Chapte r 1. Introduction
The NCWRC and its partners are working hard to keep common animals common, and to implement effective conservation measures to benefit declining species.
For over 80 years, state fish and wildlife agencies across the United States have benefited 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 support the conservation and management of game fish and wildlife species. These 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 efforts for nongame fish and wildlife species (those that are not hunted, trapped, or fished) have been opportunistic and crisis-driven because of limited resources, such as a lack of dedicated funding, and a lack of strategic approaches to species and habitat conservation. Now, with over 700 wildlife species and 940 plant species currently listed nationally on the federal endangered and threatened species list, there continues to be a critical need for a complementary source of funding for nongame species for continued conservation, protection, and restoration of the full array of North Carolina’s wildlife species. 1.1 The Origin of State Wildlife Action Plans (SWAPs) In the mid-1990s, the Teaming With Wildlife Coalition (TWW) was formed to continue a decade-long effort working to secure funding for the conservation of fish and wildlife species that were not covered by other programs or funding strategies. From TWW’s work with members of Congress, the Department of the Interior and Related Agencies Appropriation Act was developed and signed into law in 2002. This Act created the Wildlife Conservation and Restoration Program and the State (and Tribal) Wildlife Grants Program (or SWG), which provides federal matching funds to all 50 states and territories (separate funding is provided to tribes through the Tribal Wildlife Grants Program). The funds are to be used for conservation efforts aimed at preventing wildlife from becoming endangered and keeping common species common . The SWG program was designed to assist states with the conservation of nongame species by providing annual allocations of matching grants to supplement, not duplicate, existing fish and wildlife programs. These matching funds support work that benefits species in greatest need of conservation; species indicative of the diversity and health of the states’ wildlife; and species with low and declining populations, as designated by the states’ fish and wildlife agencies.
2025 NC Wildlife Action Plan
1 - 1
Made with FlippingBook Ebook Creator