Take Action - NAWCA

[Chad Manlove]

Please take a few mintues to respond to this request. NAWCA funding is very important to wetlands conservation efforts in the U.S. An example of this work is the upcoming $700,000 project on Malmaison WMA. The 1,200 acre GTR will be restored over the next 2 years. The majority of funds were derived from NAWCA. Please contact your House and Senate contacts. Just click on the link below....

Thanks!
Chad

The time is now to make a significant difference!!! This is the final week to ask your Congressman to sign onto the NAWCA letter in support of funding. As of today, 127 Congressmen have agreed to sign the letter. Our goal is to beat the total on last year's letter of 201.

DU's Take Action campaign is making a difference and an all out push of e-mails to Congress during the next 2-3 days will be critical to our efforts.

The message is simple: Please support wetlands conservation by signing the Dingell-Young Dear Colleague letter in favor of 2008 funding for the North American Wetlands Conservation Act.

We're getting poor response out of the MS House delegation on the NAWCA letter. We generally have the whole group sign on, but so far we only have Chip Pickering. MS has received over $3 million in grants and $11 million in partner funds. Please contact :

A list of key targets for Ms is below – some these folks signed the letter last year, but newly elected House members and some signers from previous years are also listed

MS: Taylor, Gene (D) Phone: (228) 469-9235

MS:Thompson, Bennie (D) Phone: (601) 866-9003

MS: Wicker, Roger (R) Phone: (662) 844-5437


Senate:

MS: Cochran, Thad (R) Phone: (601) 965-4459
DC Phone: (202) 224-5054

MS: Lott, Trent (R) Phone: (601) 965-4644
DC Phone: (202) 224-6253

The deadline for House members to sign is Thursday (March 15) at close of business. A similar letter is also underway in the Senate so if you e-mail or call your Representative, please take a moment to also contact your Senators. DU's website is easy to use and can cover all of them. The deadline for the Senate letter is later this month.

Take Action on the website: http://capwiz.com/ducks/issues/alert/?a ... 71&type=CO

Enter zipcode to find congressional office phone numbers both in DC and their local offices: http://capwiz.com/ducks/dbq/officials/

[Nash]

But out of that 3 million and 11 million how much of it went into an area where every day people could use vs how much went to private property to benefit only a few select people?????

[Nash]

And before anyone start accusing me a poking at DU, I am just asking a question, alot of time funds allocated in some of these bills are desiginated for private lands and the one that typically end up getting the $$$$ are the ones who can afford attorneys to process the paper work.

I would just hate to see these funds go to a place like York Woods where nobody but Kennedy and his elite get to benefit from it. If they are going to put the $$$ into places like the Scatters or Mud Hole or Drop Zone or other public property to make them better for the people who use them then sign away. But if it is to secure private property then VETO!!!!

[Chad Manlove]

Half of the $3 Million was / will be used on 2 major public lands areas 1) O'Keefe WMA received approx. $700,000 for restoration work on ag fields, moist-soil units, and GTR and Malmaison WMA will receive $700,000 for restoration work on the GTR.

Projects were also completed in Delta National Forest along Dummy Line Line Road and 707....

All of these projects are open for public duck hunting!!

If NAWCA was not in place, these projects would have never been completed.

This is very important.

DU is currently working with MDWFP to identify future NAWCA projects that will benefit public waterfowl hunters.

[Nash]

Where did the other half go and what about the 11 million???????

From the figures your providing only 10% went to public areas, what about the other 90%????????

Again just asking, just like to know where the money is going,

[Nash]

And Chad is right had it not been for the NAWCA the projects he mentioned would have not been done. But Mississippi did recieve over 14,000,000.00 where did it all go?????

[Chad Manlove]

Where did the other half go and what about the 11 million???????

From the figures your providing only 10% went to public areas, what about the other 90%????????

Again just asking, just like to know where the money is going,

I did think you understand how NAWCA works...

NAWCA provides cash money to complete wetland projects....if you want $1 million dollars...you need $2 million in matching dollars (2:1 match ratio). Match includes restoration work / acquisition dollars submitted by other conservation partners.

For example....DU received $650,000 for O'Keefe WMA in 2002. We used $1.5 million of match dollars from a donated conservation easement. We also used $500,000 of match from MDWFP when they purchased O'Keefe from Dept. of Corrections....Total of $2 million in matching funds. Match dollars are not available to spend. We use match dollars to GET NAWCA funds.

NAWCA has provided $3 Million of spendable dollars directly to Mississippi. Greater than 50% went to public lands projects. Grand Bay NWR also received $500,000. Another project called "Upper Pascagoula" received $855,000....I have no idea who got those funds or what they were spent on.

Any organization / agency can apply for NAWCA funding. You must submit a 40-page proposal. It takes approx. 3 weeks of my time to compete a grant proposal....I have written 10 proposals in the last 6 years. DU, TNC, The Conservation Fund, state wildlife agencies, USFWS, Delta Wildlife, Mississippi Wildlife Foundation have all been involved with NAWCA grants over the years...

[Chad Manlove]

And Chad is right had it not been for the NAWCA the projects he mentioned would have not been done. But Mississippi did recieve over 14,000,000.00 where did it all go?????

No...Mississippi received $3 Million from NAWCA.

See above post.

[Randy_Wilson]

I think Chad's $$ figures represent collective numbers of dollars received for Mississippi projects over the years. NAWCA has been in place for several years now. Chad can provide more accurate numbers than I can, but the most of this money has been spent on public lands - representative of his examples - Delta National Forest, Malmaison, O'Keefe, etc..

Randy Wilson

[Trip]

How much money would it take to get the gate unlocked at Askew and that place be back to the way it used to be?

[Nash]

Well that makes since, again it is not that I was trying to bust ya'lls chops but just curious and wanted to ask some questions, I have heard of private land owners namely Kennedy applying for and recieving Federal funds to enhance his/their personal property, I just don't think that is right. If federal $$$$$ goes into something then it ought to be for the public, after all that is where the $$$$$ came from in the first place.