On July 11, the U.S. Senate unanimously passed S. 2430, its reauthorization version of the Great Lakes Fish and Wildlife Restoration Act of 2006. S. 2430 seeks to put more dollars into Great Lakes basin restoration and more priority on terrestrial wildlife than were part of the original Act of 1990 and its subsequent reauthorization in 1998. A companion bill has been introduced in the House of Representatives, where it faces a stiffer test. If it passes there, it won't get the President's OK and signature unless the recommended funding-level dollars are available. However, bipartisan passage of the Senate version is a strong signal that the restoration plan and price tag are reasonable, desirable and urgent, reports the Wildlife Management Institute.

S. 2430, introduced by Senators Mike DeWine (OH) and Carl Levin (MI), would increase funding from $4.5 million to $11.4 million annually and place greater emphasis on projects that address wildlife restoration. An additional $6 million would be allocated for regional fish and wildlife restoration initiatives to be implemented by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service). No funding for such regional projects was authorized in the first two versions of the legislation.

That the 2006 Act would put more emphasis on wildlife is evident in language that outlines the goals of the legislation. The first stated goal is to restore and maintain self-sustaining fish and wildlife resources. In the 1990 Act and 1998 reauthorization, wildlife was not noted in the goal statements. Also, the current bill shifts responsibility for coordinating selection of grant proposals from the Council of Lake Committees (comprised of fisheries heads of state wildlife agencies that border the Great Lakes and representatives from the tribal groups that have management authority via treaties) to the Service, and it specifies that at least one of the members of the new grant selection committee must have wildlife expertise. The Service intends to call on a subset of the Council and others (most likely wildlife specialists) recommended by state agency directors to help in the selection of proposals for funding. This portends a better balance of project funding between terrestrial and aquatic resource recovery investments.

Passage and subsequent funding of the Great Lakes Fish and Wildlife Restoration Act would trigger implementation of some of the priority recommendations of a Great Lakes regional restoration and protection strategy (http://www.glrc.us/) released by the Great Lakes Regional Collaboration Partners last December. The Great Lakes Regional Collaboration Partnership is comprised of representatives of federal, state and local governments, tribes and other stakeholders with an interest in the Great Lakes. Many of these recommendations also are contained in an even more comprehensive bill?the $20 billion Great Lakes Collaboration Implementation Act of 2006 (http://www.glc.org/announce/06/04tippingpoint.html). Service personnel see the Great Lakes Restoration Act as a delivery mechanism for some of the initiatives in the Collaboration Act.

For additional information on the Great Lakes Fish and Wildlife Restoration Act reauthorization and the Great Lakes restoration and protection strategy, contact Jane West, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Region 3, at mailto:jane_west@fws.gov