Environmental Contaminants

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has a specialized program consisting of approximately 100 Environmental Contaminant Biologists who focus solely on pollution impacts to fish and wildlife and their habitats, helping to create a healthier world for all living things.  Program goals are:

• Conserve trust resources and their supporting habitats through contaminant prevention.
• Restore and recover trust resources and their supporting habitats harmed by environmental contamination and other stressors.
• Provide environmental contaminant expertise and high-quality scientific data and interpretation to support sound management decisions for our trust resources.

The Environmental Contaminants Program helps to conserve pollinators by:

• Providing technical expertise on how to use integrated pest management (IPM) techniques to minimize impacts of pest control on pollinators.
  • Fact Sheet - Reducing Risks to Pollinators from Pest Management Activities
• Using native plants in restorations developed under our Natural Resource Damage Assessment and Restoration Program. 
• Conducting restorations to assist in the recovery of listed pollinators.  One such example is the Midco restoration that included restoration and protection of rare dune and swale habitat in Indiana, which is the only habitat type in Indiana where the endangered Karner blue butterfly is known to occur.
  • Fact Sheet - Midco I&II
  • For more information on the Karner blue butterfly click here.
• Developing a Memorandum of Understanding with the Coevolution Institute in cooperation with other programs in the Fish and Wildlife Service. The Coevolution Institute is the administrator of the North American Pollinator Protection Campaign (NAPPC).
• Providing a liaison to the Coevolution Institute and coordinating the FWS pollinator conservation and education efforts. 

The Environmental Contaminants Program is part of the Division of Environmental Quality.