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NFWF Testimony - Page 4 



benefit of the Committee. 



California Gnatcatcher: Coastal sage scrub occurs along a 150 mile stretch of coastline between 

 Los Angeles and San Diego. The California gnatcatcher and 39 other species of plants and 

 animals dependent on the coastal sage community are being considered for listing as habitat loss 

 and fragmentation caused by intensive housing development has radically altered this ecosystem. 

 The Foundation has been actively supporting measures to protect this v^uable habitat in an 

 economically feasible manner through work with the California Resources Agency and other 

 partners. Tlie program entails voluntary collaborative processes designed to protect critical habitat 

 m such a way ^at developers, conservation organizations, agencies, and residents are satisfied 

 with the result. 



Gap Analysis: In 1988, the Foundation funded development of the first state-wide gap-analysis 

 program (GAP) in the United States. Using GIS mapping techniques, the natural resources of the 

 State of Idaho were mapped with land ownerships and other socio-biological aspects to give land 

 managers a tool for the proactive management of natural resources. GAP provides the opportunity 

 to maintain biodiversity on a landscape level within the context of patterns of public and private 

 land ownership. The Foundation has also underwritten development of GAP in California and 

 provided a grant to initiate GAP in Montana. In southern California, GAP is providing critical 

 information for land planning on a county by county level. Currently, gap analysis is completed 

 or underway in 29 states under the leadership of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. This 

 program provides the basic building blocks for Secretary Babbitt's National Biological Survey. 



Rocky Mountain Arsenal: The Foundation, in cooperation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife 

 Service, U.S. Army, and Shell Oil Company, has sponsored educational outreach efforts for the 

 Rocky Mountain Arsenal. At one time, the Arsenal was known as "the most polluted place in 

 America," but thanks to the collaborative efforts of organizations and agencies interested in 

 conservation we now see a significant island of high prairie habitat on 3ie edge of one of the 

 country's largest metropolitan areas. The Foundation views the Arsenal as a premier National 

 Wildlife Refuge and a model program for replication in other urban areas and will continue to 

 provide support for education and the development of a long-range master plan. 



Private Lands Initiative: The Foundation's emphasis on positively effecting habitat under private 

 ownership has drawn us into a major partnership with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department 

 (TPWD). Ninety-eight percent of Texas is privately owned. A TPWD led coalition of 

 conservation agencies and organizations has undert<dcen a program to develop and implement 

 sixteen projects that include landowner conservation seminars, ecosystem management guides, 

 training workshops, and numerous on-the-ground demonstration projects. The three pronged 

 initiative of communications, training, and demonstration projects will expand private landowner 

 participation in the program to 74,000 individuals (from 30,000) with a potential impact on 30 

 million acres state-wide. This program is being used as a model for private lands programs 

 starting up in New York, Oklahoma, and Pennsylvania. 



Leadership Training: Some of the Foundation's earliest activities focused on improving the skills 

 of our nation's federal fish and wildlife conservation managers. A Foundation grant initiated the 

 Fish and Wildlife Service's Upper Level Management Leadership Training program, and for 

 several years, Foundation staff oversaw and taught the courses. This training program did not 

 attempt to teach biology or other natural sciences; instead it focused on communication, confiict 

 resolution, public policy formation, public relations, marketing, and a host of skills not normally 



