9414

• UCREFRP Catalog Number: 9414
• Author: National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.
• Title: National Fish and Wildlife Foundation Annual Report.
• USFW Year: 1997.
• USFW - Doc Type: \
• Copyright Material: NO

~~~ .", Fisheries Conservation and Management Initiatives, we
. .._ welcomed new funding commitments from the Bureau of Land
.,,;/:1' Management, USDA Forest Service, and the Bureau of Reclamation.
~ Our partnership with the U.S. Fish and wildlife Service, particularly the Office
of Migratory Bird Management, grew through new commitments to International
Migratory Bird Day and a host of outreach projects. And, in our role as the chief
financial supporter of Partners in Flight, we financed forty-nine new projects, com-
mitting $1.5 million in federal funds, matched by $3.3 million from grantees-a total
of $4.8 million in new money for conservation of migratory birds and their habitats.
Our 1997 grants are, quite literally, "all over the map." Recognizing the global
nature of migratory bird conservation, NFWF addresses bird conservation needs
across the Western Hemisphere. Just as the Marshall plan could not be strong
without European partners, our bird conservation
%/ "
efforts cannot be strong without our Lat~' n . :~.-. . l.~
American and Canadian partners. . . ..........,.. '.
Thus, the Foundation's programs .~~"I'''
span the Western Hemisphere. ~
For example, in the North American heartland, NFWF
continues our focus on prairie birds, an estimated 70 percent
of which are declining. A grant to pheasants Forever will help
conserve and restore prairie habitat for game birds and songbirds
such as the Henslow's sparrow and dickcissel. This jaunty yellow
and black Neotropical migrant, which winters in the rice fields
of Venezuela, is the current focus of much international atten-
tion. Latin American farmers view the bird as a pest, and rou-
tinely spray the dickcissel's enormous roosts with pesticides.
With Foundation funding, the American Bird Conservancy and
other partners in flight have stepped forward to craft a solution
with Venezuelan rice farmers that will protect both the rice economy and the birds.
Another prairie denizen, the Baird's sparrow, is a primary beneficiary of the
Saskatchewan Wetland Conservation Corporation's innovative program to enroll
farmers in voluntary programs to conserve prairie habitats on their lands.
The Foundation remains the leader in promoting bird conservation on private
lands. In 1997, NFWF funded eight projects to develop migratory bird conservation
strategies on industrial forest lands, committing nearly $298,800 of NFWF funds,
matched by $678,570 from grantees-nearly $1 million to help make commercial
forests better habitat for birds.
There is no question that Partners in Flight has changed the face of bird con-
servation in the Western Hemisphere. Although Marshall never suspect-
\ ed that his plan would provide a model for migratory bird conserva-
-.t-.- tion, there is no doubt that his wisdom is helping secure the
future of migratory birds and their habitats.

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Industry's motivation? To respond to
growing public interest in bird and bio-
diversity conservation-an estimated
65 million Americans are bird watch-
ers and bird feeders-while also meet-
ing public demands for wood fiber.
The Neotropical Migratory Bird
Conservation Initiative enjoyed many
successes in 1997. With leadership
from Champion International, the
Foundation signed a cooperative agree-
ment with twelve forest products com-
panies to work jointly for migra-
tory bird conservation on indus-
trial forest lands. We entered into
a new, five-year cooperative agree-
ment with the U.S. Agency for
International Development
(USAID) that will steer $2.5
million in federal funds to Latin
America for migratory bird con-
servation. This agreement caps an
increasingly productive partner-
ship that has already directed
$2.2 million in USAID funds,
matched by $3.1 million from our
partners, for fifty projects in
twelve Latin American countries.
With the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service and many other partners, we
celebrated the fifth annual International
Migratory Bird Day, in which an esti-
mated 300,000 people participated.
Megan HilL our first on-the-ground
coordinator for Latin America pro-
grams, began working out of
Guatemala City. Greg Elliott formed a
new California office that will dramat-
ically increase our presence on the
West Coast. In partnership with
the Foundation's Wildlife
and Habitat and

Neotropicall1igatory Bird Conservation Initiative

National Fish and Wildlife roundation 35