Wisconsin land owners with honeysuckle bushes may be able to claim some of the $75 million dollars President Bush just made available by signing the Partners for Fish and Wildlife Act into law. The money goes to people but its all about compassion for pre-European plants and critters.
New Law Formalizes Private Lands Conservation Program: The law authorizes the Department of the Interior, through the Partners Program, to provide technical and financial assistance to private landowners to restore, enhance, and manage private lands to improve fish and wildlife habitats.
The administrative details are still being finalized but according to the Full Text (pdf), the funds are there for anyone able to sales pitch a project to the Department of the Interior. Feel free to be creative because by definition, habitat enhancement is any “activity conducted to increase or decrease a specific function for the purpose of benefiting species”.
Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program: The Partners Program was established in 1987 with a core group of biologists and a small budget for on-the-ground wetland restoration projects on private lands.
Because this is Federal money it may be possible to get some fancy new landscaping, a new drainage system and even dredging work done on the government dime without mucking around with Wisconsin’s own DNR. Ok, I joke, there is no way the DNR is going to let anything happen on their turf without their consent and cut of the action.
