43 



Testimony of Amos S. Eno 



Executive Director 



National Fish and Wildlife Foundation 



before the 



Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries 



The Honorable Gerry Studds, Chairman 



July 13, 1993 



My name is Amos S. Eno, and I am the Executive Director of the National Fish and Wildlife 

 Foundation. I appreciate the opportunity to testify today on the accomplishments, needs and goals 

 of the Foundation. 



I am particularly pleased to come before the Merchant Marine and Fisheries Committee as it was 

 the foresight of this Committee in 1984 that led to our creation, and it is with the continued 

 support of this Committee that the Foundation has achieved the success it has to date. 



The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation is a private, 501(c)(3) non-profit coiporation created 

 by an act of Congress (P.L. 98-224). Our mission is to forge partnerships that achieve the 

 conservation of fish, wildlife and plant resources for present and future generations. We forge 

 these partnerships between our host agency, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, a plethora of 

 other federal agencies ~ ranging from NOAA and USDA to the Department of Defense ~ state 

 agencies and the private sector, including conservation groups, universities, and very inclusively 

 corporate America. 



Two elements in our organizational charter set the Foundation apart from other conservation 

 organizations. First, the Foundation is mandated to work on behalf of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife 

 Service and other federal natural resource agencies to forge creative partnerships with the state 

 and private sectors. Second, the Foundation is authorized to receive federal matching funds 

 provided by Congress to act as seed money to attract additional investments from the non-federal 

 sectors, lliese two requirements, embodied in our original legislation, have been the key 

 ingredients to the Foundation's success. 



The Foundation uses federal matching funds appropriated by Congress to leverage private and 

 state contributions for conservation enterprises. Our Congressional charter requires that these 

 federally funded challenge grants be matched at least one-to-one by non-federal contributions. In 

 practice, the Foundation has aggressively applied this requirement achieving better than a two-to- 

 one ratio over the past seven years. 



In FY 1993 alone, the Foundation will obligate more than $19 million for 191 conservation 

 projects, committing more than $6.2 million in federal matching funds that will be leveraged 

 by $13.1 million raised in cooperation with 126 conservation partners. Every federal dollar 

 appropriated will be matched directly with an average of $2.10 in non-federal dollars for a 

 total of $3.10 committed to conservation projects. 



Since our inception, the Foundation has funded 785 projects, converting more than $28 million in 

 federal funds into more than $90.4 million for on-the-ground conservation, a ratio of $2.09 of 

 non-federal money for every $1 of federal money appropriated to the Foundation. These projects 

 have been conducted with 7 federal agencies, 61 state and provincial agencies, 36 colleges and 

 universities, and 207 different private conservation organizations ranging from The Nature 

 Conservancy and Ducks Unlimited, Inc. to the Manomet Bird Observatory and Oregon Trout. 

 For the Committee's benefit, I have attached detailed information on our grant program. 



