other 

 conservation efforts in many instances, and we have been the bene- 

 ficiary of that, as has the Fish and Wildlife Service and all the 

 others. 



Once again, back to the leverage factor, the fact that the Founda- 

 tion encourages leverage instead of going out and matching one to 

 one as required by law — they don't require it, but something is 

 working right when they get people to match on a two-to-one basis. 



Finally, I think the human resource at the Fish and Wildlife 

 Service is outstanding. As Gary said, these are people you can deal 

 with straight up. They are nonpartisan. They want to get the job 

 done. 



Mr. HocHBRUECKNER. Thank you, Mr. Dennis. 



Mr. Sutherland. 



Mr. Sutherland. I will start where Mike stopped. 



One of the things that we have experienced in our work with the 

 Foundation is they are aggressive, they are proactive, they come to 

 you with ideas, and, perhaps most importantly, they are willing to 

 work out the wrinkles. 



If we bring a project to them or they bring one to us that is a 

 possible partnership, their folks are willing to negotiate with you 

 about ways it can be improved for their purposes, for our purposes, 

 et cetera, and that is a very important, necessary element of part- 

 nership. 



Briefly, also, I will say I don't know about the National Parks 

 Foundation, but one of the things involved in this subject area, 

 wildlife, is that there is a great history in this country of wildlife 

 users being contributors to the resources, whether they are con- 

 sumptive users or nonconsumptive wildlife users, buying duck 

 stamps, waterfowl stamps, and in several other ways not required 

 of users of wildlife. For example, where they have over the last 90 

 years contributed millions and millions and millions of dollars to 

 the National Wildlife Refuge Foundation system and other conser- 

 vation efforts in the country. 



Within Ducks Unlimited over the past 55 years we have raised 

 three-quarters of a billion dollars. That is money they didn't have 

 to donate, but that gives us money to match with the Fish and 



