Partners for Fish & Wildife 
Overview
Nationally,
the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Partners
for Fish and Wildlife Program was initiated in
1987 to help protect, enhance and restore wildlife
habitat.
The program is designed for use on privately owned
(non-federal) lands, providing landowners with technical
and financial
assistance to restore fish and wildlife habitats. Partnerships
are the keystone of the program. The list of partners
is varied, but in general they include private landowners,
conservation organizations, municipalities, businesses,
educational institutions, state governments, and other
federal agencies. Generally speaking, anyone can
become
a partner provided that the work is done on non-federal
lands, and eligibility requirements of the program
are
met. The mission of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
is, by working with others, to conserve, protect,
and
enhance fish and wildlife and their habitats for the
continuing benefit of the American people. The Partners
for Fish and Wildlife Program helps accomplish this
mission by providing assistance to landowners to
voluntarily
restore fish and wildlife habitats on their land.
The fish and wildlife resources in New England are
found in a varied complex of habitats ranging from
the deciduous and
mixed forest headwaters of the Connecticut River to
the tidal
salt marshes of the Atlantic Coastal Plain. The varied
glacial history of the region has produced
a mosaic of interconnected aquatic and terrestrial
habitats. The mineral-rich bedrock and soils of this
region support
natural communities high in plant and animal diversity.
Freshwater emergent marshes, bogs and fens, floodplain
forests, maple-ash swamps, hardwood-cedar swamps, pine-oak
woodlands, sandplain heathlands, and intertidal marshes
are some of the important natural communities found
in the region
Fish and wildlife habitats in New England have been
significantly affected by human activities especially
since the time of European settlement. During the last
three centuries there have been broad changes in the
landscape beginning with forest clearing, development
of agriculture, and construction of roads, railways,
and dams, to reforestation, introduction of non-native
species and the development of large urban/suburban
areas. The region has one of the fastest rates of population
growth in the United States. While human influences
to habitats
have been considerable, there is now increasing interest
and opportunity for significant fish and wildlife
habitat
restoration.
Waterfowl, shorebirds, and songbirds use wetlands, woodlands,
and riparian areas throughout the region as breeding
habitats and for critical stopovers during spring and
fall migrations along the Atlantic Flyway. Waterfowl
and other wetland bird conservation is a focus at Great
Bay, Parker River, Great Meadows, Silvio O. Conte, and
Ninigret National Wildlife Refuges in New Hampshire,
Massachusetts, and Rhode Island.
Restoration of diadromous fish populations, including
Atlantic salmon, American shad, American eel, alewife,
and blueback herring is a focus for the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service and its cooperators in southern New
England coastal region and Connecticut River watershed.
In the Connecticut River, Atlantic salmon restoration
is a multi-state initiative spearheaded by the Connecticut
River Atlantic Salmon Commission.
In order to provide benefits to Federal trust resources
the New England Field Office's Partners for Fish and
Wildlife Program has emphasized
the following initiatives:
Tidal and Freshwater Wetlands:
Dam Removal and River Restoration
Invasive
Species
Grassland & Early Successional Habitat Management:
Riparian Restoration:
