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| Division of Bird Habitat Conservation | |
A total of $20 million in funding was approved for the following 21 projects on March 2007. Project partners are contributing $45.3 million in matching funds and $28.7 million in nonmatching funds to affect 121,156 acres of habitat. These projects are considered part of the Fiscal Year 2007/Window 2 grants cycle. Project Summary Table.
| ARIZONA, CALIFORNIA | |
| Project: Sonoran Wetlands Restoration I. Location: La Paz County, Arizona; Imperial and Riverside Counties, California. Congressional District: 7, Arizona; 45 and 51, California. Grantee: Ducks Unlimited, Inc. Contact: Mark Biddlecomb, (916) 852-2000, mbiddlecomb@ducks.org. Partners: California Wildlife Conservation Board, California Department of Fish and Game, Cazador Duck Club, Friends of Cibola National Wildlife Refuge, P & T Enterprises, Ralph Richmond Duck Club, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Approved: March 2007. Grant: $1,000,000. Matching Funds: $2,160,895. Nonmatching Funds: $481,715. Joint Venture: Sonoran. Flyway: Pacific. BCR: 33. |
Within the United States, the Lower Colorado River and
Salton Sea are the remnants of the once-massive, binational Sonoran Desert
wetland complex. Project partners will acquire, restore, or enhance a
total of 4,642 acres of important riparian, wetland, and upland habitats
within these two locations, with multiple activities occurring on 45
of the acres. Their efforts will benefit many migratory birds, including
six Federally listed species and 14 state-listed species. In the Lower Colorado River project area, partners are offering the fee-title purchase associated with 930 acres of their Palo Verde Ecological Reserve acquisition in California as match. Partners also will restore 300 acres of riparian and wetland habitats on the Cibola National Wildlife Refuge in Arizona. In the Salton Sea project area, partners will enhance 3,107 acres of wetlands and associated uplands at California’s Imperial Wildlife Area-Wister Unit through water-control infrastructure improvements. Partners also will enhance 80 acres of habitat at the Sonny Bono/Salton Sea National Wildlife Refuge by reclaiming oxbow wetlands along the Alamo River. In addition, partners will restore 8 acres and enhance another 217 acres of wildlife habitat on three private parcels. |
| CALIFORNIA | |
| Project: Butte and Colusa Basins Wetlands Project. Location: Butte, Colusa, Glenn, Sutter, and Tehama Counties, California. Congressional District: 2. Grantee: Ducks Unlimited, Inc. Contact: Mark Biddlecomb, (916) 852-2000, mbiddlecomb@ducks.org. Partners: Student and Landowner Education and Watershed Stewardship Program, California Wildlife Conservation Board, California Department of Conservation, California Bay Delta Authority, Parrot Investment Company, River Partners, Chico Country Day School, Behring Ranch, California Department of Fish and Game, Field and Tule Gun Club, Inc., U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, and USDA Natural Resources Conservation. Approved: March 2007. Grant: $1,000,000. Matching Funds: $4,025,519. Nonmatching Funds: $1,029,460. Joint Venture Region: Central Valley. Flyway: Pacific. BCR: 32. |
California’s Sacramento Valley is one of the most important areas in the Pacific Flyway for migratory waterfowl—up to 3 million ducks and 750,000 geese winter here. Most of the valley’s wetlands have been converted to other uses; those that remain are subject to greater agricultural and urban demands for water as both sectors expand. Project partners will protect, restore, or enhance a total of 22,355 acres of palustrine emergent wetlands, palustrine forested habitat, and associated uplands on 11 tracts of public or private lands. Multiple activities are occurring on 1,465 of the project acres. Through acquired easements, partners will permanently protect 3,329 acres on Llano Seco Ranch. Partners also will restore a total of 1,047 acres on Del Rio Wildland Preserve and Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge (NWR). Another 17,979 acres will be enhanced, in total, at Sacramento River NWR-Rio Vista Unit, Llano Seco Ranch, Del Rio Wildland Preserve, Behring Ranch, Gray Lodge Wildlife Area, Upper Butte Sink, Lower Butte Sink, Field and Tule Gun Club, Delevan NWR, and Colusa NWR. Partners’ efforts in the valley will benefit 18 State- and/or Federally listed threatened or endangered species. |
| Project: Yolo Basin Wetland Habitat Project III. Location: Sacramento, Solano, and Yolo Counties, California. Congressional District: 1 and 3. Grantee: California Waterfowl Association. Contact: Chadd Santerre, (916) 648-1406, chadd_santerre@calwaterfowl.org. Partners: California Wildlife Conservation Board and USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service. Approved: March 2007. Grant: $1,000,000. Matching Funds: $2,000,000. Nonmatching Funds: $419,930. Joint Venture Region: Central Valley. Flyway: Pacific. BCR: 32. |
Partners in this project’s third phase will build upon their accomplishments from Phases I and II by restoring more habitat in the Yolo Basin, focusing especially on the State’s Yolo Basin Wildlife Area. The project area is in California’s Central Valley, which is particularly acclaimed for its importance to migrating and wintering waterfowl. Partners are offering the value of 3,911 acres of previously acquired in-holdings as match. On those already protected acres, partners will restore 2,793 acres of wetlands as part of their Phase III work. Partners will also restore 1,135 acres of wetland and upland habitats on lands associated with the state wildlife area that were not involved in previous phases’ conservation activities. Partners’ efforts will benefit 14 Federally or State-listed endangered or threatened wildlife species, 26 species of special concern, and more than 225 other wetland-dependent species that rely on Yolo Basin habitats. |
| IDAHO, MONTANA | |
| Project: Lower Clark Fork River/Lake Pend Oreille Watershed. Location: Bonner County, Idaho; Sanders County, Montana. Congressional District: 1, Idaho; At large, Montana. Grantee: Ducks Unlimited, Inc. Contact: Ivan Lines, (509) 465-4997, ilines@ducks.org. Partners: Idaho Department of Fish and Game, Avista Corporation, Robert Dunnagan, Judy Hutchins, Wild Horse Trail, The Conservation Fund, Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks, Trout Unlimited, Clark Fork-Pend Oreille Conservancy, U.S. Forest Service, Green Mountain Conservation District, Sanders County Resource Advisory Committee, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Approved: March 2007. Grant: $1,000,000. Matching Funds: $2,674,200. Nonmatching Funds: $4,844,000. Joint Venture Region: Intermountain West. Flyway: Pacific. BCR: 10. |
The 1.2 million-acre Lower Clark Fork River/Lake Pend Oreille watershed is located in the Rocky Mountains of Montana and Idaho. Its vast and diverse landscape offers important habitat to migratory birds and other wildlife, but increasing pressures for residential development have been negatively affecting habitats. Project partners will protect, restore, or enhance 3,174 acres of public and private lands in the watershed—on more than 20 parcels in total. In Idaho: Partners will protect the 41-acre Wild Horse Trail Tract through fee-title donation and conservation easement acquisition; purchase a perpetual conservation easement on the 133-acre Ruen Tract; protect the 67-acre Dunnagan Tract along Pack River through a donated conservation easement; restore 3 acres of Granite Creek; and enhance 574 acres of Pack River Delta wetlands. In Montana: Partners will acquire fee title on the 2-acre Graves Creek Tract and on 1,281 acres in the State’s Bull River Wildlife Management Area; purchase conservation easements on two parcels totaling 189 acres along Bull River; and permanently protect another 824 acres along Bull River through donated conservation easements on three parcels. Partners will also restore 17 acres of riparian and wetland habitats on six tracts, and enhance 43 acres on another four tracts, along tributaries of the Lower Clark River. |
| IOWA | |
| Project: Prairie Lakes Wetland Initiative. Location: Dickinson, Emmet, Clay, Palo Alto, Kossuth, Buena Vista, Pocahontas, Humboldt, Sac, and Calhoun Counties, Iowa. Congressional District: 4 and 5. Grantee: Iowa Department of Natural Resources. Contact: Todd Bishop, (515) 281-7127, Todd.Bishop@dnr.state.ia.us. Partners: Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation, Clay County Pheasants Forever, Ducks Unlimited, Inc., Dickinson County Water Quality Commission, Dickinson County Pheasants Forever, Okoboji Protective Association, Spirit Lake Protective Association, Sac County Pheasants Forever, National Wild Turkey Federation, Dickinson Soil and Water Conservation District, Kossuth County Pheasants Forever, Cherokee County Pheasants Forever, Lyon County Pheasants Forever, Palo Alto County Pheasants Forever, Erwin Wackerbarth, Dickinson County Conservation Board, Palo Alto Soil and Water Conservation District, Waterfowl Association of Iowa, Inc., Tom Maser, Al Masen, Calhoun County Conservation Board, Sac County Sportsman’s Club, Iowa Lakes Community College Conservation Club, Izaak Walton League, Palo Alto County Conservation Board, Scott Taylor, Alan Blum, Greg Sander, Bryan Hellyer, Ike Petersen, Prairie Lakes Audubon, Pure Fishing, John Synhorst II, Pocahontas County Conservation Board, Pocahontas Soil and Water Conservation District, Ron Howing, David Hoffman, David White, Joshua Gansen, Doug Chafa, Lee and Nancy Schoenewe, East Okoboji Lakes Improvement Corporation, Polaris Industries, Calhoun County Economic Development Corporation, Calhoun Soil and Water Conservation District, Don Herrig, Michael Mahn, William Brenny, Lannie Miller, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Approved: March 2007. Grant: $1,000,000. Matching Funds: $2,077,049. Nonmatching Funds: $4,255,400. Joint Venture Region: Prairie Pothole. Flyway: Mississippi. BCR: 11. |
Northwest Iowa is known for the natural shallow lakes and large marshes it provides to migratory waterfowl within the Prairie Pothole Region—a region that has experienced extensive habitat conversion and degradation elsewhere. An astounding number of partners and members of local communities in the project area are contributing—from $50 to $4.2 million—to help acquire and enhance 3,086 acres of wetlands, uplands, and riparian habitats throughout northwest Iowa. Their project will encompass more than 20 tracts at 16 sites. Project partners will permanently protect 2,676 acres through fee-title acquisition on tracts at the following sites: Big Spirit, Burr Oak, and Dry Mud Lakes; Glass, Little Sioux, Christopherson Slough, and Jemmerson Sough Wildlife Management Areas (WMA); East Fork Des Moines River; Spring Run Wetlands Complex; Burrow’s Pond; Dan Green Slough; Union Slough National Wildlife Refuge; and Blackhawk, Bluewing, Shimon, and Kiowa Marshes. Partners will restore 5 acres and enhance another 405 wetland acres at various project sites. Their efforts will benefit a myriad of migratory birds and help to advance the goals of the “Iowa Living Lakes Initiative,” a partnership between the State and Ducks Unlimited, Inc. |
| LOUISIANA | |
| Project: Grand Cote National Wildlife Refuge Wetland Enhancement. Location: Avoyelles and Concordia Parishes, Louisiana. Congressional District: 5. Grantee: Ducks Unlimited, Inc. Contact: Quin Durbin, (318) 387-8683 extension 28, qdurbin@ducks.org. Partners: Tunica-Biloxi Tribe of Louisiana, Red River-Atchafalaya Bayou Boeuf Levee Board, and Wetlands America Trust, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Approved: March 2007. Grant: $685,114. Matching Funds: $1,693,077. Nonmatching Funds: $60,000. Joint Venture: Lower Mississippi Valley. Flyway: Mississippi. BCR: 26. |
This project represents partners’ long-term commitment to protecting and enhancing important wetland habitats in the Lower Mississippi Alluvial Valley. The valley’s forested and emergent wetlands and associated uplands support millions of migrating and wintering birds as well as a rich diversity of other wildlife species. Partners will donate a perpetual conservation easement on 319 acres of uplands associated with riparian wetlands on the privately owned Monterey Delta Plantation, benefiting Bayou Cocodrie. Partners also will enhance 1,828 acres on Grand Cote National Wildlife Refuge, which has an extensive system of levees, irrigation ditches, and water-control structures that provides the habitat conditions needed by migratory waterfowl, waterbirds and shorebirds throughout the year. Enhancement work will not only improve the quality of habitat on the refuge for birds, but also for the public’s bird-related recreational activities. In total, partners’ efforts in this project will positively affect 2,147 acres of the valley’s wetlands and associated habitats. |
| Project: Gulf Coast Wetlands Restoration and Enhancement. Location: Calcasieu, Cameron, Vermillion, Jefferson Davis, Acadia, Evangeline, and Allen Parishes, Louisiana. Congressional District: 4, 5, 7. Grantee: Ducks Unlimited, Inc. Contact: Bob Dew, (337) 291-3068, bdew@ducks.org. Partners: BP Amoco, Private Landowners, Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, Louisiana Department of Natural Resources. Approved: March 2007. Grant: $999,460. Matching Funds: $2,475,633. Nonmatching Funds: None. Joint Venture Region: Gulf Coast. Flyway: Mississippi. BCR: 37. |
Project partners will restore or enhance a total of 11,024 acres of fresh and intermediate-salinity estuarine emergent wetlands on several privately owned and State-owned lands in southwestern Louisiana. All project tracts contain coastal marsh habitat that was damaged, or is at risk of damage, from human-caused saltwater intrusion, which kills marsh vegetation and allows soil-eroding wave action. Through either terracing or revegetation, partners will restore 266 acres on the Rockefeller State Wildlife Refuge and 26 acres on private lands around the project area. Partners will enhance another 8,024 acres of privately owned lands and 2,708 acres more on the state refuge by installing levees and water-control structures. Enhancement activities will help land managers mimic historical fluctuations in salinity and water levels, needed for maintaining wetland vegetation and functions. In addition, a portion of the $40 million value of the 71,130-acre White Lake Preserve, previously donated by BP Amoco to the State for conservation, is being offered as match. Partners’ efforts will help to advance the Gulf Coast Joint Venture’s goals for its Chenier Plain Initiative Area. |
| Project: Maurepas/Pontchartrain Habitat Conservation Effort III. Location: Tangipahoa and St. John the Baptist Parishes, Louisiana. Congressional District: 1 and 3. Grantee: Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries. Contact: Randy Myers, (225) 765-2351, rmyers@wlf.louisiana.gov. Partners: R. K. Mellon Foundation. Approved: March 2007. Grant: $950,000. Matching Funds: $2,095,000. Nonmatching Funds: None. Joint Venture Region: Gulf Coast. Flyway: Mississippi. BCR: 37. |
The R.K. Mellon Foundation previously donated 62,500 acres of bald cypress/tupelo wetlands in coastal Louisiana to the State for the Maurepas Swamp Wildlife Management Area, which became an important conservation “anchor” on the southern side of Lake Maurepas and inspired additional land conservation. A portion of the value of that donation is being offered as match for this project’s third phase. In this phase, the State will build upon its previous accomplishments by acquiring Salmen Corporation’s 930-acre parcel and Rogers Land Corporation’s 1,600-acre parcel through a combination of fee simple purchase and donation, protecting a total of 2,530 acres of habitat adjacent to Lakes Maurepas and Pontchartrain. Both project parcels contain open swamp with patches of bottomland cypress/tupelo forested areas, and will serve to link the Maurepas Swamp and Joyce/Manchac Wildlife Management Areas. Lake Maurepas is a freshwater system, while Lake Pontchartrain is brackish; safeguarding the wetland ecosystems between and around them is crucial to maintaining each lake’s unique hydrology and resources. This project’s timing is important, as the region is experiencing suddenly higher demands for residential and other development due to an influx of people from other areas destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. |
| LOUISIANA, TEXAS | |
| Project: Lower Neches River Cypress. Location: Vermilion Parish, Louisiana; Orange County, Texas. Congressional District: 7, Louisiana; 8, Texas. Grantee: The Conservation Fund. Contact: Julie Shackelford, (512) 477-1712, jkshackelford@sbcglobal.net. Partners: Entergy Corporation, Chevron Phillips, and BP Amoco. Approved: March 2007. Grant: $932,200. Matching Funds: $3,104,640. Nonmatching Funds: None. Joint Venture Region: Gulf Coast. Flyway: Mississippi. BCR: 37. |
In southeast Texas, forested wetlands are under severe strain from urban and suburban encroachment and from short-term, rotational timber harvest. Project partners will acquire the 2,950-acre Lake Bayou Tract, comprised of freshwater marsh and forested cypress/tupelo wetlands along the lower Neches River, and donate it to the National Park Service’s Big Thicket National Preserve for permanent protection. This preserve offers the first sizeable forest that migrating birds see as they finish their migration journey across the Gulf of Mexico; its expansion will benefit large numbers of migrating songbirds, waterfowl, and waterbirds for the long term. Project partners’ efforts will contribute towards safeguarding critical habitats and resources on the larger Chenier Plain landscape, a focus of the Gulf Coast Joint Venture’s Chenier Plain Initiative Area of Texas. In Louisiana, a portion of the $40 million value of the 71,130-acre White Lake Preserve, previously donated by BP Amoco to the State for conservation, is being offered as match. Activities in both states help to minimize habitat fragmentation, improve water quality, and provide recreational opportunities for the public. |
| MINNESOTA | |
| Project: Upper Minnesota River Valley Phase I. Location: Traverse, Grant, Big Stone, Stevens, Swift, Lac Qui Parle, Chippewa, Yellow Medicine, Redwood, and Renville Counties, Minnesota. Congressional District: 7. Grantee: Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. Contact: Leslie Tannahill, (651) 259-5242, leslie.tannahill@dnr.state.mn.us. Partners: Ducks Unlimited, Inc., Legislative Commission on Minnesota Resources, Waukon RIM, Inc., Independence Tube Corporation, Pheasants Forever, Stevens Soil and Water Conservation District, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Approved: March 2007. Grant: $1,000,000. Matching Funds: $2,000,397. Nonmatching Funds: $306,000. Joint Venture Region: Prairie Pothole. Flyway: Mississippi. BCR: 11. |
Project partners’ efforts will focus on the protection, restoration, and enhancement of a total of 2,395 acres of breeding and nesting habitat, in support of the Prairie Pothole Joint Venture’s waterfowl goals in Minnesota. Such habitat in the project area has been severely impacted by conversion to cropland and other uses, making it increasingly important to secure the surrounding unprotected habitat that is remaining. Through a combination of acquired and donated fee titles and acquired conservation easements, partners will protect 1,554 acres of habitat on various willing landowners’ parcels throughout the project area. Partners also will restore 40 acres of wetlands and enhance another 801 acres of both wetlands and uplands by installing and improving water-control structures, removing woody vegetation, and seeding grasslands with native grasses and forbs. Multiple activities will occur on 74 of the total project acres. Project activities will benefit migratory waterfowl and other wildlife species at eleven State wildlife or aquatic management areas and four Federal waterfowl production areas. |
| MONTANA | |
| Project: Madison/Gallatin Wetlands Conservation Project II. Location: Madison and Gallatin Counties, Montana. Congressional District: At large. Grantee: The Trust for Public Land. Contact: Alexander Diekmann, (406) 585-8692, alex.diekmann@tpl.org. Partners: Granger Ranches, LP; Circle B Ranches, LLC; Combs River Ranch, LLC; Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks; PPL Montana; and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Approved: March 2007. Grant: $1,000,000. Matching Funds: $6,250,998. Nonmatching Funds: $10,000. Joint Venture: Intermountain West. Flyway: Pacific. BCR: 10. |
In a recent study by American Farmland Trust on the amount of ranchland at risk for development in a seven-state area, Gallatin County ranked number 1 out of the 263 counties surveyed. Madison County ranked number 3. Within the watersheds of these two southwestern Montana counties, project partners will build upon their Phase I accomplishments by protecting and restoring another 3,015 acres of habitat in Phase II. Partners will protect a total of 2,958 acres of wetlands and associated-upland habitats on private ranchlands, to be managed by Montana Land Reliance; the landowners will hold title to the residual fee on the project acres. In particular, a donated conservation easement on the Benton Property Tract will permanently protect 392 acres of riparian habitat along the West Gallatin River. On the east side of the Madison River, project partners will acquire conservation easements on the 1,033-acre Granger North Tract and on 1,533 acres of wetlands, riparian habitat, and grasslands at the Combs River Ranch. Partners also will restore 57 acres of riparian wetlands on a parcel they protected in Phase I. |
| NEBRASKA | |
| Project: Big Bend Reach of the Platte River, Phase I. Location: Merrick, Hamilton, Hall, Kearney, Phelps, Buffalo, and Dawson Counties, Nebraska. Congressional District: 3. Grantee: Ducks Unlimited, Inc. Contact: Steve Donovan, (308) 383-8075, sdonovan@ducks.org. Partners: Prairie Plains Resource Institute, National Audubon Society, Nebraska Environmental Trust, Platte River Whooping Crane Maintenance Trust, Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, The Nature Conservancy, Lane Kugler, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Approved: March 2007. Grant: $1,000,000. Matching Funds: $1,062,372. Nonmatching Funds: $789,069. Joint Venture: Intermountain West. Flyway: Central. BCR: 19. |
Historically, the Platte River in central Nebraska was “a mile wide and an inch deep”, providing an expansive variety of habitats for millions of migratory birds and other wildlife. The natural disturbance factors that once maintained the river’s diverse habitats—annual flooding, grazing buffalo, and wildfire—have largely since been eliminated. As a result, the riverine system is now choked by trees, shrubs, and other established, invasive plants. Consequently, migratory birds’ use of the river has dwindled. Project partners are embarking on a long-term effort to restore and protect critical habitat in and along the Platte River, beginning with 3,923 acres of its Big Bend section. Partners will acquire fee title on three private tracts totaling 790 acres and conservation easements on another four private tracts totaling 500 acres. Partners also will restore 892 acres in total on seven privately owned parcels, and will enhance an additional 1,741 acres on three more private parcels. Multiple activities will occur on 135 of the project acres. Restoration and enhancement activities will involve vegetation removal, fencing, channel excavation, water- and erosion-control structure installation, and natural island repair or re-establishment. |
| Project: Rainwater Basin Habitat Conservation Project II. Location: Adams, Butler, Clay, Fillmore, Franklin, Gosper, Hall, Hamilton, Harlan, Kearney, Nuckolls, Phelps, Polk, Saline, Seward, Thayer, and York Counties, Nebraska. Congressional District: 1 and 3. Grantee: Pheasants Forever, Inc. Contact: Ron Leathers, (651) 209-4919, rleathers@pheasantsforever.org. Partners: Rainwater Basin Joint Venture, Ducks Unlimited, Inc., Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, Nebraska Environmental Trust, Rowland Farms, Tri-Basin Natural Resources District, Pamela Sandy, Star Seed Company, Upper Big Blue Natural Resources District, Lower Republican Natural Resources District, Steve Lemmerman, Phelps County, Central Platte Natural Resources District, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and U.S. Natural Resources Conservation Service. Approved: March 2007. Grant: $1,000,000. Matching Funds: $1,024,250. Nonmatching Funds: $106,675. Joint Venture: Rainwater Basin. Flyway: Central. BCR: 19. |
The Rainwater Basin in southeast Nebraska receives millions of waterfowl and other migratory birds during migration, particularly in the spring. Project partners will build upon their accomplishments from Phase I by expanding their habitat protection efforts to include easements and by carrying out restoration and enhancement activities on some 75 privately owned lands in addition to several state wildlife management areas and federal waterfowl production areas. In total, they will conserve 9,477 acres of wetland habitats. Through acquired and donated conservation easements, partners will protect 478 acres of habitat in perpetuity on three private lands. Under the Seasonal Habitat Improvement Program and Corners for Wildlife Program, partners will acquire leases on 347 agricultural acres to conserve wetlands and grasslands on marginal cropland. On various private, state, and federal lands, partners will restore 595 acres of habitat and enhance 8,057 acres more. Multiple activities will take place on 803 of the total project acres. In addition to benefiting migratory birds and other wetland-associated wildlife, partners’ efforts will provide the public with improved outdoor, recreational opportunities within the Rainwater Basin area. |
| NEW HAMPSHIRE | |
| Project: Great Bay Estuary: Piscassic River Watershed Project. Location: Rockingham and Strafford Counties, New Hampshire. Congressional District: 1. Grantee: The Nature Conservancy. Contact: Duane Hyde, (603) 659-2678, dhyde@tnc.org. Partners: Rockingham Land Trust, Town of Newmarket, Town of Durham, New Hampshire Fish and Game Department, Audubon Society of New Hampshire, Ducks Unlimited, Inc., Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests, private landowner, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Great Bay National Wildlife Refuge. Approved: March 2007. Grant: $1,000,000. Matching Funds: $2,140,257. Nonmatching Funds: $3,334,000. Joint Venture Region: Atlantic Coast. Flyway: Atlantic. BCR: 14 and 30. |
Project partners, who comprise the Great Bay Resource Protection Partnership, will protect a total of 664 acres of wetland habitats associated with the Great Bay’s Piscassic River Watershed. This watershed contains a mosaic of freshwater wetlands, floodplains, vernal pools, upland forests, and early successional habitats that provide significant resources to more than 100 bird species and 45 other species of wildlife. Partners are protecting a total of 118 acres of habitat in perpetuity through fee-title donation on three private properties. Partners also will purchase conservation easements on seven privately owned tracts, and receive a donated easement on an eighth tract, for a total of 546 perpetual-easement acres. These protected acres will be held and managed by various project partners. This partnership’s efforts will help to expand and connect blocks of habitat already protected in the seacoast region, helping to safeguard large natural areas in a part of the State experiencing tremendous development pressure. |
| NORTH DAKOTA | |
| Project: North Dakota Great Plains Project V. Location: McKenzie, Dunn, Golden Valley, Billings, Mercer, Oliver, Slope, Bowman, Stark, Hettinger, Adams, Sioux, Grant, Morton, and Emmons Counties, North Dakota. Congressional District: At large. Grantee: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Contact: Kevin Willis, (701) 355-8526, kevin_willis@fws.gov. Partners: North Dakota Game and Fish Department, Ducks Unlimited, Inc., North Dakota Natural Resources Trust, Gary Biffert, Mark Farnam, Raymond Gilstad, Grand River Conservation LLP, Kenneth Hochalter, Ambrose Hoff, Lucas Hoff, Rosalie Hunke, Randy Keller, Kolling Family, Mike Kolling, Allen Oukrup, Renner Farms, Perry Schlosser, VCZ Incorporated, and Clyde Wetzel. Approved: March 2007. Grant: $1,000,000. Matching Funds: $1,066,294. Nonmatching Funds: $124,400. Joint Venture Region: Northern Great Plains. Flyway: Central. BCR: 11. |
Ranchers in the Prairie Pothole Region have long been creating “stock ponds” to provide water for livestock, and studies have shown that ducks are using these created wetlands extensively as breeding and migration habitat. Project partners will build on their previous phases’ accomplishments by creating 100 more earthen-impoundment ponds, totaling 486 acres, on various private and public lands in the region. Partners also will acquire perpetual conservation easements on 3,000 acres of native grasslands and 333 wetland acres, all privately owned. Leases acquired on 14,624 acres of uplands will enable partners to conserve important nesting habitat on several private properties. Partners also will enhance an additional 831 acres of wetlands and associated uplands on public and private lands involving 14 sites. All project activities will be guided by partners’ landscape approach to conservation, which involves using Geographic Information System data on highest-density wetland and waterfowl occurrences in the region to determine key sites to protect and improve. In total, project partners will affect 19,274 acres of habitat for the benefit of migratory birds and other wildlife. |
| OREGON | |
| Project: Upper Willamette Wetlands Conservation Initiative II. Location: Benton, Lane, and Linn Counties, Oregon. Congressional District: 4 and 5. Grantee: McKenzie River Trust. Contact: Andrew Reasoner, (541) 345-2799, andy@mckenzieriver.org. Partners: Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, Bella Vista Foundation, McKenzie Watershed Council, East Lane Soil and Water Conservation District, Art Johnson, Dale Bergey, Larry Bangs, MDAC Farms LLC, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Mid-Willamette National Wildlife Refuge Complex, and USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service. Approved: March 2007. Grant: $1,000,000. Matching Funds: $1,000,000. Nonmatching Funds: $2,988,683. Joint Venture Region: Pacific Coast. Flyway: Pacific. BCR: 5. |
Partners in this project’s second phase will build upon their previous accomplishments by protecting, restoring, and enhancing 2,151 acres more of riparian and wetland habitats associated with the Upper Willamette River floodplain. This floodplain’s emergent and forested wetlands, wet prairie, and oak habitats are important to migratory birds and other wildlife, but have been overtaken by woody shrubs and small trees. Partners will restore 786 acres in total by thinning the invasive vegetation, replanting native species, and repairing wetland hydrology on nine parcels, including part of Green Island—which partners acquired in Phase I. In Phase II, they will also enhance 94 acres on the island’s northern half. In addition, partners will acquire perpetual conservation easements on six privately owned parcels totaling 1,171 acres, and will protect another 100 acres through a donated easement on a seventh parcel. Some of the project parcels will receive a combination of conservation activities on them, accounting for 921 of the project acres. |
| Project: Willamette River Delta Restoration, Phase I. Location: Polk, Yamhill, Washington, Columbia, and Multnomah Counties, Oregon. Congressional District: 1, 3 and 5. Grantee: Ducks Unlimited, Inc. Contact: Chuck Lobdell, (360) 885-2011, clobdell@ducks.org. Partners: Joint Water Commission, Wally Remmers, Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board, Clean Water Services, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Approved: March 2007. Grant: $880,500. Matching Funds: $1,767,592. Nonmatching Funds: $311,996. Joint Venture Region: Pacific Coast. Flyway: Pacific. BCR: 5. |
For the Pacific Northwest, the environmental costs associated with being one of the economically fastest-growing regions in the United States have been significant. Such costs include hydrologic disruption to riverine and wetland systems; fragmented habitat; establishment of invasive and non-native plant and animal species; blocked fish passages; and the massive introduction of nutrients and sediment into rivers and streams. Project partners will address these effects within the Willamette River Delta, which was once a diverse mosaic of riparian wetlands, seasonal marshes, grasslands, oak savannahs, and forested wetlands and uplands. Partners will acquire fee title to and restore the 369-acre Joint Water Commission Springhill Road Tract, and will restore another 348 acres total on private tracts and Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge. Shallow excavation, berm construction, water-control structure installation will be carried out on six private tracts, enhancing a total of 520 acres. Partners’ efforts will affect 1,237 acres throughout the project area and will benefit a myriad of migratory birds, fish, and other wildlife. |
| SOUTH DAKOTA | |
| Project: James River Lowlands/Missouri Coteau Project III. Location: Aurora, Beadle, Bon Homme, Brule, Buffalo, Campbell, Charles Mix, Davison, Douglas, Edmunds, Faulk, Hand, Hanson, Hughes, Hutchinson, Hyde, Jerauld, Kingsbury, McCook, McPherson, Miner, Potter, Sanborn, Spink, Sully, Walworth and Yankton Counties, South Dakota. Congressional District: At large. Grantee: Ducks Unlimited, Inc. Contact: Randy Renner, (701) 355-3526, rrenner@ducks.org. Partners: David Grohne and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Approved: March 2007. Grant: $1,000,000. Matching Funds: $1,057,225. Nonmatching Funds: $130,000. Joint Venture Region: Prairie Pothole. Flyway: Central. BCR: 11. |
The vast James River Lowlands and Missouri Coteau landscape of central South Dakota, part of the Prairie Pothole Region, is rapidly being transformed. Land that had once contained an expansive, prairie-wetland system used for ranching is increasingly being converted to tillage agriculture. The result is a loss of vital habitats for migratory birds and other wildlife, as well as compromised water quality for people. There are hundreds of landowners interested in reversing or preventing the degradation of grasslands and wetlands in the overall 8.8-million-acre, 27-county project area—many of whom participated in this project’s first two phases. In this the project’s third phase, partners will build upon previous accomplishments by acquiring conservation easements on additional privately owned parcels, particularly in Faulk, Hand, and Hyde Counties. In total, 6,081 acres of native grasslands interspersed with prairie pothole wetlands (5,681 grassland acres; 400 wetland acres) will be permanently protected under the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Grassland and Wetland Easements Program. Securing this habitat will especially benefit grassland-nesting migratory waterfowl, for which 60 to 70 percent of the continent’s population is produced in the Prairie Pothole Region annually. |
| TENNESSEE | |
| Project: Wolf River, Tennessee, Phase II. Location: Shelby and Fayette Counties, Tennessee. Congressional District: 7 and 9. Grantee: Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency. Contact: Tim Churchill, (615) 781-6645, Tim.Churchill@state.tn.us. Partners: Wolf River Conservancy, Chickasaw Basin Authority, Boyle Investment, Memphis Garden Club, Federation of Fly Fishers, W.E. Weiss Foundation, Larry Smith and Naomi Tol, and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers-Memphis District. Approved: March 2007. Grant: $1,000,000. Matching Funds: $3,113,076. Nonmatching Funds: $8,898,000. Joint Venture Region: Lower Mississippi Valley. Flyway: Mississippi. BCR: 27. |
Partners have brought some level of protection to 17,000 of the 42,000 acres in the Wolf River Project area to date, and in this the project’s second phase, they will conserve another 4,511 acres on 15 tracts of land. Partners will protect a total of 1,131 acres through fee-title acquisitions and 1,220 acres through fee-title donations. Another 60 acres will be protected through perpetual conservation easement donations. One of the tracts involves both fee-title and easement activities on 318 acres. Nearly half of the total project acres will be transferred to public ownership; Wolf River Conservancy will hold 326 acres; and 60 acres will remain privately owned. Partners will enhance an additional 2,100 acres of federally owned habitat associated with Wolf River by installing weirs in the main channel and tributaries. Securing and enhancing more palustrine emergent and forested wetland habitat and wetland-associated uplands in western Tennessee will greatly benefit a myriad of migratory waterfowl and other birds. Partners’ efforts will also help to protect the water quality at two aquifers in the Wolf River watershed that serve as the primary water source for the Memphis metropolitan area. |
| TEXAS | |
| Project: Austin’s Woods III. Location: Brazoria, Matagorda, Wharton, and Fort Bend Counties, Texas. Congressional District: 14 and 22. Grantee: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Contact: Michael Lange, (979) 849-7771, michael_lange@fws.gov. Partners: Clay and Sandy Spears, Houston Audubon Society, Lolita Muhm, ConocoPhillips, Inc., National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, and Trust for Public Land. Approved: March 2007. Grant: $586,000. Matching Funds: $614,539. Nonmatching Funds: $280,000. Joint Venture Region: Gulf Coast. Flyway: Central. BCR: 37. |
The Columbia Bottomlands, also known as Austin’s Woods, represent the only expanse of forest adjacent to the Gulf of Mexico in Texas. Approximately 75 percent of its historic 700,000 acres of forested wetlands has been lost to commercial and residential development, logging, drainage, and clearing for grazing. Project partners will build upon their previous accomplishments at Austin’s Woods by protecting a total of 877 acres from these threats in the future. Fee title on two privately owned tracks totaling 139 acres, and conservation easements on another two tracts totaling 313 acres, will be donated for inclusion in the San Bernard National Wildlife Refuge—located within the Austin’s Woods ecosystem and just 15 miles from downtown Houston. Project partners will add another 425 acres to the refuge through fee-title acquisition on several surrounding parcels. Partners’ efforts to expand the refuge will benefit millions of Neotropical migratory birds, waterfowl, and shorebirds, and will help to safeguard water quality and provide more recreational opportunities for the public. |
| Project: Wetland Restoration and Enhancement on Private and Public Lands, Texas Gulf Coast V. Location: Aransas, Austin, Brazoria, Brooks, Calhoun, Cameron, Chambers, Colorado, Fort Bend, Galveston, Harris, Hidalgo, Jackson, Jefferson, Kenedy, Kleberg, Lavaca, Liberty, Matagorda, Nueces, Orange, Refugio, San Patricio, Starr, Victoria, Waller, Wharton, and Willacy Counties, Texas. Congressional District: 2, 8, 9, 14, 15, 18, 22, 25, 27, 28, 29. Grantee: Ducks Unlimited, Inc. Contact: Ed Ritter, (832) 595-0663, eritter@ducks.org. Partners: Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, Meadows Foundation, Texas R.I.C.E., private landowners, Sabine Ranch & Cattle Company, Inc., Entergy, BP Americas, Inc., Chevron Environmental Management Company, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service. Approved: March 2007. Grant: $969,141. Matching Funds: $1,973,057. Nonmatching Funds: $359,710. Joint Venture Region: Gulf Coast. Flyway: Central. BCR: 37. |
The Texas Gulf Coast has experienced a tremendous loss of wetlands due to development, reduction of rice acreage, altered local and regional hydrology, and saltwater intrusion. The emergent wetlands and coastal marshes that remain need to provide migration and wintering habitat for the millions of migratory birds that depend upon this region. Project partners will build upon their previous accomplishments in protecting and improving vital habitats around the gulf by restoring and enhancing a total of 14,508 acres in this the project’s fifth phase. Partners will restore and enhance 4,700 acres of moist-soil wetlands and flooded agricultural fields on various private lands throughout the Texas Gulf Coast region. Partners also will restore and enhance a total of 6,542 acres of coastal marsh, sand dunes, and moist-soil units at four sites on McFaddin National Wildlife Refuge (NWR). Adjacent to the refuge, private ranch owners will restore 3,000 acres of their lands’ native coastal prairies and freshwater emergent wetlands. Additionally, on nearby Anahuac NWR, partners will restore 266 acres of moist-soil wetlands and coastal prairie grasslands. |
/birdhabitat/Grants/NAWCA/Standard/US/2007_March.shtm was last updated 05/14/08 08:29:37
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