Healthier Ecosystems
A Commitment to Cooperative Conservation
This year, through enhanced funding of the Challenge Cost Share program
provided by Congress, the Interior Department is funding conservation
projects dedicated to building partnerships and providing results.
Under the program, the Bureau of Land Management will sponsor 88 projects
to fund weed control, riparian habitat restoration, and water development.
The National Park Service will sponsor 77 projects that will protect
and restore habitat for threatened and endangered species and control
invasive species. The Fish and Wildlife Service will fund several
dozen projects dedicated to invasive weed removal and establishment,
or expansion, of habitat for a range of species, including waterfowl.
The President’s FY 2005 budget calls for $507.3 million for
the Department of Interior’s cooperative conservation programs,
an increase of $84.2 million or 20 percent above the 2004 enacted
level. A key component of this funding is the Cooperative Conservation
Initiative at $129.5 million, which includes the Landowner Incentive
Program, the Private Stewardship Grant Program, the Coastal Program,
and the Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program. The 2005 funding will
allow the Fish and Wildlife Service to partner with 2,500 landowners
to restore an additional 103,000 acres of wetlands, uplands, and riparian
habitats through cooperative agreements.
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