WNTI Newsletter
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Contact: Robin Knox
Coordinator, Western Native Trout Initiative
rknox@westernnativetrout.org
22 July 2009 Denver Colorado
WNTI GAINS NEW PARTNER
TRIBAL REPRESENTATIVE ADDED TO WNTI STEERING COMMITTEE
NATIONAL FISH HABITAT CONSERVATION ACT SUPPORT NEEDED
NOAA ANNOUCES COASTAL HABITAT GRANT PROGRAM
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The Western Native Trout Initiative welcomes the Montana Water Trust as the latest WNTI Partner.
The Montana Water Trust (MWT) is a private, non-profit 501(c)(3) organization located in Missoula, Montana. Its mission is to partner with landowners to keep Montana's celebrated streams alive and flowing for future generations. MWT is the first and only water trust in Montana and the only organization dedicated to instream flow restoration for the benefit of native trout species in the state. MWT works collaboratively with farmers, ranchers and other water right holders to transfer consumptive use water rights to instream flow in streams that have been designated as dewatered by the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks. The Trust also partners with state and federal agencies, other NGOs, and watershed groups to prioritize and develop instream flow projects. The MWT priority basins include the Bitterroot, Blackfoot, Big Hole, Upper and Middle Clark Fork, and Upper Missouri basins.
The Partnership with WNTI will bring added emphasis to the important and vital function that adequate perennial in-stream flows have in the conservation of western native trout. WNTI is glad to have the Montana Water Trust as our latest partner.
Please browse our web page tabs, and sign on as a WNTI Partner to help conserve these beautiful fish of the West.
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WNTI Welcomes Native American Tribal Representative to the WNTI Operational Steering Committee.
The operations of the Western Native Trout Initiative are guided by a Steerin Committee that is comprised of State, Canadian Provencial, Federal Agency, Tribal and non-governmental Conservation Organization representatives. For the first several years of the Initiative, the Steering Committee was lacking a Tribal representative. In July, Dan Fairbanks, the Executive Director of the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe Fisheries Program was nominated to be the official Tribal representative. Mr. Fairbanks had previously served on the WNTI Strategic Planning work group, and is very familiar with the work of WNTI. Native American Tribes are key players in the conservation of native trout habitat, especially in the Southwest, the Great Basin, the Pacific Northwest and Alaska. The Initiative is pleased to have Dan as a member of the WNTI Steering Committee.
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The Effort to Secure Permanent Habitat Funding Rests With the National Fish Habitat Conservation Act.
The
National Fish Habitat Conservation Act (NFHCA)
was recently introduced in both the U.S. House and Senate. The NFHCA legislative team is currently working to garner congressional support for the bills, and while the Senate bill already has strong bi-partisan cosponsorship (and hopefully continues to accumulate more), we are focusing now on gathering cosponsors for the House bill, introduced by Ron Kind (D-WI).
The NFHCA is a national, bipartisan effort to protect, restore, and enhance the nation’s fish and aquatic communities through partnerships that foster fish habitat conservation and improve the quality of life for the American people.
Healthy waterways and robust fish populations are vital to the well-being of our society. They provide clean water and sustainable fisheries. They also are vital for less tangible reasons, as anyone who has fished wild waters or canoed a tranquil stream can attest. Unfortunately, in many waters around the country, aquatic habitats and the fish they support have been degraded. This is of huge concern to the 44 million anglers who pursue fish recreationally and countless others who depend on them for subsistence and commerce. The economic contribution of recreational fisheries alone surpassed $125 billion in 2006.
Research has determined that many fish populations are in decline and half of our waters are impaired. As fish habitats come under increasing pressure, the current efforts to address habitat and population declines are not reversing these trends. The goal of the NFHCA is to foster landscape-scale, regional fish habitat conservation efforts, such as the Western Native Trout Initiative.
The NFHCA will authorize $75 million for fishery and habitat improvement, maximizing the return-on-investment by targeting much needed funding to priority on-the-ground projects. Based upon the highly successful North American Wetlands Conservation Act, the NFHCA will leverage state, local and privately raised funds to build regional partnerships aimed at fixing the nation’s biggest fisheries problems. Funding will be awarded based on habitat need, strength of local and regional partnerships, and the likelihood of success. The NFHCA will put into statute the most comprehensive effort ever attempted to treat the causes of fish habitat decline, not just the symptoms.
WNTI encourages you to contact your local Congressionl Delegation and ask for their support for the National Fish Habitat Conservation Act and request their cosponsorship of this landmark legislation.
For more information, please visit www.fishhabitat.org
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The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has Announced an Expanded Marine and Coastal Habitat Grant Program.
On July 16, the NOAA Restoration Center announced the following funding opportunities:
The NOAA Coastal and Marine Habitat Restoration National and Regional Partnership solicitation will fund new three-year national and regional Partnerships to invest funding in the restoration of coastal and marine habitat nationwide, from 2010-2012.
The NOAA Community-based Restoration Program (CRP) is a financial and technical assistance program authorized under the Magnuson-Stevens Reauthorization Act of 2006, which helps communities implement sound habitat restoration projects. The CRP awards millions of dollars to national and regional partners and local grassroots organizations every year. Under a competitive review process, projects are selected for funding based on ecological benefits, technical merit, level of community involvement, and cost-effectiveness. Although the CRP program encourages meeting a minimum one-to-one match, projects have typically leveraged $3 to $5 non-federal dollars for every NOAA dollar invested.
The NOAA Restoration Center is currently soliciting applications for new three-year national and regional Partnerships to invest funding in the restoration of coastal and marine habitat nationwide, from 2010-2012. Through this solicitation, the NOAA Restoration Center seeks to openly compete funding available for multi-year national and regional habitat restoration Partnerships that will result in implementation of a wide-range of habitat restoration projects -- from locally-driven, hands-on projects that emphasize stewardship, to mid-scale, watershed-scale projects that yield significant ecological and socioeconomic benefits.
NOAA envisions working jointly on such Partnerships through its Community-based Restoration Program (CRP) to identify, evaluate, fund, and administer projects that offer a broad range of ecological, socio-economic and stewardship benefits to coastal communities. Partnership applications selected through this announcement will be implemented through multi-year cooperative agreements, and will ultimately involve joint selection of community-based habitat restoration projects funded as sub-awards made through the partner organization. Funding of approximately $10 million is expected to be available for cooperative restoration Partnerships in 2010, with annual funding anticipated to maintain these for up to three years. Typical Partnership awards will range from $500,000 to $1,000,000 per year.
