The goal of this project is to implement the national fish habitat plan in the southeast united states in thesarp work area

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) has awarded a $170,000 Project Grant under the National Fish Habitat Partnership (CFDA 15.686) to the Southeastern Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (SEAFWA), a non-profit organization. The goal of this 4-year project is to implement the National Fish Habitat Plan in the Southeastern United States, with a focus on identifying and prioritizing high-value aquatic habitats in the region. Key activities include revising the Southeast Aquatic Habitat Plan, aligning operations with the recently passed America's Conservation Enhancement Act, and strengthening the capacity of SEAFWA and its partners to strategically allocate resources to benefit fish species and their habitats. This project will support collaborative efforts between federal, state, and non-governmental organizations to guide conservation actions and track accomplishments in the Southeast.

TGE scope of the project is high-value aquatic habitat in the southeastern united states that isdetermined by partner agencies including USFWS, other federal agencies, state agencies, ngos and corporations. The major focus of this project is implementing the national fish habitat action plan in the southeast unitedstates. This will support the identification of priority areas that will direct resource allocation supported bythe national fish habitat partnership (nfhp) as well as the operational transitions to align with the recentlypassed americas conservation and enhancement (ACE) act including the revision of the southeast aquatic habitatplan and operational guidelines as many of these were published over 10 years ago. These activities are criticalto aligning to the ACE act and remaining a designated fish habitat partnership as well as a committee of thesoutheastern association of fish and wildlife agencies (seafwa). These activities will allow sarp tostrategically allocate resources to areas that are ecologically important as well as socially important with thenecessary capacity to benefit habitats and the species that depend on them in subsequent years. This project willprimarily focus on increasing the level of robustness and ability to track accomplishments of sarp and the workof our partners through supported collaborations. Three main areas of RE-alignment and increased engagement willcenter around the designation of conservation opportunity areas, the revision and update of the southeast aquatichabitat plan, and the overall oversight and operations as the level of engagement has dropped significantly overthe past two years. All of these activities describe are critical to strategically allocating resources tobenefit species and their habitats.