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<br />,
<br />
<br />that fund dozens of individual projects.
<br />In the last several years, NFWF's Bring
<br />Bach the Natives program (BBN), a
<br />partnership with the u.s. Fish and
<br />wildlife Service, the Bureau of Land
<br />Management, USDA's Forest Service,
<br />the Bureau of Reclamation, and Trout
<br />Unlimited, has funded hundreds of
<br />individual projects. In 1997 alone,
<br />this partnership invested $1.4 million
<br />in federal funds and attracted an addi-
<br />tional $3.3 million in private, corpo-
<br />rate, and state funds for another
<br />forty-five projects.
<br />This year's BBN projects were
<br />spread across twenty-one states to ben-
<br />efit a wide variety of species from the
<br />salmonids in the cold waters of the
<br />Pacific Northwest to the warmwater
<br />suckers and sculpin of Arizona. BBN
<br />continues to restore habitat threatened
<br />by pollution, water quality degrada-
<br />tion, and competition from invasive
<br />species. Like all other Foundation
<br />programs and projects, BBN is locally
<br />driven, requires a nonfederal match,
<br />and funds only projects that have been
<br />peer-reviewed and recommended by
<br />state and federal biologists. Recently,
<br />the secretary of the Interior called
<br />BBN "the cornerstone of this adminis-
<br />tration's policy to save wild trout and
<br />salmon" -high praise for a program
<br />that started at NFWF just a few
<br />years ago.
<br />Like the Marshall Plan, NFWF
<br />often brings disparate groups together
<br />to work collectively. In 1997, the
<br />Foundation completed its third year of
<br />California salmon projects with funds
<br />earmarked for this purpose from the
<br />Bureau of Reclamation. At the same
<br />
<br />Fisheries Conservation and Management Initiative
<br />
<br />time, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) approached NFWF to manage
<br />funds to help restore salmon in California. NMFS was particularly interested in
<br />working with the Foundation because, through leveraging, we can double and some-
<br />times triple federal funds that pass through our organization. Rather than run two
<br />separate programs with these funds, NFWF suggested to both agencies that they
<br />allow us to combine their separate interests, expand the partnership by bringing in
<br />some partners from Oregon with expertise in managing the state's salmon crisis,
<br />and run a single program. To date, this program has funded eighteen projects and
<br />attracted $2.4 million nonfederal funds. Thus, NFWF created an historic partner-
<br />ship, put real projects on the ground, and put over $2 into projects for each $1 that
<br />the agencies would have been able to muster if they
<br />worked alone.
<br />In New England, NFWF is rapidly becoming the
<br />principal investor in restoring one of the U.S:s interna-
<br />tional travelers, the Atlantic salmon. NFWF continues
<br />to work with the forest products industry and their
<br />initiative known as SHARE (Salmon Habitat And River
<br />Enhancement). Additionally in 1997, NFWF continued
<br />to work to close the commercial fishery off Greenland
<br />and funded three other Atlantic salmon projects in
<br />Maine. Projects include one acquisition on the Ducktrap
<br />River and one acquisition within the Dennys River
<br />watershed.
<br />Another Atlantic salmon project is a grant to the
<br />U.S. Fish and wildlife Service for $100,000 to fund
<br />critical habitat projects directed by the Maine Atlantic
<br />Salmon Watersheds Collaborative. The emergence of
<br />this collaborative is the direct result of NFWF's grant. In this first year of the pro-
<br />gram, the collaborative has selected ten projects for funding. These projects will
<br />receive $100,000 in federal funds, provided by NFWF, and will match those funds
<br />with $500,000 in nonfederal funds from Maine and several private sources. Some
<br />of the projects approved for funding include additional land acquisitions along the
<br />Ducktrap, Sheepscot, and Dennys Rivers, habitat assessments along the St. Croix
<br />and Saco Rivers, and the installation of an educational sign along a tributary of the
<br />Kennebec River to inform the public about the life cycle of Atlantic salmon and the
<br />threats to their existence.
<br />This past year also saw the opening of additional international doors, as NFWF
<br />and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) continue to
<br />expand a relationship established in 1996. Approximately $200,000 in NOAA funds,
<br />money that NFWF raised from other foundations, and contributions from project
<br />partners have allowed the Foundation to complete a series of projects in Palau, the
<br />Caribbean, Hawaii, and Florida to benefit coral reefs. In Hawaii, NOAA's funds are
<br />
<br />
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