United States Fish and Wildlife Service
The United States Fish and Wildlife Service ( USFWS abbreviated or FWS ) is a U.S. Department of the Interior authority subordinate whose mission is the conservation of nature and its biodiversity in the United States. He had in 2009 a budget of $ 1.443 billion
Structure and tasks
The authority includes, among others, the following units:
- Bird Habitat Conservation
- Endangered Species Program
- Federal Duck Stamp
- National Fish Hatchery System
- National Wildlife Refuge System
The FWS maintains about 70 designated as a National Fish Hatcheries fish farms. In these fish are bred for stocking of flowing and standing waters throughout the United States. Thus, the loss of spawning locations on the one hand balanced by water engineering measures, on the other hand occupied waters with attractive species for the sport of fishing.
In addition, said more than 520 National Wildlife Refuges Nature Reserves are partly together with other organizations, managed. Since 2000 and 2006 respectively, two National Monuments: Hanford Reach National Monument in the State of Washington and Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument, a vast sea area northwest of Hawaii (jointly with NOAA). Within the NWRS the FWS manages 71 (January 2010) Wilderness Areas, the strictest reserve class of the United States. These more than 36,000 small and smallest sanctuaries are mainly in the Prairie Pothole Region under the name Waterfowl Production Areas, because they are central to the propagation of waterfowl. The task of the various protected areas, it is also to deepen the relationship of visitors to protected areas to consistently justify the protection purpose. To this end, the Fish and Wildlife Service uses the concept of natural and cultural interpretation ( Heritage Interpretation ). In the protected areas of FWS exerts its refuge officers even the police violence.
The FWS are under the 120 wildlife inspectors, check the predominantly according to the external borders and airports, the import of protected animals and plants CITES Convention CITES and other standards. Some 260 special agents are responsible for identifying tasks and prosecution of smuggling and illegal trade in protected animals and plants, the enforcement of federal law hunting regulations and the training of all police authorities of the United States in nature conservation legislation and adjacent topics. The FWS maintains this, a forensic laboratory.
The FWS operates the National Eagle Repository, which all the documents in the United States dead bald eagles and golden eagles need to be sent. The repository provides the animals then only Indians for cultural purposes. The waiting time for a bald eagle is over 3.5 years.
A private air service Fish & Wildlife aviation employs 62 pilots and maintains 56 aircraft. They are used for mapping of animals from the air, especially water birds and herds of ungulates, make patrols against poachers and other law violations, monitor forest fires and are used to supply remote bases, especially in Alaska. They reach a total of approximately 10,000 flight hours per year.
History
The United States Fish and Wildlife Service in 1939 emerged from the U.S. Commission on Fish and Fisheries, a division of the U.S. Department of Commerce, and from the Division of Economic Ornithology and Mammalogy, a division of the U.S. Department of Agriculture and was assigned to the Ministry of Interior.