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The National Fish Passage Program focuses on restoration of waterway connectivity by providing funding and technical assistance to a wide variety of partners.
USFWS funds could be used to enhance a floodplain restoration project or other healthy watershed project when reconnecting waterways is involved.
USFWS can be engaged after a disaster to provide technical assistance, and possible funding, for culverts, fish passage, etc. so that flooding and wildlife benefits can be achieved. See this video about how NFWS helped Vermont in 2011 after a flood disaster.
Contact your Regional Fish Passage Coordinator or Local Fish and Wildlife Conservation Office to initiate a project proposal. It is recommended that you engage the regional coordinator early in the project planning process.
Proposals are reviewed on the following criteria:
- Show the greatest ecological benefits for trust species
- Exhibit permanence of fish passage benefits
- Make use of the most current scientific knowledge and proven technology
- Evidence of the greatest public support
- and generate the maximum in matching contributions
Project Examples
The USFWS worked with the Lower Mississippi River Conservation Committee, the Army Corps of Engineers and Wildlife Mississippi to restore access to wetlands along the Mississippi River. The river was reconnected to a 3.5-mile-long channel with vital fish spawning and rearing habitat by notching a hole in Dike 2 on Island 70.