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habitat restoration projects are being undertaken in voluntary 

 cooperation with private landowners. These projects range from 

 the simple plugging of a ditch to restore a drained wetland basin 

 in the Midwest and the planting of bottomland hardwoods on 

 abandoned farm fields in the Lower Mississippi River Valley, to 

 the physical reestablishment of a natural stream profile 

 following decades of bank erosion and siltation in Montana's 

 Blackfoot River Valley. Riparian habitats are also being 

 restored through both vegetative planting and fencing of 

 livestock. 



To date, Partners for Wildlife projects have been implemented for 

 the restoration of more than 210,000 acres of wetlands and 

 associated upland buffer areas and several hundred miles of 

 riparian and in-stream habitats. More than 28,000 separate 

 project sites located on the property of approximately 10,900 

 individual landowners have been restored. A host of conservation 

 entities and State agencies have actively participated in this 

 effort, including the provision of cost share funds. In FY 1995, 

 our national goal will be to secure at least 40 percent non- 

 Federal cost-share, on average. With each passing year, as more 

 and more landowners learn about the program and see the project 

 results first hand, the number of requests for restoration 

 assistance increases. A special Report to Congress covering 

 Fiscal Year 1993 restoration activities has previously been 

 provided in response to an Appropriations Committee request. 



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