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The US Fish and Wildlife Service has been given similar responsibilities on the Federal <br />level, but with many more restrictions placed upon them. Many people attack the Service <br />for doing the job Congress has assigned them to do. The Endangered Species Act belongs <br />to the citizens of the United States, not the US Fish and Wildlife Service. They administer <br />the Act and with that responsibility comes great criticism. They continue to be sued from <br />groups for not listing species as well as from parties attempting to overturn their decisions <br />to list species and their critical habitats. <br />The Commission is always looking at ways to work.with landowners that benefit them as <br />well as wildlife. Generally, when steps are taken to protect threatened and endangered <br />species and their habitats, you are improving habitat for other species. <br />Many of the new federal programs are system -based problem solving, looking at the big <br />picture and will be working with the private landowners. In Nebraska, 97% of the land is <br />privately owned. To have any chance for success in recovery programs, working <br />successfully with private landowners. is an absolute must. <br />There are definitely species that have polarized citizens of our state including the prairie <br />dog, whooping crane and pallid sturgeon, but there are success stories such as the river <br />otter that is a State endangered species that had been trapped out of existence. A very <br />successful reintroduction program through our agency has restored that species to most <br />of the state's river systems in the past 25 years. This program may not have received <br />press coverage that programs such as the gray wolf reintroduction in Yellowstone or the <br />red wolf in the southeast, but it also saw no opposition by the landowners and citizens of <br />the state. The river otter has never been listed as a federal endangered species as it has <br />remained plentiful'in some portions of its range, it has been a state endangered species <br />from the beginning of the state list. We are proud of this successful re- introduction and <br />believe it serves as a example of how a species can be saved. <br />The demand for wildlife technical assistance by private landowners along the Platte River <br />has increased dramatically during the last 10 years. The US Fish and Wildlife Service and <br />the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission have provided technical advice and funding <br />to hundreds of private landowners along and near the Platte River. Clientele include <br />landowners who wish to improve their property for duck and goose hunting, ranchers <br />seeking ways to improve their pastures for cattle and wildlife, and grain farmers wanting <br />to convert marginal cropland to grasslands. The US Fish and Wildlife Service and the <br />Nebraska Game and Parks Commission have programs that can pay producers up to <br />100% of habitat restoration costs and in some cases provide an annual land use payment. <br />All private lands programs the Commission sponsors are done strictly on a voluntary basis. <br />Funding provided by the US Fish and .Wildlife Service through their Partnerships for Fish <br />and Wildlife Program have been critical in helping to meet the demands of private <br />landowners. As more and more duck and goose hunters discover the benefits of brush <br />clearing and wetland slough development, demand for these projects will very soon outstrip <br />the availability of funds. A Nebraska Environmental Trust grant was received several years <br />4 <br />