News

Secretary Salazar Renews Nation’s Commitment to Wetland and Waterfowl Conservation

May 31, 2012

On May 31st, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar signed the 2012 Revision of the North American Waterfowl Management Plan, reaffirming the Department’s commitment to one of the largest and most successful continent-wide conservation initiatives ever undertaken.

“The 2012 Revision of the North American Waterfowl Management Plan provides a renewed and energized vision for the future of waterfowl and wetlands conservation,” Salazar said. “The blueprint lays out an adaptable waterfowl management strategy that leverages international resources to ensure abundant waterfowl populations and preserves habitat to support hunting and other recreational uses.”

“The importance of waterfowl, in both ecological and economic terms, has placed waterfowl managers at the forefront of the conservation profession,” said U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Dan Ashe. “This Revision acknowledges and embraces a 21st century approach to landscape-level conservation that is truly community-driven.”

First signed in 1986 by the United States and Canada, with Mexico becoming a signatory in 1994, the North American Waterfowl Management Plan (NAWMP) is an international strategy for conserving migratory waterfowl throughout the continent. It has remained a leading model for other international conservation plans.

NAWMP is implemented largely by public-private partnerships known as Migratory Bird Joint Ventures. As of 2011, the Joint Ventures in the U.S. and Canada had collectively conserved more than 15.7 million acres of habitat. Over the course of their history, 18 U.S. Joint Venture partnerships have leveraged every dollar of allocated Congressional funds into an average of $35 in matching funds.

2012 marks the 25th anniversary of Joint Ventures. California has the unique distinction of hosting five Joint Ventures: the Central Valley Joint Venture (CVJV), Intermountain West Joint Venture (IWJV), Pacific Coast Joint Venture (PCJV), San Francisco Bay Joint Venture (SFBJV) and Sonoran Joint Venture (SJV). All have developed diverse partnerships to help protect, manage, enhance, and restore migratory bird habitat throughout the west.

All can claim significant accomplishments:

• The CVJV was instrumental in passing and implementing the Central Valley Project Improvement Act of 1992, which directs the Secretary of Interior to provide optimum, reliable water supplies to 14 important federal, state, and private wetland areas within California’s Central Valley.


• The IWJV is collaborating with the Natural Resources Conservation Service to build field, science, and communications capacity for the Sage-Grouse Initiative, a highly targeted and landscape-scale conservation effort.


• PCJV has expanded its efforts to include all of Alaska, bringing into the Joint Venture system the Yukon Flats and Teshepuk Lake, the final U.S. Waterfowl Areas of Major Concern identified in the 1986 NAWMP.


• SFBJV partners have purchased 16,500 acres of Cargill salt production ponds, and initiated the largest wetland restoration project on the west coast to restore habitat for waterbirds, aid with flood control, and increase wildlife-oriented public access.


• The SJV formed the first binational Joint Venture with Mexico, establishing a management board comprised of members from both countries, focused on international partnerships for the conservation of shared ecosystems and bird populations.

The voluntary partnerships fostered by these, and other habitat Joint Ventures, have served as innovative models for cooperative and effective landscape conservation, with far-reaching benefits to birds and other wildlife populations.

The signing of the 2012 NAWMP Revision highlights the commitment of Mexico, Canada and the United States to developing common objectives that reflect the interrelated nature of waterfowl management and aligning and coordinating efforts to reach those objectives.