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The Balance Wheel: Spring 2003

Inside This Issue | Past Issues | Contact Us

In this time of budget crunches, there is some good news coming from the IAFWA. Read below to see how the newly selected conservation needs may help you get the extra funding you need! For a refresher on the grant process and other details about this program, be sure to check out the specific information on the IAFWA web site at: http://www.iafwa.org/About%20IAFWA/Multistate%20Grants/2003%20Grant%20Solicitation.PDF

imageNational Conservation Needs Selected by IAFWA for the FY 2003 Multistate Conservation Grants Program

Compiled by Chris Chaffin, ACI liaison to the International Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies

National Conservation Needs:

1. National enhancement of wildlife health services to wildlife managers. (Fish and Wildlife Health Task Force)

The successes of wildlife management, measured by abundant populations, have increased the need for wildlife health expertise as more contact occurs between wildlife, domestic animals, and people. Trends toward intensive resource management, expanding urban wildlife populations, concentration of wildlife on diminished or degraded habitats, wildlife translocation, and privatization of wildlife have increased the concern for disease and parasite transmission. The capability to deliver wildlife health-related services in the United States is not uniform and, in many states, is rudimentary. Information on wildlife health issues is vital to development and defense of sound management programs and policies for wildlife. Natural resources agencies must pursue ways to have greater health management expertise available within the wildlife management profession. Methods to enhance delivery of wildlife health services to wildlife management should be explored and facilitated.

2. Programs that enable state fish and wildlife agencies to understand and respond to change in human dimensions of management issues by integrating a sound communication, education, and marketing approach. (Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, the Wildlife Resources Policy Committee and the Education, Outreach and Diversity Committee)

Fish and wildlife management has become increasingly complex, due in part to changes in constituencies and stakeholders. These changes include population growth, changing values and lifestyle preferences, technology advancements, demographic shifts, and economic growth. Developing programs that respond to these changes is an essential part of modern fish and wildlife management. Responding to rapid socioeconomic and demographic change can best be accomplished when fish and wildlife management are informed through social science methodologies, including systematic survey research. There is a need to raise the capacity of agencies to gather and analyze human dimensions information at a scale that addresses state or region-specific issues and problems. These agencies need the information, tools and training necessary to enhance the participation of traditional and non-traditional/under-represented constituencies in wildlife management and wildlife-associated recreation. In addition, there is a national need to better understand the processes of retention and recruitment in wildlife associated recreation. State wildlife agencies also need up-to-date information on the various approaches that other states are using to address this need and their degree of success and failure.

3. Programs that enhance and improve the ability of state fish and wildlife agencies to administer their agency and manage the wildlife resources of their state. (Fish and Wildlife Trust Funds Committee)

Over the years, several projects have evolved that have provided state fish and wildlife agencies with information, expertise, employee training, agency and program evaluations, reference services, etc. Such examples as the National Survey of Fishing, Hunting and Wildlife Associated Recreation, the Management Assistance Team, and the Library Reference Service have been funded by Federal Aid Administrative Funds after approval by the state fish and wildlife agencies. These projects have provided the state agencies with information and assistance that they would have had difficulty obtaining on their own and at a much lower cost. A need exists for similar types of projects that improve the ability of state fish and wildlife agencies to administer their agencies and carry out their mandated responsibilities more effectively and efficiently.

4. A review and evaluation of the Fish and Wildlife Reference Service with recommendations for an organizational and operational structure that will meet state fish and wildlife agencies' future needs. (National Grants Committee)

The Fish and Wildlife Reference Service (FWRS) was created by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (F&WS) in 1965 (as the Library Reference Service) to receive, index, store, and distribute reports produced by state fish and wildlife agencies from studies supported by the Federal Aid in Sport Fish and Wildlife Restoration programs. For the most part, these reports include annual accomplishment reports, final research reports, and other project-related reports not published in peer-reviewed journals. The FWRS also receives reports produced by the Anadromous Fish Conservation Program, the Endangered Species Program, and the Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Units. Additional collections located at FWRS include the Lead Shot/Lead Poisoning Clearinghouse, Boating Access/Boating Facilities Clearinghouse, and the Clean Vessel Act Education/Information Clearinghouse.

The FWRS was contracted to the Denver Public Library from 1967 to 1983. It was then relocated to its current location in Bethesda, Maryland, where it has operated under the management of various contractors. Prior to FY 2001, the FWRS was funded with administrative funds the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) received annually to administer the Sport Fish and Wildlife Restoration Programs. The Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Programs Improvement Act of 2000 prohibited this use of administrative funds for this activity. In FY 2001 and in FY 2002, the FWRS was and is funded under an annual grant of approximately $470,000 awarded to the KRS Corporation by the USFWS under the Multistate Conservation Grant Program. Under this Program, $6 million is available annually to fund fish and wildlife related grants selected by the State fish and wildlife agencies and awarded by the USFWS.

The only available funding source for the FWRS is the Multistate Conservation Grant Program. Each year, the FWRS must compete for funding with many other worthwhile grant proposals. With the limited funding that is available under this grant program and the relatively large cost required to operate the FWRS, it is important that it be operated in the most effective and cost efficient means possible. New technologies, such as electronic document storage, record keeping and document submissions and improvements in internet access and other information management services provide a timely opportunity to evaluate the effectiveness of the FWRS and identify alternatives to ensure the information needs of state fish and wildlife agencies are met in the future.

A professional evaluation of the FWRS is needed to determine its effectiveness and efficiency in meeting the needs of the state and federal agencies it currently serves. This should include the evaluation of the systems and procedures currently used to collect, store and retrieve reports and publications, and develop recommendations on how these systems should be modified to better utilize emerging technologies. The evaluation should also analyze whether states want to continue the FWRS and whether other sources for this same information exist. An overall goal is to make the FWRS more user friendly and to ensure that it can operate effectively under current or reduced funding levels. This evaluation must include a review of current state needs as well as the needs of other major users of the FWRS.

5. Enhance and improve the ability of fish and wildlife agencies to manage unwanted aquatic species. (Fisheries and Water Resources Policy Committee)

Unwanted aquatic species are a growing concern for state fish and wildlife agencies in native fish restoration, recreational, commercial, and subsistence fisheries management. Issues related to unwanted aquatic species are broad in geographic scope and types of organisms involved. Unwanted species, ranging from pathogens, invertebrates, aquatic plants, and fish species, can negatively affect desirable community structures. Local, regional, state, national, and international approaches are needed to effectively deal with these threats. The issue is highlighted by federal executive orders, the National Invasive Species Act, state legislation, and state and federal policies. Effective tools, policies, and corrective actions for these problems are essential to the health of North American fish and wildlife resources in freshwater, estuarine, and marine environments.

6. Programs that support recruitment and participation in outdoor recreation, including hunting, fishing, boating, trapping, and shooting sports. (Hunting and Shooting Sports Participation Committee and Angling and Boating Participation Committee)

The percentage of the general population that fishes, boats hunts, traps, and participates in shooting sports has shown a general decline over the past decade. Reversing this decline will strengthen state fish and wildlife agencies by broadening public and financial support for conservation programs. Programs are needed at both the state and national level that will lead to the reversal of this trend and result in increased fishing, boating hunting, trapping, and shooting sports participation, with priority going to those programs that increase funding support for state agencies.