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Introduction
FOR 75 YEARS, state fsh and wildlife agencies across the United States have benefted from federal aid funds provided by the Wildlife Restoration Act (Pittman–Robertson or PR), Sport Fisheries Restoration Act (Dingell–Johnson or DJ), and the Wallop-Breaux Act, which sup- port the conservation and management of game fsh and wildlife species. Tese funds are
generated through federal excise taxes collected at the manufacturers’ level and have been critical to the establishment of long-term agency conservation planning related to game species. Yet conservation eforts for nongame fsh and wildlife species (those that are not hunted or fshed) have historically been opportunistic and crisis-driven. Tis is largely because of limited resources, such as a lack of dedicated funding, and a lack of strategic approaches to species and habitat conservation. With nearly 600 wildlife species listed nationally on the federal endangered and threatened species list, the need for a complementary source of funding for nongame species remains crit- ical for the continued conservation, protection, and restoration of the full array of North Carolina’s wildlife species. 1.1 The Origin of Wildlife Action Plans In the mid-1990s, the Teaming With Wildlife Coalition (TWW) was formed to continue a decade-long efort working to secure funding for the conservation of fsh and wildlife species that were not covered by other programs or funding strategies. From their work with mem- bers of Congress, the Department of the Interior and Related Agencies Appropriation Act was developed and signed into law in 2002. Tis Act
With North Carolina’s pop- ulation on the rise and the state’s growth rate higher than the national average, natural habitats for wildlife are losing ground. Nongame species have had the most to lose. There has been a steady decline in species that were once common, like the Golden- winged Warbler and Eastern Box Turtle. The NCWRC and our part- ners are working hard to keep common animals common and to implement effective conservation measures to beneft declining species.
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2015 NC Wildlife Action Plan
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