The Nature Conservancy Celebrates the Passage of the Great Lakes Fish and Wildlife Restoration Act

Revised Legislation Doubles Amount of Money Authorized to Protect Fish and Wildlife Habitat

CHICAGO—October 6, 2006—The Nature Conservancy applauds Congress for passing the Great Lakes Fish and Wildlife Restoration Act (GLFWRA). The revised legislation authorizes funding of up to $16 million a year to support restoration of fish and—for the first time—wildlife habitat within the Great Lakes Basin. Another change is that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will now directly oversee a proposal review committee that will be expanded to include representatives with expertise in wildlife management. Also new in the latest GLFWRA is an emphasis on regional restoration projects that impact multiple states and tribal lands.

The Great Lakes Fish and Wildlife Restoration Act passed Congress with bipartisan support.

John Andersen, director of The Nature Conservancy’s Great Lakes Program, which works to protect the region’s land and water resources, commended the revised Great Lakes Fish and Wildlife Restoration Act.

“As the world’s largest freshwater system, the Great Lakes are truly a natural treasure,” Andersen said. “We’re very pleased that Congress recognizes the need to do more to protect this globally-important ecosystem which is rich in native and rare biodiversity. This revised legislation will help us protect the Great Lakes and our quality of life.”

The Nature Conservancy and the Nature Conservancy of Canada have created a roadmap to preserve the Great Lakes ecosystem. Developed with leading scientific experience from within the region, the Binational Conservation Blueprint identified more than 500 sites within the Great Lakes Basin – more than 270 are in the United States – as priorities for protection including coastlines, islands, wetlands, forests, rivers and inland lakes. The Conservation Blueprint also identifies the principal threats to the Great Lakes ecosystem as altered water flows, invasive species, extraction of natural resources, climate change, and incompatible development, agricultural and forestry practices.

The Nature Conservancy is a leading international, nonprofit organization that preserves plants, animals and natural communities representing the diversity of life on Earth by protecting the lands and waters they need to survive. To date, the Conservancy and its more than one million members have been responsible for the protection of more than 15 million acres in the United States and have helped preserve more than 102 million acres in Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia and the Pacific.