[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 9 (Wednesday, February 2, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Pages S889-S890]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. INHOFE:
  S. 260. A bill to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to provide 
technical and financial assistance to private landowners to restore, 
enhance, and manage private land to improve fish and wildlife habitats 
through the Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program; to the Committee on 
Environment and Public Works.
  Mr. INHOFE. Mr. President, today I am introducing the Partners for 
Fish and Wildlife Act.
  On August 26, 2004, President Bush signed Executive Order 13352 
promoting a new approach to conservation within the Federal 
government's conservation and environmental departments. This Executive 
Order was offered to ensure that Federal agencies pursue cooperative 
conservation actions designed to involve private landowners rather than 
simply making mandates which private landowners must fulfill.
  An example of this new cooperative conservation is the Partners for 
Fish and Wildlife Program. Since 1987, the Partners Program has been a 
successful voluntary partnership program that helps private landowners 
restore fish and wildlife habitat on their own lands.

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Through 33,103 agreements with private landowners, the Partners Program 
has accomplished the restoration of 677,000 acres of wetlands, 
1,253,700 acres of prairies and native grasslands, and 5,560 miles of 
riparian and in-stream habitat. Partners Program agreements are funded 
through contributions from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service along 
with cash and in-kind contributions from participating private 
landowners. Since 1990, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has provided 
$3,511,121 to restore habitat in Oklahoma through the Partners Program, 
to which private landowners have contributed $12,638,272.
  In Oklahoma, 97 percent of land is held in private ownership. Since 
1990, a total of 124,285 acres in Oklahoma has been restored through 
700 individual Partners Program voluntary agreements with private 
landowners. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service District Office in Tulsa 
currently reports that at least another 100 private landowners are 
waiting to enter into Partner's projects as soon as funds become 
available.
  As chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, a 
new approach to conservation is especially important to me. All 
conservation programs should create positive incentives to protect 
species and, above all, should hold sacred the rights of private 
landowners. A positive step toward those aims is authorization of the 
Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program which has already proven to be 
an effective habitat conservation program that leverages federal funds 
and utilizes voluntary private landowner participation. To date, the 
Partners Program has received little attention. My bill will build on 
this successful program to provide additional funding and added 
stability.
  I am pleased to author legislation to authorize a program with a 
proven record in positive and actual conservation.
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