Work in the Field - Partnerships for Habitat Improvement
Why Challenge Cost-Share (CCS)?
In 2000, a variety of State agencies and private organizations
worked with the Forest Service to leverage $16.7 million of
appropriated funds into $41.2 million of habitat improvement
projects benefiting wildlife, fish, rare plants, and people.
This unique Challenge Cost-Share (CCS) Program is an outstanding
example of how a large bureaucracy can work with local, dedicated
people to stretch limited budgets to provide long-term environmental
benefits for future generations.
Congressional funding of Forest Service Challenge Cost-Share
projects is contingent upon matching contributions from conservation
groups, private enterprises, individuals, or other public agencies.
The Challenge Cost-Share Program encourages direct public involvement
in managing wildlife and fish habitats on national forests and
grasslands. Established in 1986, the program has grown from
57 partners and 120 projects to nearly 2,200 partners and over
1,800 projects in 2000. Partnerships can involve sharing technical
skills or matching moneys, labor, and equipment. The end result,
however, is on-the-ground resource improvements to benefit wildlife,
fish, rare plants, and people.
Click on the thumbnail images to see results.
CCS Partner Contributions |
CCS Forest Service Contributions |
Partners & FS Contributions |
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Numbers of Projects |
Numbers of Partners |
Numbers of Partnership Dollars |
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Who Are Our Partners?
The Forest Service has active partnerships with thousands of
people from hundreds of organizations and agenciesfrom
Audubon clubs to Zuni Indians, from Boy Scouts and the National
Fish and Wildlife Foundation to Ducks Unlimited and the Rocky
Mountain Elk Foundation. Partners also include government agencies
at all levels, schools, and just plain individuals who want
to help. Many are well-known agencies and organizations whose
contributions make highly significant technical and program
impacts. Many are the wet and dirty field workers
doing the routine jobs, without whom little would actually get
done. Listing
of Partners.
Partnership Program Areas
Watershed, Fish, Wildlife, Air & Rare Plants (WFW) Partnerships
are administered through the following special programs:
- Get Wild, a
national program that delivers sound habitat management for
terrestrial wildlife while meeting public demands for hunting,
viewing, and other recreational uses.
- Every Species Counts,
a national effort aimed at conserving our biological legacy
by recovering federally listed threatened and endangered species,
as well as agency-designated sensitive species.
- Rise to the
Future, a national program that emphasizes improving
fisheries and aquatic habitat and recreational fishing.
- NatureWatch,
a national program that features interpretive walks, festivals,
and educational materials for the appreciation and enjoyment
of plants (Celebrating Wildflowers), wildlife (Eyes on Wildlife),
and fish (FishWatch).
Get Wild
Get
Wild is the Forest Services terrestrial wildlife program,
serving as an umbrella for almost a dozen emphasis areas plus
locally important species and communities. Successful implementation
of this program involves coordination with State and other Federal
agencies, as well as wildlife interest groups, to inventory
and improve habitats, survey and monitor wildlife populations,
provide education and interpretive programs for forest users,
and protect special habitats such as snags and riparian areas.
In 2000, Get Wild partners assisted in the completion of 595
partnership projects.
Get Wild is made up of the following emphasis areas:
- Eyes on Wildlife
(wildlife viewing and appreciation)
- Partners
in Flight (neotropical migratory bird conservation).
- Taking
Wing (wetland wildlife).
- Making Tracks
(wild turkey habitat management).
- Answer the
Call (quail habitat management).
- Full Curl
(wild sheep habitat management).
- A Million Bucks (deer habitat management).
- Dancers in the Forest (grouse and woodcock
habitat management).
- Animal
Inn (an information and education program focusing on
the value of dead, dying, and hollow trees for wildlife)
- Cavity Dependent Species (wildlife dependent
on dead and downed trees).
- Elk Country
(elk habitat management).
- Local emphasis species (e.g., key ecological
indicator species that are monitored to measure ecosystem
health).
Every Species Counts
Although
care for threatened, endangered, and sensitive species is emphasized
in all Forest Service programs, it is within the Every Species
Counts program that rare species are profiled. National forest
and grasslands provide homes to 415 species federally listed
as threatened or endangered. In addition, there are more than
2,900 sensitive speciesthose for which special management
is required so they do not become threatened or endangered.
Initiated in 1990, the Every Species Counts program brings together
the resources and commitment of numerous Federal and State agencies,
private organizations, and individuals to enhance species recovery
and conservation. Successful implementation of the program involves
conducting inventories and surveys to determine species occurrences,
distribution, and plant status; developing management guides
for listed species; participating with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service in the restoration and enhancement of both aquatic and
terrestrial habitats; preparing and implementing recovery plans;
and restoring and improving habitats. The rare plants program
identifies, protects, and monitors habitats critical to the
conservation of rare species. In 2000, 422 partnership projects
were competed for threatened, endangered, or rare species.
Rise to the Future
Rise
to the Future, the fisheries program, coordinates aquatic
habitat management goals, plans, and programs with State, Federal,
and tribal agencies and fish interest groups. Currently, Rise
to the Future management activities focus on inland game fish,
such as walleye, trout, and bass; nongame fish (for example,
various darters, shiners, and chubs); mussels; aquatic species;
and anadromous fish (for example, salmon, steelhead, and searun
cutthroat trout).
Through Rise to the Future, the Forest Service has developed
strong partnerships with major fisheries conservation groups,
government agencies, researchers, and the angling public to
protect, restore, and enhance aquatic habitats. Partnerships
also support monitoring of river, stream, and lake habitats
and help provide interpretive (e.g., FishWatch), educational,
and recreational opportunities for forest visitors. In 2000,
partners assisted the Forest Service in completing 485 Rise
to the Future projects.
NatureWatch
NatureWatch
encourages and supports educational, informational, and interpretive
programs for users, visitors, and people interested in the national
forests. It is composed of the following three emphasis areas: