67 



Value of Projects by Initiative, 19861992 



achieving broad, beneficial changes in 

 our nation's environmental policies and 

 attitudes- But it has failed to achieve 

 long-term conservation goals. Today, 

 duck populations are still at their lowest 

 levels in history, and we continue to 

 lose almost 500,000 acres of wetlands 

 each year. Both the nation's irjand and 

 marine native fisheries are near total 

 collapse, with more tlian 200 species 

 listed as endangered, threatened, or 

 over-exploited. The federal endangered 

 species list, which currently includes 

 1,278 different plants and animals, is 

 growing at a rate of more than 100 

 species a year. Neotropical migratory 

 birds — the songbirds that hail our 

 springs and surruners — are declining en 

 masse. In the eastern U.S. and prairie 

 states, for example, more than 70 

 percent of the migratory songbird 

 species being monitored (such as 

 orioles, bobolinks, and cerulean war- 

 blers) are dwindling at rates of 3 to 5 

 percent a year. 



These crises exist in part because 

 environmental reformers have sought 

 worthy goals using limited means. Most 

 have built their crusades on the twin 

 pillars of aggressive advocacy (lobbying) 

 and litigation, which often causes 

 polarization — namely the alienation of 

 corporate America and of citizens who 

 could be adversely affected by the 

 implementation of a reformer's policies. 



What tcK) often has been missing in 

 the environmental movement, what is 

 often still missing, is a proactive invest- 

 ment strategy that involves all necessary 

 partners: federal and state agencies, 

 corporations, conservation organizations, 

 and — of greatest importance — tfie "local 

 parmers " living in areas most affected by 

 conservation efforts. Partnerships are the 

 key to achieving local suppon for 

 conservation initiatives to ensure tJieir 

 success. 



We at the National Fish and Wildlife 

 Foundation are convinced that a posi- 

 tive, proactive investment strategy that 



brings together the public and private 

 sectors is essential for the conservation 

 of fish, wildlife, and plant resources. 

 Two of the best examples of this kind of 

 successful partnering are the North 

 American Waterfowl Management Plan 

 (NAWMP) and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife 

 Service's Partners for Wildlife program. 

 Under NAWMP, we have funded more 

 than 165 wetland consenation projects 

 in the U.S. and Canada, and each of 

 those projects has involved multiple 

 federal, state, and private partners. One, 

 for instance — the Playa Lakes Joint 

 Venture — is teaming up the Phillips 

 Petroleum Company; Ducks Unlimited; 

 state agencies in Texas, Kansas, Okla- 

 homa, New Mexico, and Colorado; the 

 Fish and Wildlife Service; private 

 landowners; and the Foundation. 



Another of our undertakings is the 

 conservation of Neotropical migratory 

 birds, fittingly called Parmers in Flight. 

 To date, this initiative boasts 14 active 

 federal agencies, 25 nonprofit conserva- 

 tion organizations, and 13 corporations 

 representing the nation's forest products 

 industry. 



In some cases, the Foundation is 

 literally underwriting new tecfinologies, 

 such as gap analysis and a semiperme- 

 able-membrane device that could 

 revolutionize water-quality monitoring. 

 Or we're championing new manage- 

 ment philosophies, as is true of Bring 



Back the Natives, a national campaign 

 we launched with the USDA-Forest 

 Service and the Bureau of Land Manage- 

 ment to restore native fishes to river 

 systems on public lands. Rather than 

 focusing on creating hatcheries behind 

 dams or restocking destroyed fisheries' 

 habitats, our goal in this campaign is the 

 management of whole river stretches, 

 entire watershed ecosystems, for native 

 fishes. This is no small task: the Center 

 for Marine Conservation found that 

 fewer than a dozen professionals are 

 dedicated to fisheries conservation issues 

 in the U.S. nonprofit community. (The 

 Foundation now has a quarter of these 

 experts. ) Again, parmering has made 

 this venture possible — and successful, 

 on Idaho's South Fork of the Snake 

 River. There, the Foundation, The 

 Nature Conservancy, dedicated citizens 

 of the South Fork Coalition, many 

 individuals, and such corporate allies as 

 The Orvis Company are well on their 

 way to securing a 25-mile reach of the 

 60-mile river. 



All told, the National Fish and 

 Wildlife Foundation can put together the 

 best parmerships for the best conserva- 

 tion results. In forging these parmer- 

 ships, we aaively invest in the restora- 

 tion of the nation's fish and wildlife. 

 Ultimately, these are also wise invest- 

 ments in the conservafion of all species, 

 especially our own. 



