Tribal Resources

• Indian Entities Recognized and Eligible To Receive Services From the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs
  This notice publishes the current list of 564 tribal entities recognized and eligible for funding and services from the Bureau of Indian Affairs by virtue of their status as Indian tribes. The list is updated from the notice published on August 11, 2009 (74 FR 40218). Read More.
  
  
• Indigenous Stewardship Methods
  The Indigenous Stewardship Methods and NRCS Conservation Practices guidebook provides guidance to employees of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and to indigenous cooperators who work with NRCS. It provides a sensitive process in which knowledge is shared, allowing employees to incorporate the indigenous knowledge into NRCS’ assistance through its conservation practices. Read More.

U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

• What Are Our Trust Responsibilities to Federally Recognized Indian Tribes?
  

  The Fish and Wildlife Service's Midwest Region recently developed a "Tribal Trust" video as a tool to help our employees better understand our trust responsibilities as a federal agency for working with Indian Tribes.

  Click here to view the three parts to this important video.

• Regional Overview (Fact Sheets)
  The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the premier government agency dedicated to the conservation, protection, and enhancement of fish, wildlife and plants, and their habitats. It is the only agency in the federal government whose primary responsibility is management of these important natural resources for the American public. The Service also helps ensure a healthy environment for people through its work benefiting wildlife, and by providing opportunities for Americans to enjoy the outdoors and our shared natural heritage. The Service is responsible for implementing and enforcing some of our Nation’s most important environmental laws, such as the Endangered Species Act, Migratory Bird Treaty Act, and Marine Mammal Protection. Regions: > Pacific (1) ~ Southwest (2) ~ Midwest (3) ~ Southeast (4) ~ Northeast (5) ~ Mountain-Prairie (6) ~ Alaska (7) ~ Calif/Nevada (8)

• Agency Overview - Conserving the Nature of America
  The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the premier government agency dedicated to the conservation, protection, and enhancement of fish, wildlife and plants, and their habitats. It is the only agency in the federal government whose primary responsibility is management of these important natural resources for the American public. Read More.

• Bald Eagle
  The bald eagle is truly an all- American bird it ranges over most of the continent, from the northern reaches of Alaska and Canada down to northern Mexico. While our national symbol was in danger of extinction throughout most of its range 30 years ago, the bald eagle has made a tremendous comeback, its populations greatly improving in numbers, productivity, and security in recent years. Read More.
  
  
• Bald Eagles (Refuges Inhabited by)
  Listed by National Wildlife Refuge name and state. Read More.
  
  
• Birds Of Conservation Concern
  The 1988 amendment to the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act mandates the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) to “identify species, subspecies, and populations of all migratory nongame birds that, without additional conservation actions, are likely to become candidates for listing under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) of 1973.” Birds of Conservation Concern 2008 is the most recent effort to carry out this mandate. Read More.
  
  
• Careers Conserving the Nature of America
  Following a tradition of conservation leadership that is now in its second century, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service plays a pivotal role in safeguarding some of this nation’s rich natural resources. It is a challenge that is growing more complex every year. You can become one of the employees who bridge the gap between our storied past and our evolving future. Read More.

• Cultural Resources in the FWS
  Fish & Wildlife Service lands and facilities are located in every State and several territories. The effects of the Fish and Wildlife Service’s programs on the future of our nation’s resources are potentially enormous. While the Service is recognized clearly as a leader in preserving wildlife and habitat, most people are unaware of the agency’s potential to protect significant aspects of our nation’s cultural legacy as well. Read More. PLUS::>> Access more information on Service Cultural Resources.
  
  
• Endangered Species Act of 1973 (History)
  Congress passed the Endangered Species Preservation Act in 1966, providing a means for listing native animal species as endangered and giving them limited protection. The Departments of Interior, Agriculture, and Defense were to seek to protect listed species, and, insofar as consistent with their primary purposes, preserve the habitats of such species. The Act also authorized the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service to acquire land as habitat for endangered species. Read More.
  
  
• Endangered Species Coloring Book
  The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service hopes that you enjoy our 2004/2005 endangered species coloring book. It has pictures to color and stories to read. You can test your endangered species know-how by taking the quiz inside the back cover. Read More.
  
  
• Climate Change (Strategic Plan for Responding to Accelerating ..)
  Over its 139-year history, the Service has faced every challenge to the future of the nation’s fish and wildlife heritage head-on. As an agency within the Department of the Interior (Department), we have attracted to our ranks those individuals whose personal commitment to conserving, protecting, and enhancing America’s fish and wildlife resources is matched by their professional resolve to do whatever it takes to accomplish that mission. Read More.

Conservation Handbook - Strategic Habitat This guide describes the framework for strategic habitat conservation (SHC) enabling the efficient conservation of wildlife populations through habitat management, which is defined as protection of existing habitat, and habitat restoration or manipulation. It supplements the description of the SHC framework in the final report of the National Ecological Assessment Team (NEAT), accepted by the Service Directorate and USGS Executive Leadership Team in,2006. Read More. Conservation History Journal (2010) One of the great joys of being the Historian for the Fish and Wildlife Service is being privy to the amazing personal histories that are the real history of the agency. One of the frustrations of this job is not being able to share those histories with everyone else. This second issue of Conservation History is one small step for history and one giant step forward in sharing these histories with our own personnel—both active and (actively) retired. I think this particular issue highlights the diversity of our history tapestry. Read More. Conservation Legacy ... The partnership that was forged 70 years ago between the State fish and wildlife agencies, industry and the USFWS by the creation of the Federal Assistance programs literally changed America’s wildlife resources forever. All over America, wildlife is thriving today thanks, in part, to the efforts of this State-Federal-Industry partnership. Read More.

• Conservation in Transition - Leading Change in the 21st Century
  American fish and wildlife conservation took root and flourished during the 20th century, organizing around component pieces of the ecological landscape — land, water, coast, ocean, forest, range, fish and wildlife. Conservation professions and organizations emerged from these demarcations and have served well in facing issues that are largely local and confined within jurisdictional boundaries. Read More.
  
  
• Conserving America’s Fisheries - A Proud Past A Bright Future
  Farming, industrialization, population growth, and overharvest degraded our Nation’s water quality and fisheries resources. By the mid- 1800’s, fishermen recognized a decline in fish populations. In 1871, Spencer Fullerton Baird, Assistant Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, wrote to Congress urging Federal protection for the Nation’s fisheries. Baird warned that the“time is not far distant” that America will lose fish as a source of “subsistence and support,” a“calamity that would involve a vast number of evils in its train.” Read More.
  

• Conserving the Future
  In the summer of 2010, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service employees began the process of charting the course for the National Wildlife Refuge System’s next decade. Their charge was to build on the foundation of the System’s last strategic plan, Fulfilling the Promise, and create an updated vision for the future of America’s national wildlife refuges. Read More.

• Draft Eagle Conservation Plan Guidance
  The Draft Eagle Conservation Plan Guidance Module 1: Wind Energy Development (Draft Eagle Conservation Plan Guidance) provides recommendations for the development of Eagle Conservation Plans (ECPs) to support issuance of eagle programmatic take permits for wind facilities. Read More.
  
  
• Draft Eagle Conservation Plan Guidance
  The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service published a Final Eagle Permit Rule (Eagle Permit Rule) on September 11, 2009 under the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act (Eagle Act) authorizing limited issuance of permits to take Bald and Golden eagles where the take is associated with but not the purpose of an otherwise lawful activity. The Eagle Protection Act has prohibited take of Bald Eagles since 1940 and Golden Eagles since 1962. Read More.
  
  
• Eagle Conservation Plan Guidance Questions and Answers
  A series of questions and answers regarding this subject. Read More.
  
  
• Eddies: Reflections on Fisheries Conservation
  Eddies seeks to inform its readers of the work – past, present, and future – of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Division of Fisheries and Aquatic Resource Conservation. Each issue has several feature stories and five regular departments. Assistant Director, Bryan Arroyo, leads each issue with his Headwaters column. Watermarks cover the newsy and noteworthy, including a column by the curator at the D.C. Booth Historic National Fish Hatchery. If you like Antiques Road Show, you’ll like Randi Smith’s stories. Read More.
  
  
• ESA Basics - More Than 30 Years of Conserving Endangered Species
  The purpose of the ESA is to protect and recover imperiled species and the ecosystems upon which they depend. It is administered by the Interior Department’s U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and the Commerce Department’s National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS). The FWS has primary responsibility for terrestrial and freshwater organisms, while the responsibilities of NMFS are mainly marine wildlife such as whales and anadromous fish such as salmon. Read More.
  
  
• Endangered Species ( Program Overview)
  Our nation is home to an incredible diversity of plants, animals, and ecosystems. During the past 300 years, however, many native plants and animals have become extinct, and today many more species face the same fate as their habitats are threatened and their populations declining. In 1973, Congress passed the Endangered Species Act (ESA) to address the loss of species and their habitats and to safeguard for all citizens our heritage of fish, wildlife, and plants. Read More.
  
  
• Endangered Species Bulletin
  I am delighted to introduce this edition of the Endangered Species Bulletin highlighting the important work of Indian tribal governments in helping to protect, preserve, and restore threatened and endangered Species. In these pages, you will find stories about how Native Americans from across the United States are integrating their unique cultural and traditional values with modern biological management principles to make a difference for conservation. It is critical that the Fish and Wildlife Service, as a world leader in species and habitat conservation, continue to seek out and support many and diverse partners. Indian Country offers tremendous collaborative opportunities for the Service in a variety of ways. Read More.
  
  
• Endangered Species (Why Save ..)
  Since life began on Earth, countless creatures have come and gone, rendered extinct by naturally changing physical and biological conditions. Since extinction is part of the natural order, and if many other species remain, some people ask:“Why save endangered species? Why should we spend money and effort to conserve them? How do we benefit?” Read More.
  
  
• Environmental Contaminants Program
  The Environmental Contaminants (EC) Program provides contaminants expertise to all Service programs including the National Wildlife Refuge System, Endangered Species, Migratory Birds, Fisheries, Marine Mammals, International Affairs, and Law Enforcement. EC Biologists use their expertise to work regularly as partners with other agencies and organizations. Read More.
  
  
• Fish Passage Program - Reconnecting Aquatic Species to Historical Habitats
  Launched by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 1999, the National Fish Passage Program (NFPP) is a voluntary, non-regulatory effort that provides financial and technical assistance to remove or bypass artificial barriers that are impeding the movement of fish and contributing to their decline. Read More.
  
  
• Fish & Wildlife Conservation Offices - Fisheries Conservation
  There are almost 400 aquatic species in the United States that either have, or need, special protection in some or part of their natural or historic range. Fish and Wildlife Conservation Offices (FWCOs) work at the intersection between fisheries science and management, developing and using the latest techniques to tackle the nation’s most challenging issues in fisheries science, management, and conservation. Read More.

• Habitat Conservation
  The value of healthy habitat is vital to well managed aquatic resources, continuing ecological, recreational, commercial, and subsistence contributions to our Nation’s prosperity. Fish and Wildlife Conservation Offices are committed to providing the most innovative approaches to fish habitat conservation. We apply scientific data to focus efforts on preserving high-priority watersheds and restoring critical aquatic habitat (in-stream and wetland) and re-opening fish passage. Read More.
  
  
• Habitat Conservation (Strategic)
  Across the conservation community, species and habitat conservation increasingly rely on landscape approaches that integrate scientific information with management decisions. The tools and language of conservation are evolving, and using consistent and broadly understood methods will improve our ability to succeed. Recognizing the changing field of conservation, both internal and external to the FWS, the Directorate chartered a cross programmatic effort in June, 2004 to: 1) characterize current and emerging scientific habitat conservation strategies and 2) recommend unifying approaches and capacity building measures (see Appendix A). The Team, featuring a mix of FWS and USGS technical and policy experts, focused on identifying how best to prioritize and make trust resource management decisions. Read More.
  
  
• International Affairs (Program Overview)
  The Service’s International Affairs program deals with private citizens, local communities, other Federal and State agencies, as well as foreign governments, and U.S. and international non-governmental organizations to promote a coordinated domestic and international strategy to protect, restore, and enhance the world’s diverse wildlife and their habitats with a focus on species of international concern. Read More.
  
  
• Interjurisdictional Fisheries Program - Fish without Borders
  Fishes in rivers, coastal areas, and even some lakes, move across state and national boundaries without a second thought or glance. Because many fish travel long distances, place-based management measures do not provide adequate protection. Yukon River Chinook salmon, for example, undertake the longest migration of any salmon in the world, swimming over 1700 miles. Consequently, Tribal councils, interstate resource management commissions, regional management councils, States, Federal agencies and countries, agree to manage multijurisdictional species through regulations developed by the jurisdictions which contain portions of the species’ habitat. Read More.
  
  
• Kids & Nature
  Fish and Wildlife Conservation Offices (FWCOs) play an important role in connecting children with nature by providing outreach and education to families, schools, youth groups, and communities. Through environmental education and interpretive programs, FWCOs engage families and youth in conservation and management of native aquatic species and habitat with the goal of expanding conservation awareness and stewardship. Read More.

• Lake Sturgeon
  Building a Nursery for Lake Sturgeon and Restoring the Great Lakes
  Now in its second year, the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative continues to make great strides in the protection and restoration of the Great Lakes. An invaluable resource to the United States as a source of drinking water, transportation, power, recreational opportunities and jobs, the Great Lakes remain a conservation priority for the federal government. Though a tough economic climate can jeopardize conservation priorities, research has demonstrated that the health of the Great Lakes is inseparable from the health of the U.S. economy.

• Law Enforcement (Program Overview)
  The Service’s Office of Law Enforcement’s efforts focus on potentially devastating threats to wildlife resources – illegal trade, unlawful commercial exploitation, habitat destruction, and environmental hazards. Its overall mission is to enforce laws that help protect wildlife here and around the world. It contributes to Service efforts to recover endangered species, conserve migratory birds, preserve wildlife habitat, safeguard fisheries, combat invasive species, and promote global wildlife conservation. Read More.
  
  
• Migratory Bird Program (Program Overview)
  Migratory birds are among nature’s most magnificent living resources and play a significant ecological, economic, and cultural role in the U.S. and internationally. The Service is directed by Congress to ensure the perpetuation of migratory bird populations and their habitats. The Migratory Bird Program seeks to conserve migratory bird populations and associated habitats for future generations, through careful monitoring and effective population management. Read More.

• National Fish Hatchery System
  Established in 1871 by Congress through the creation of a U.S. Commissioner of Fish and Fisheries, the National Fish Hatchery System original purpose was to provide additional domestic food fish to replace declining native fish. Cultured fish were used to replace fish that were lost from natural (drought, flood, habitat destruction) or human (over-harvest, pollution, habitat loss due to development and dam construction) influences, to establish fish populations to meet specific management needs, and to provide for the creation of new and expanded recreational fisheries opportunities. Read More.
  
  
• National Wildlife Refuge System (Program Overview)
  A product over 105 years in the making, the National Wildlife Refuge System is an extensive network of lands set aside for wildlife. In addition, they provide unparalleled outdoor experiences for all Americans and help to protect a healthy environment. Since President Theodore Roosevelt designated Florida’s Pelican Island as the first wildlife refuge in 1903, this network of protected lands has grown to encompass millions of acres. Read More.
  
  
• National Wildlife Refuges
  The National Wildlife Refuge System is one of America’s greatest conservation success stories. In its first hundred years, it helped save our national symbol, the American bald eagle, from extinction and has protected hundreds of other wild species—including— fish, migratory birds, and many other plants and animals and the habitats that support them. Read More.
  
  
• Partnerships - Conserving Borderline Species
  In April 1997, the U.S. and Canadian governments signed a Framework to cooperate in identifying and recovering shared species at risk. The official title is the “Framework for Cooperation between the U.S. Department of the Interior and Environment Canada in the Protection and Recovery of Wild Species at Risk.” The goal of the Framework is to prevent populations of wild species shared by the United States and Canada from becoming extinct as a consequence of human activity, through the conservation of wildlife populations and the ecosystems on which they depend. Read More.
  
  
• Permits for Native Species - under the Endangered Species Act
  Section 10 of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) is designed to regulate a wide range of activities affecting plants and animals designated as endangered or threatened, and the habitats upon which they depend. With some exceptions, the ESA prohibits activities affecting these protected species and their habitats unless authorized by a permit from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) or the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS). Permitted activities are designed to be consistent with the conservation of the species. Read More.

• Refuge Update 2011
  An assortment of articles regarding the many accomplishments of the National Wildlife Refuge system. Read More.
  

• Subsistence Management Program
  Subsistence fishing and hunting provide a large share of the food consumed in rural Alaska. The state’s rural residents harvest about 22,000 tons of wild foods each year — an average of 375 pounds per person. Fish makes up about 60 percent of this harvest. Nowhere else in the United States is there such a heavy reliance upon fish and game. Read More.
  
  
• TRACKS Newsletters - Region 6
  Resource issues and events regarding tribal resource programs. Read More.
  
  
• Tribal Assistance Fact Sheets
  There are 561 Federally recognized tribes in the United States, including 225 villages in Alaska. All together, there are 55.7 million acres on 304 reservations. Many Indian lands have remained untouched by conventional land use practices and therefore are islands of high quality ecosystems, attracting many sensitive species. Reservations support important fish and wildlife resources, including antelope, apache trout, bighorn sheep, bison, elk, gila trout, mule deer, Pacific salmons, sturgeon, and whitetail deer. Fact Sheet.
  
  
• Tribal Wildlife Grant and Tribal Landowner Incentive Program - Periodic Report, 2006
  The Tribal Wildlife Grants (TWG) program was created by Congress within the State Wildlife Grant program in 2002, setting aside $5 million to establish a competitive tribal grant program for Federally-recognized Indian tribes. These funds were not subject to further requirements of the formula-based State Wildlife Grant program. Read More. The purpose of the funding is to “provide technical and financial assistance for the development and implementation of programs that benefit fish and wildlife resources and their habitat, including species that are not hunted or fished.” Read More.

• Wetlands Conservation Act Progress Report
  Each year, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, in conjunction with the States, the Canadian Wildlife Service, provincial governments, and other partners, conducts breeding-ground surveys to estimate the size of duck breeding populations. Specialized surveys track trends in the populations of other harvested migratory species such as the mourning dove and the American woodcock. The North American Breeding Bird Survey, conducted annually on approximately 2,900 routes in the United States and Canada by thousands of volunteers, is used to follow changes in the distribution and abundance of many other migratory bird species utilizing wetlands and associated habitats. Read More.
  
  
• Wetlands - Status and Trends (2004~2009)
  The Service prepared the Report after a two year study period and a rigorous statistical analysis and peer review. The Service is the principal Federal agency that provides information to the public on the extent and status of the Nation’s wetlands and it works with partner organizations to maintain an active Federal role in monitoring wetland habitats of the Nation. This Report is the latest in a continuous series spanning 50 years of wetland data. It represents the most comprehensive and contemporary effort to track wetlands resources on a national scale. Read More.
  
  
• Wildlife Laws (Fact Sheets)
  This booklet is a guide to Federal laws that apply to the importation, exportation, trade, and sale of wildlife, including live and dead animals and animal parts and products. Read More.
  
  
• Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration (Program Overview)
  The Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Program (WSFR) and the partnerships it has fostered are considered among the most successful conservation efforts in the nation’s history of fish and wildlife management. The WSFR administers six major grant programs that provide funding to state and territorial fish and wildlife agencies for resource management and recreation-related purposes. The WSFR also provides administrative support for other Service grant programs, including Endangered Species (Section 6), National Coastal Wetlands Conservation, and Tribal Wildlife Grants. Read More.
  
  
• Wind Energy Guidelines (Land-Based)
  In response to increasing wind energy development in the United States, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) in July 2003 released for public comment a set of voluntary, interim guidelines for reducing adverse effects to fish and wildlife resources from wind energy projects. After the Service reviewed the public comments, the Secretary of the Interior (Secretary) established a Federal Advisory Committee to provide recommendations to revise the guidelines related to land-based wind energy facilities. Read More.
  
  
• Wind Energy Guidelines (Voluntary Land-Based)
  The development of renewable energy is important for the future of the nation and the health of the environment. The Department of Interior is committed to facilitating the development of wind energy and other renewable resources while protecting our nation’s treasured landscapes and wildlife. Read More.
  
  
• Wind Energy Guidelines Questions and Answers (Voluntary, Land-Based)
  A series of questions and answers regarding this subject. Read More.

Wolf Recovery in North America Before the arrival of European settlers, wolves ranged widely across the continent, from coast to coast and from Canada to Mexico. Two species are found in North America, the gray wolf, with its various subspecies, and the red wolf, found in the southeastern United States. Wolves play an important role as predators in the ecosystems they inhabit. They feed primarily on large mammals, such as deer and elk, removing sick and injured animals from the populations. Wolves are highly social, living in packs and hunting and raising young cooperatively. Read More. Wolf Tracks - A Summary of Gray Wolf Conservation Activities and Issues in the Western Great Lakes States Since the gray wolf was first listed under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) in 1974, recovery programs have helped populations of this species rebound from the lows experienced during the middle of the 20th century. Today, wolf recovery has been achieved in the Western Great Lakes region of the United States. As a result of this success, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has removed ESA protection for the Gray Wolf Western Great Lakes Distinct Population Segment. Read More.