To learn more about the North American Wetlands Conservation Act, be sure to check out the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service official NAWCA page:
https://www.fws.gov/birds/grants/north-american-wetland-conservation-act.php
You can download and use the logos below in #NAWCA30 and NAWMP promotional items.
Matching federal funds support 19 wetlands conservation projects in Louisiana
By Jessica Shea
Driving into Gueydan, Louisiana the first thing a visitor notices is the town’s sign self-proclaiming it as the duck capital of America. The town’s population of 1,400 swells during the annual duck festival, complete with duck and goose calling contests and a duck festival queen. Though Gueydan is primarily supported through agriculture, specifically rice growing, waterfowl are important to the people, to say the least.
Seasonally managed wetlands teem with birds in the Mississippi Delta
By Jessica Shea
Houston Havens grew up in Mississippi hunting and fishing near the state’s namesake river delta. “I knew early on that I wanted to be a wildlife biologist,” says Havens. During his studies he met mentors who helped narrow his focus to waterfowl biology. After five years as a waterfowl program coordinator for the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks, Havens has recently completed one of the longest term and most significant projects of his career.
Park contributes to the world’s largest contiguous boreal protected land
By Jessica Shea
Canada’s boreal forest is one of the most significant on the planet, explains Larry Simpson of the Nature Conservancy of Canada. The habitat is a matrix of wetlands and coniferous forest, home to a broad array of wildlife, including waterfowl, such as American wigeon, lesser scaup, green-winged teal, and mallards.
Land Trust conserved key habitat along Nehalem Bay
By Jessica Shea
Oregon’s northern coast, punctuated by small towns surrounded by nature, is largely undeveloped. When developers bought Botts Marsh, which was zoned for marina use, the Lower Nehalem Community Trust took action to conserve the area. The marsh is less than a mile south of the town of Wheeler (population 414) and is a popular place for people to kayak and nature-watch.
Despite being nicknamed the Garden State, New Jersey is not generally renowned for its natural spaces. Sandwiched between New York City and Philadelphia, New Jersey is slated to become the first state to reach complete build out, anticipated by 2050. This means the use of every acre in NJ will be accounted for, ranging from protected farmland and natural spaces to residential, commercial, and industrial development. Currently, about 40 percent of land cover is forests.
Waterfowl-dense habitat preserved in Manitoba, Canada
By Jessica Shea
Early one warm June morning Curtis Hullick took a walk on land owned by the Shearer family in Manitoba, Canada. The morning was still, apart from the sounds of birds.
“I heard grassland birds, like bobolink and Sprague's pipit, and a lot of waterfowl, like blue-winged teal and mallard,” says Hullick of that June morning in 2018. “Hearing the sounds of so many birds against the backdrop of a quiet morning made me realize the specialness of the land.”
Wetlands protected in southern Quebec
By Jessica Shea
“Listen to the loons,” my grandmother whispered to me on a still summer morning on the front porch of our cottage in south-western Quebec. The lake and my cousins were still asleep. Only my grandmother, the loons, and I saw the morning’s mist. The black and white water birds made their slow morning patrol of the lake, no siren necessary, just their legendary call.
Conservationists protect and restore wetlands across the Pacific Americas Flyway
By Jessica Shea
Conservation partners worked together to conserve critical site on the Pacific Flyway
By Jessica Shea
Visiting the eastern shoreline of Columbia Lake in British Columbia is a special experience, according to the Nature Conservancy of Canada’s Hillary Page. After walking along the lakeshore’s wetland, you’ll pass through an old-growth Douglas fir forest, which opens up into a fallow hay field. From there, you look south to the headlands of the Columbia River or north to hoodoos, ancient exposed bluffs of sandstone created by erosion.
December 10, 2019
The Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies celebrates the 30th Anniversary of the North American Wetland Conservation Act (NAWCA). This act provides financial support for waterfowl habitat that also supports a multitude of other wetland-related wildlife species. The NAWCA program is recognized as one of the premiere conservation programs in the world because the successful collaborative partnerships between the state fish and wildlife agencies, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, non-governmental organizations, and other partners are key to implementing priority wetland conservation projects.
Thousands of acres of wetlands conserved in southern Saskatchewan
By Jessica Shea
Southern Saskatchewan’s Missouri Coteau is a land so rugged that fugitives, horse thieves, and rum runners went there to evade the law during the late 1800s and early 1900s. Nowadays, the area is free of outlaws but teeming with birds and other wildlife.
Watch Rep. Thompson’s remarks just before House passage of the bill.
The North American Wetlands Conservation Extension Act (H.R. 925) will be on the House floor for a vote. This program has been an important part of wetland restoration and development in Missouri. Please let your representative know that you support reauthorization of NAWCA and how important it is for wetlands and birds in Missouri. When you are birding or hunting at one of Missouri’s managed wetland areas, chances are good that the birds you see have benefited from one of the NAWCA projects that have taken place on MDC or FWS lands.
RESOLUTION #2019-02-10: Recognizing the 30th Anniversary of the North American Wetlands Conservation Act
The North American Wetlands Conservation Act has helped conservation organizations, private landowners, and government agencies to restore, protect and enhance wetlands and their associated uplands since 1989. This voluntary, non-regulatory program has engaged with more than 6,200 conservation organizations and private landowners who have conserved 30.3 million acres in the United States, Canada, and Mexico.
Jan 30, 2019
Press Release
Bill helps to fund conservation projects at wetlands across our nation
Washington – Today Rep. Mike Thompson (CA-05) and Rep. Rob Wittman (VA-01) announced the bipartisan and bicameral reintroduction of the North American Wetlands Conservation Act (NAWCA), a bill that authorizes $60 million per year for wetlands conservation from 2020 to 2024. A bipartisan companion bill was also introduced in the Senate by Senators Martin Heinrich (D-NM), John Kennedy (R-LA), Bill Cassidy (R-LA), and Tom Carper (D-DE).
(12 Dec 1989) President George H. W. Bush signs the North American Wetlands Conservation Act. One of the primary objectives of the Act is to encourage partnerships to conserve North American wetland ecosystems for waterfowl, other migratory birds, fish, and wildlife.
