Section 6 of the Endangered Species Act

Cooperative Endangered Species Conservation Fund

 

The Cooperative Endangered Species Conservation Fund (Section 6 of the Endangered Species Act) provides funding to States and Territories for species and habitat conservation actions on non-Federal lands. States and Territories must contribute a minimum non-Federal match of 25% for the estimated program costs of approved projects, or 10% when two or more States or Territories implement a joint project. A State or Territory must currently have, or enter into a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) to receive grant funds.

 

Four grant programs are available through the Cooperative Endangered Species Conservation Fund, they include the "Traditional" Conservation Grants and the "Nontraditional" Grants: Habitat Conservation Plan Land Acquisition, Habitat Conservation Planning Assistance, and Recovery Land Acquisition Grants.

 

Because more than half of all species currently listed as endangered or threatened spend at least part of their life cycle on privately owned lands, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) recognizes that success in conserving species will ultimately depend on working cooperatively with landowners, communities, and tribes to foster voluntary stewardship efforts on private lands. States play a key role in catalyzing these efforts. A variety of tools are available under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) to help States and landowners plan and implement projects to conserve species. The Cooperative Endangered Species Conservation Fund (section 6 of the ESA) has been available for several years to provide grants to States and Territories (hereafter, "States") to participate in a wide array of voluntary conservation projects for candidate, proposed, and listed species.

 

"Traditional" Section 6 Conservation Grants

The Conservation Grants program provides financial assistance to States to implement conservation projects for listed species and species at-risk. Funded activities include habitat restoration, species status surveys, public education, and outreach, captive propagation and reintroduction, nesting surveys, genetic studies, and development of management plans. The project selection process is generally conducted by Service Endangered Species staff in conjunction with the States. Funding is allocated by formula to the Service Regions based on the number of species covered in the cooperative agreements with the States within that Region. Regional offices then further allocate the funding to the States within that Region by formula or through a competitive process.

 

"Nontraditional" Section 6 Grants

 

Habitat Conservation Planning (HCP) Assistance Grants

Through the development of regional Habitat Conservation Plans (HCPs), local governments incorporate species conservation into local land use planning, which streamlines the project approval process and facilitates economic development. The Habitat Conservation Planning Assistance Grants program provides funding to States to support the development of HCPs. Planning assistance grants may support planning activities such as document preparation, outreach, and baseline surveys, and inventories.

 

The Habitat Conservation Planning Assistance Grants program first received funding in fiscal year 2001 of $6.635 million. In FY 2004, the Service awarded funding to 22 out of 22 eligible proposals to provide project funding in 11 States and one Territory. The funding for the Habitat Conservation Planning Assistance Grants is competed for at the National level.

 

Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) Land Acquisition Grants

The HCP Land Acquisition program was established by Congress in fiscal year 1997. This program was designed to reduce conflicts between the conservation of listed species and land uses on specific parcels of land. Under this program, the Service provides grants to States for land acquisitions that are associated with approved HCPs. The Service considers the use of Federal acquisition dollars by States for habitat protection within and adjacent to HCP areas to be an important and effective mechanism to promote the recovery of threatened and endangered species.

 

The HCP Land Acquisition program has three primary purposes: 1) to fund land acquisitions that complement, but do not replace, private mitigation responsibilities contained in HCPs, 2) to fund land acquisitions that have important benefits for listed, proposed, and candidate species, and 3) to fund land acquisitions that have important benefits for ecosystems that support listed, proposed and candidate species.

 

The program received $6 million in appropriated funds in each of its first 3 years (fiscal years 1997-1999). We received $15 million in fiscal year 2000 and were able to fund 15 proposals. In fiscal year 2004, we received approximately $49 million and fully or partially funded 15 out of 16 eligible proposals. A National competition will be held to select proposals for funding in FY 2005.

 

Recovery Land Acquisition Grants

Loss of habitat is the primary threat to most listed species and land acquisition is often the most effective and efficient means of protecting habitats essential for recovery of listed species before development or other land use changes impair or destroy key habitat values. Land acquisition is costly and often neither the Service nor the States individually have the necessary resources to acquire habitats essential for recovery of listed species. Recovery Land Acquisition grant funds are matched by States and non-federal entities to acquire these habitats from willing sellers in support of approved species recovery plans.

 

Because the existing HCP Land Acquisition Grants Program provides substantial funding for land acquisitions associated with HCPs, the Recovery Land Acquisition Grants Program will not be used to fund land acquisitions associated with permitted HCPs.

 

The Recovery Land Acquisition Grant program first received funding in fiscal year 2001 of $10.427 million. In FY 2004, the program awarded funding to 32 projects in 24 States, with at least one proposal funded in each Service region. For fiscal year 2005, competition for the Recovery Land Acquisition grants will be held at the Regional level.

 

Participation in the Cooperative Endangered Species Conservation Fund programs is limited to State agencies that have a current cooperative agreement with the Secretary of the Interior. That is, only State agencies that have a cooperative agreement with the Secretary of the Interior may apply directly for Cooperative Endangered Species Conservation Fund grant funding. However, individuals or groups (for example land conservancies, community organizations, or conservation organizations) may work with a State organization that has a cooperative agreement, on conservation efforts that are mutually beneficial, as a subgrantee. Grant agreements will be used to implement selected projects.

 

A proposal must include 25 percent non-Federal cost share (the cost-share may be an in-kind contribution, including equipment, materials, operations, and maintenance costs). This cost share decreases to 10 percent if 2 or more States or Territories are contributors to the proposal and its activities as per section 6 of the ESA.

 

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