8 



million which the House Appropriations Committee has approved 

 to date. 



I want to mention one other area the Foundation has been very 

 active in and that is serving as a repository for dedicated conserva- 

 tion accounts. We are currently administering 21 special accounts 

 at the request of the Fish and Wildlife Service to handle restitu- 

 tion, mitigation and restoration projects. These range from the Col- 

 orado River endangered species to routine migratory bird viola- 

 tions. 



Last year, the Foundation was also named as recipient of dona- 

 tions for the new Partners for Wildlife Act, and we are being con- 

 sidered as the repository of the Central Valley Project Restoration 

 Fund. 



One important program that does not involve grant making of 

 the Foundation is our fish and wildlife assessments. These are 

 books that we publish annually where we document line by line 

 the needs of the major natural resource agencies. We provide these 

 books to your Committee, to the Appropriations Committee, and 

 provide analysis of the on-the-ground needs of these agencies. 



A major focus of our current efforts has been the National 

 Marine Fisheries Service. 



Another function of these assessments is to turn our successful 

 grant prototypes into on-line agency programs. We use them to 

 highlight programs such as Gap Analysis, the North American Wa- 

 terfowl Management Plan, the Upper Management Development 

 Plan, Services Partners for Wildlife Program and recommend them 

 to Congress for broader implementation. 



I am extremely grateful for this Committee for drafting the bill 

 to reauthorize the Foundation. We support the proposed reauthor- 

 ization ceiling of $25 million. That is our current level. It is also 

 the reasonable limit of what we can expect to handle assuming 

 that we are going to match that sum two or three times. 



We also strongly support the inclusion of NOAA as a specific 

 agency for cooperative projects. We are currently engaged with the 

 NMFS and NOAA programs and anticipate these two agencies 

 being recipients of a number of Foundation grants in coming years. 



Another change is to expand our board. We feel this is essential. 

 We now have a budget of $20 million and with next year's proposed 

 increase that will rise significantly. We need additional board 

 members to help raise the funds to carry on the operations of the 

 Foundation, and we support the increased slot — additional slot for 

 an educated and experienced member of the board. 



I have three final points. 



First, I hope the Committee understands the importance of 

 having a nonpartisan board. Throughout our existence, the Foun- 

 dation has tried to maintain a position of being honest brokers, 

 consensus builders and nonpartisan in our representations to Con- 

 gress and all our partners. 



Secondly, the Foundation was originally blessed with the ap- 

 pointment of a State fish and game director. We felt that that ap- 

 pointment was invaluable, and we welcome future appointments of 

 fish and game directors within the complement of our board of di- 

 rectors. 



