California partners for fish and wildlife program: conserving birds through private partnerships

Abstract

The Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's (Service) habitat restoration assistance program for private landowners, was created primarily to improve habitat for waterfowl. Since its inception in 1987, however, the program has grown to include the restoration of all types of habitat. The purpose of this paper is to explain how the Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program has grown from an effort to benefit waterfowl to one that can benefit a wide variety of bird species. The Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program arose from the recognition that privately owned lands, which make up approximately 2/3 of the Unite States' land base, represented an untapped resource and that, if the Service was to accomplish its mission - working with others to conserve, protect, and enhance fish, wildlife, and plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people - it needed the help of private landowners to maintain healthy populations of fish and wildlife. The program was designed to be a proactive, voluntary program to assist landowners in improving fish and wildlife habitat on private lands by providing technical and financial assistance.

Parent Publication

• Bird Conservation Implementation and Integration in the Americas: Proceedings of the Third International Partners in Flight Conference. 2002 March 20-24; Asilomar, California, Volume 1 and 2

Citation

Schlafmann, Debra; Morrison, Philip. 2005. California partners for fish and wildlife program: conserving birds through private partnerships. In: Ralph, C. John; Rich, Terrell D., editors 2005. Bird Conservation Implementation and Integration in the Americas: Proceedings of the Third International Partners in Flight Conference. 2002 March 20-24; Asilomar, California, Volume 2 Gen. Tech. Rep. PSW-GTR-191. Albany, CA: U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Research Station: p. 1195-1197