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| Division of Bird Habitat Conservation | |
A total of $33.4 million in funding was approved for the following 34 projects on September 9, 2009. Project partners are contributing $89.3 million in matching funds to affect 194,717 acres of habitat and $28 million in nonmatching funds to affect 74,310 acres of habitat. These projects are considered part of the Fiscal Year 2010/Window 1 grants cycle. This information is accurate as of the date of approval. For further information about specific grant projects, please contact the grantee listed in individual project summaries. Project Summary Table.
| ARIZONA, CALIFORNIA | |
| Project: Sonoran Wetlands Restoration II. Location: La Paz County, Ariz.; Imperial, Los Angeles and Riverside counties, Calif. Congressional District: AZ 7; CA 25, 41, 51. Grantee: Ducks Unlimited, Inc . Contact: Mark Biddlecomb, mbiddlecomb@ducks.org. Partners: California Wildlife Conservation Board; California Department of Fish and Game; Los Patos Bravos Duck Club; Splatter S Duck Club; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Approved: September 2009. Grant: $1,000,000. Matching Funds: $2,204,107. Nonmatching Funds/Other Federal Funds: $45,428. Joint Venture Region: Sonoran. Flyway: Pacific. BCR: 32-Coastal California. |
This proposal represents phase two of a long-term effort by Ducks Unlimited, Inc., and its partners to conserve important wetlands and associated habitats in the Sonoran region. The project area is located in one of the most arid parts of the continent, yet contains the most important and threatened wetlands remaining in this region. Partners will protect, restore or enhance wetlands and associated habitats adjacent to the Salton Sea, which annually hosts millions of wetland-dependent birds. The wetlands restored and enhanced by this project will benefit breeding, migrating and wintering waterfowl, shorebirds and waterbirds, most notably the endangered California least tern and Yuma clapper rail. |
| CALIFORNIA | |
| Project: North Sacramento Valley Wetland Habitat Project, Phase IV. Location: Butte, Colusa, Glenn, Sutter, Yolo and Yuba counties. Congressional District: 2. Grantee: California Waterfowl Association. Contact: Chadd Santerre, chadd_santerre@calwaterfowl.org. Partners: California Wildlife Conservation Board; California Department of Fish and Game; Bird Haven Ranch; Piper’s Patch; private individuals. Approved: September 2009. Grant: $1,000,000. Matching Funds: $2,079,118. Nonmatching Funds/Other Federal Funds: None. Joint Venture Region: Central Valley. Flyway: Pacific. BCR: 32-Coastal California. |
This project covers habitat in the Central Valley, an area that has been described as the most important wintering area for waterfowl in the Pacific Flyway. Biologists estimate that 60 percent of the Pacific Flyway’s waterfowl population (excluding seaducks)--representing 20 percent of the entire continental waterfowl population--winters or migrates through the Central Valley. Hundreds of thousands of shorebirds also visit throughout the year. This project builds on the conservation partnerships that have been successful at accomplishing previous phases. In this phase, 24 projects on federal, state and privately owned properties will be completed by de-leveling agricultural fields, building new levees, installing water control structures, improving water delivery systems, developing new water sources, rehabilitating degraded wetlands, planting riparian trees and seeding upland areas. The completion of these projects will provide protection, expansion and improvements to diverse habitats that will benefit migratory waterfowl and other wetland associated bird species. |
| Project: Butte and Colusa Basins Wetlands II Project. Location: Butte, Colusa, Glenn and Sutter counties. Congressional District: 2. Grantee: Ducks Unlimited, Inc . Contact: Mark Biddlecomb, mbiddlecomb@ducks.org. Partners: Rancho Rio Chico; Wildlife Conservation Board; California Department of Fish and Game; Minasian Ranch; Refuge Gun Club; Behring Ranch; Greenhead Land Company; Live Oak Gun Club; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. Approved: September 2009. Grant: $1,000,000. Matching Funds: $4,064,042. Nonmatching Funds/Other Federal Funds: $78,515. Joint Venture Region: Central Valley. Flyway: Pacific. BCR: 32-Coastal California. |
This project builds on a conservation effort begun in 2006. It is located within the Sacramento Valley portion of California’s Central Valley, one of the most important and threatened areas for waterfowl and other wetland-dependent wildlife on the continent. The Sacramento Valley supports 44 percent of the Pacific Flyway’s wintering waterfowl and is the single most important wintering area for waterfowl in the flyway. The Butte and Colusa Basins Wetlands II Project focuses work in two of the nine drainage basins in the Central Valley. The project will protect, restore, enhance or permanently protect wetlands, forested habitat and associated uplands in a region of continental importance to all major bird groups. Work will occur on four national wildlife refuges, two state wildlife areas and seven private properties. Project work will benefit numerous waterfowl, shorebirds, and other waterbirds that use the Butte and Colusa basins for migration, wintering, or breeding, including northern pintail, mallard, white-fronted goose, cackling Canada goose, American avocet, white-faced ibis, and Virginia rail. |
| Project: San Pablo Bay Tidal Wetland Restoration Project III. Location: Napa, Solano and Sonoma counties. Congressional District: 1, 6. Grantee: Ducks Unlimited, Inc . Contact: Mark Biddlecomb, mbiddlecomb@ducks.org. Partners: North Coast Rail Authority; Viansa Winery; Petaluma Wetlands Alliance; City of Petaluma; Camelbak; Whole Foods; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; U.S. Coast Guard. Approved: September 2009. Grant: $1,000,000. Matching Funds: $1,348,956. Nonmatching Funds/Other Federal Funds: $129,267. Joint Venture Region: San Francisco Bay. Flyway: Pacific. BCR: 32-Coastal California. |
In the northern reaches of the San Francisco Estuary lies San Pablo Bay, whose surrounding marshlands, known as the San Pablo Baylands, consist of approximately 40,000 acres of tidal wetlands, non-tidal perennial and seasonal wetlands, riparian corridors and uplands. This project, the third in a multiple-phase effort, will acquire new acres, and restore and enhance previously protected acres of wetlands and associated upland habitats in the San Pablo Baylands. Restoration and enhancement activities will benefit numerous waterfowl, shorebird and waterbird species that use this region during breeding, migration, and wintering seasons, including northern pintail, mallard, lesser scaup, and greater scaup, as well as California clapper rail and western snowy plover. |
| COLORADO | |
| Project: San Luis Valley Rio Grande Initiative II. Location: Mineral, Rio Grande and Alamosa counties. Congressional District: 3. Grantee: Rio Grande Headwaters Land Trust. Contact: Nancy Butler, nancyb@riograndelandtrust.org. Partners: Great Outdoors Colorado Trust Fund; Colorado Water Conservation Board; The Nature Conservancy; Colorado Conservation Trust; Rio Oxbow Ranch, Inc.; River Valley Ranch III; Mineral County; San Luis Valley Irrigation District; Broken Arrow Ranch and Land Company; Rio Grande Silver, Inc.; Pinyon Environmental Engineering Resources; Allan Beezley, PC; Rio Grande Water Conservation District; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Approved: September 2009. Grant: $1,000,000. Matching Funds: $3,243,800. Nonmatching Funds/Other Federal Funds: $5,000. Joint Venture Region: Intermountain West. Flyway: Central. BCR: 16. |
The San Luis Valley Rio Grande Initiative II will protect private land and enhance wetlands on the Alamosa National Wildlife Refuge, encompassing key riparian wetlands and senior water rights on the Rio Grande River in Colorado. The second phase of a continuing effort, this project will protect and restore critical migration and breeding habitat for a wide variety of waterfowl, shorebirds and waterbirds. The project will benefit numerous waterfowl species such as mallards, northern pintail, lesser scaup, redheads, American wigeon, canvasback, ring-necked ducks and wood ducks. Other migratory birds that will benefit include Wilson’s phalarope, American avocet, Virginia rail, white-faced ibis and American bittern. |
| FLORIDA | |
| Project: North Florida Wetlands Conservation Project, Phase IV. Location: Alachua County. Congressional District: 6. Grantee: Alachua County. Contact: Ramesh P. Buch, info@AlachuaConservationTrust.org. Partners: Alachua County; Florida Communities Trust; private individuals; Friends of Paynes Prairie, Inc.; Alachua Audubon Society. Approved: September 2009. Grant: $1,000,000. Matching Funds: $2,150,500. Nonmatching Funds/Other Federal Funds: None. Joint Venture Region: Atlantic Coast. Flyway: Atlantic. BCR: 31. |
This project represents the next phase of a habitat conservation effort being accomplished by a first-of-its-kind partnership among federal, state, regional, and local governments and non-profit conservation organizations in north-central Florida. The parcel to be acquired in Phase IV is the last large inholding remaining along Prairie Creek, the main tributary to Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park. For two decades, partnering organizations have been working toward the goal of saving the remaining wilderness in this part of Florida's Ecological Greenway Network. Migratory sandhill cranes visit the prairie basin and surrounding upland habitats each winter, while several hundred non-migratory Florida sandhill cranes use the area year-round. |
| IDAHO, WYOMING | |
| Project: Teton Basin V. Location: Teton County, Idaho; Teton County, Wyoming. Congressional District: ID 2; WY 1. Grantee: Teton Regional Land Trust Contact: Bonnie Self, bonnie@tetonlandtrust.org. Partners: The Nature Conservancy; Doris Duke Charitable Foundation; Idaho Department of Fish and Game; Ducks Unlimited, Inc.; Intermountain Aquatics; private individuals; Gillilan Associates; Teton Regional Land Trust; Natural Resources Conservation Service; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; Idaho Department of Fish and Game; Landowner Incentive Program; Bonneville Power Administration; National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. Approved: September 2009. Grant: $1,000,000. Matching Funds: $3,394,32. Nonmatching Funds/Other Federal Funds: $1,113,188. Joint Venture Region: Intermountain West. Flyway: Central. BCR: 9-Great Basin. |
The objectives of this project, phase four in an ongoing effort, are to conserve and restore key wetland and associated upland habitats. This project also addresses a key element for increasing waterfowl nesting: restoring and protecting highly functional upland habitat in proximity to protected wetlands. Project activities will protect and restore wetlands and uplands that provide valuable nesting, migration and wintering habitat for priority wetland birds such as the long-billed curlew, sandhill crane and trumpeter swan and waterfowl such as mallard and wigeon. |
| IOWA | |
| Project: Des Moines River Valley Wetlands. Location: Portions of 16 counties. Congressional District: 2, 3, and 4. Grantee: Iowa Department of Natural Resources. Contact: Todd Bishop, (515) 281-7127, todd.bishop@dnr.state.ia.us. Partners: Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation; Warren County Conservation Board; Lee County Conservation Board; Hardwood Timberland Unlimited; Pheasants Forever, Warren County Chapter; Pheasants Forever, Iowa Capital Chapter; Pheasants Forever, Lee County Chapter; Three Rivers Conservation Foundation. Approved: September 2009. Grant: $1,000,000. Matching Funds: $3,549,100. Nonmatching Funds/Other Federal Funds: None. Joint Venture Region: Upper Mississippi River Great Lakes. Flyway: Mississippi. BCR: 22-Eastern tallgrass prairie. |
This is phase two of four anticipated projects directed at wetland conservation along the main-stem tributaries of the Mississippi River in central and southern Iowa. The Phase I project, Iowa River Corridor focused on the central and lower Iowa River. Phase II focuses on wetland conservation projects along the Skunk and Des Moines rivers. Project partners are targeting conservation activities to protect and enhance two of the largest wetland habitat complexes in the state of Iowa: Pool 19 on the Mississippi River and Red Rock Reservoir on the Des Moines River. Both areas are known for hosting large numbers of waterfowl and diverse assemblages of shorebirds, herons, rails, and other waterbirds during both spring and fall migration. All tracts acquired with grant funds will be managed as public wildlife management areas and will be open to recreation such as hunting, hiking, bird watching, photography and education. |
| Project: Upper Iowa Prairie Pothole Partnership – Phase I. Location: 17counties. Congressional District: 4 and 5. Grantee: Ducks Unlimited, Inc. Contact: Eric Lindstrom, elindstrom@ducks.org Partners: The Nature Conservancy; Iowa Department of Natural Resources; Cerro Gordo County Conservation Board; Vermeer Charitable Foundation, Inc.; Kossuth County Pheasants Forever. Approved: September 2009. Grant: $1,000,000. Matching Funds: $2,005,5004. Nonmatching Funds/Other Federal Funds: $722,400. Joint Venture Region: Prairie Pothole. Flyway: Mississippi. BCR: 11-Prairie Potholes. |
This project will protect, restore and enhance critical wetland and upland habitat in the northern portion of Iowa’s Prairie Pothole Region. A diverse group of corporate, county, state, federal and non-governmental partners has invested significant conservation planning efforts to shape the scope of this project and leverage limited conservation resources. This project will accelerate The Nature Conservancy’s land protection efforts within the Little Sioux River Valley; restore drained prairie pothole wetlands on federal waterfowl production areas; and greatly expand the Ducks Unlimited/Iowa Department of Natural Resources Living Lakes Initiative Partnership in Iowa. Protected, restored and enhanced acres will provide critical breeding and migration habitat for species such as the northern pintail, mallard, American black duck, and lesser and greater scaup. |
| LOUISIANA | |
| Project: Flying J Ranch Conservation Project. Location: Vermilion Parish. Congressional District: 7. Grantee: Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Foundation. Contact: A. Kell McInnis III, kmcinnis@wlf.louisiana.gov. Partners: BP Corporation; private individuals; The Conservation Fund; Natural Resources Conservation Servicel. Approved: September 2009. Grant: $1,000,000. Matching Funds: $2,025,000. Nonmatching Funds/Other Federal Funds: None. Joint Venture Region: Gulf Coast. Flyway: Mississippi. BCR: 37-Gulf Coastal Prairie. |
This project will acquire a conservation easement over habitat adjacent to the White Lake Wetlands Conservation Area, originally donated by BP America Production White Lake. This parcel is currently owned, farmed and leased for recreational uses. It fits within a larger conservation area and provides important habitat to significant numbers of waterfowl, waterbirds, shorebirds and other resident and migratory bird species. Species that will benefit include the northern pintail, mallard, mottled duck, wood duck, tricolored heron, red-headed woodpecker, Acadian flycatcher, Swainson’s warbler and prothonatory warbler. |
| Project: Louisiana Coastal Wetlands V. Location: Cameron and Vermilion parishes. Congressional District: 7. Grantee: Ducks Unlimited, Inc. Contact: Brian Davis, bdavis@ducks.org. Partners: Wetlands America Trust; BP America; Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority; private individua. Approved: September 2009. Grant: $1,000,000. Matching Funds: $2,068,82. Nonmatching Funds/Other Federal Funds: None. Joint Venture Region: Gulf Coast. Flyway: Mississippi. BCR: 37-Gulf Coastal Prairie. |
This project will permanently protect coastal marsh and associated uplands, and restore similar habitats. These efforts will benefit diverse species of migratory birds and other wildlife in the Gulf Coast Joint Venture Chenier Plain Initiative Area of southwest Louisiana. Wetland restoration associated with this project and its previous phases will help ensure these coastal areas continue to fulfill their historic role as one of the most important wintering and migration habitats in North America for continental populations of waterfowl, shorebirds, waterbirds and other migratory birds. The project areas contain migration and wintering habitat for lesser and greater scaup, mottled duck, northern pintail, and mallard, and breeding, wintering or migration habitat for numerous species of shorebirds, wading birds, and other waterbirds. |
| Project: Pointe-aux-Chenes – Grand Bayou I. Location: Lafourche and Terrebonne parishes. Congressional District: 3. Grantee: Ducks Unlimited, Inc. Contact: Brian Davis, bdavis@ducks.org. Partners: Louisiana Department of Natural Resources; Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Foundation; Irene W. and C.B. Pennington Foundation; Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries; ExxonMobil; private individual. Approved: September 2009. Grant: $1,000,000. Matching Funds: $2,545,817. Nonmatching Funds/Other Federal Funds: None. Joint Venture Region: Gulf Coast. Flyway: Mississippi. BCR: 37-Gulf Coastal Prairie. |
Through this project, partners will restore intertidal vegetated wetlands on three tracts. The project area contains migration and wintering habitat for northern pintail, lesser and greater scaup, and mallard; year-round habitat for the mottled duck; and migration and wintering habitat for American wigeon, wood duck, redhead, canvasback and ring-necked duck. Numerous species of shorebirds use wetlands across the project area, as do herons, egrets, ibises, bitterns, roseate spoonbills, wood storks and rails. |
| MAINE | |
| Project: Heads of the Estuaries Partnership: Habitat Protection, Phase I. Location: Washington County. Congressional District: 2. Grantee: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Gulf of Maine Program. Contact: Stewart Fefer, stewart_fefer@fws.gov. Partners: Maine Coast Heritage Trust; Great Auk Land Trust; Land for Maine’s Future Program; private individuals; The Nature Conservancy – Maine Chapter; Ducks Unlimited, Inc. Approved: September 2009. Grant: $1,000,000. Matching Funds: $2,946,500. Nonmatching Funds/Other Federal Funds: $290,000. Joint Venture Region: Atlantic Coast. Flyway: Atlantic. BCR: 14-Atlantic Northern Forest. |
The Heads of the Estuaries Partnership, a consortium of government agencies, regional conservation organizations and local land trusts, is working to protect coastline, coastal uplands and coastal wetlands from the mouth of the Narraguagus River to the mouth of the Machias River in Downeast Maine – a region of concentrated, high-value habitat for wintering and migratory waterfowl and shorebirds. This project will permanently protect habitat within the Heads of the Estuaries Partnership Region. High biological productivity, extensive intertidal mudflats and salt marshes, and undeveloped shoreline provide outstanding habitat for large concentrations of wintering and migrating black ducks, other waterfowl, migratory shorebirds and bald eagles. Freshwater wetlands near the coast also offer important breeding and migratory habitat for waterfowl and wading birds. The project region provides exceptional migratory and wintering habitat for nearly 30 species of waterfowl, and significant roosting and feeding areas for tens of thousands of migrating shorebirds. |
| Project: Piscataquis River/Alder Stream Wetlands. Location: Piscataquis and Penobscot counties. Congressional District: 2. Grantee: Northeast Wilderness Trust. Contact: Sigrid Pickering, spickering@newildernesstrust.org. Partners: Sweet Water Trust; Maine Farmland Trust; Maine Community Foundation; The Nature Conservancy; Ducks Unlimited, Inc.; Natural Resources Conservation Service; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; Atlantic Salmon Federation; Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife; Maine Natural Areas Program; American Chestnut Foundation; private landowner; BioDiversity Research Institute. Approved: September 2009. Grant: $1,000,000. Matching Funds: $2,001,718. Nonmatching Funds/Other Federal Funds: None. Joint Venture Region: Atlantic Coast. Flyway: Atlantic. BCR: 14-Atlantic Northern Forest. |
The Piscataquis River/Alder Stream Wetlands complex in central Maine is one of the largest and most varied intact freshwater wetland systems in the state. The habitat to be acquired through this project lies within a larger landscape of contiguous, protected conservation land totaling nearly 20,000 acres. This project will permanently protect freshwater wetlands, emergent wetlands, decreasing forested wetlands types, riverine wetlands and shrub-scrub wetland. The project will also protect frontage along the Piscataquis River, Alder Stream and Brown Brook, as well as tributary streams. These habitats provide breeding and migration habitat for waterfowl including American black ducks, mallards, wood ducks, hooded mergansers and American wigeon. |
| Project: West Grand Lake Community Forest Phase I. Location: Washington County. Congressional District: 2. Grantee: Downeast Lakes Land Trust. Contact: Mark Berry, mberrydllt@earthlink.net. Partners: The Conservation Fund; The Open Space Institute; The Nature Conservancy; Grand Lake Stream Plantation; Grand Lake Stream Guides Association. Approved: September 2009. Grant: $1,000,000. Matching Funds: $3,825,000. Nonmatching Funds/Other Federal Funds: $2,000,000. Joint Venture Region: Atlantic Coast. Flyway: Atlantic. BCR: 14-Atlantic Northern Forests. |
West Grand Lake and its outlet, Grand Lake Stream, are widely renowned cold-water fisheries and recreational resources. Big Musquash Stream winds through the largest contiguous wetland complex in the entire St. Croix River watershed, hosting hundreds of waterfowl during migration and providing important breeding habitat for black ducks and other priority wildlife species. The West Grand Lake Community Forest Phase I Project aims to protect with a conservation easement land that connects West Grand Lake and Big Musquash Stream. It will permanently protect wetlands, undeveloped lakeshore on two lakes, frontage on Big Musquash Stream, and interior streams in the St. Croix River watershed, as well as vital upland buffers for all of these habitats. These valuable habitats for migratory birds, endangered species, and other wildlife are within 20 miles of the relatively pristine coast of Downeast Maine. These acres benefit species such as the American black duck, wood duck, ring-necked duck, American woodcock, olive-sided flycatcher, common tern and sedge wren. |
| MICHIGAN | |
| Project: Southeastern Lake Michigan Coastal Habitat ProjectII. Location: 23 counties. Congressional District: 2, 3, 4, 6, and 7. Grantee: Ducks Unlimited, Inc. Contact: Russell Terry, rterry@ducks.org. Partners: Michigan Department of Natural Resources; Southwest Michigan Land Conservancy; The Nature Conservancy; Michigan Nature Association; Potawatomi Resource Conservation and Development; Great Sauk Trail Council of the Boys Scouts of America; R. T. Groos, LLC; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service – Michigan Private Lands Office; Fort Custer Training Center Environmental; U.S. Forest Service – Baldwin Ranger Distric. Approved: September 2009. Grant: $989,000. Matching Funds: $1,979,451. Nonmatching Funds/Other Federal Funds: $117,414. Joint Venture Region: Upper Mississippi River Great Lakes. Flyway: Mississippi. BCR: 23-Prairie Hardwood Transition. |
This project focuses on wetland and associated upland habitat conservation in the southeastern Lake Michigan watershed. It targets protection, restoration, and enhancement of waterfowl breeding habitat within the coastal zone, expansion of nature preserves, and restoration of private wetlands and nearby uplands important for waterfowl production and other wildlife. Partners will focus on protecting, restoring and enhancing emergent, forested, and scrub-shrub wetlands, and restoring and enhancing native warm season grasslands for waterfowl, other migratory birds and other wildlife. This project marks the beginning of a coordinated, multi-year effort to protect and restore wetlands and adjacent upland communities on public and private land within a 23-county area. |
| MINNESOTA | |
| Project: Border Prairie Wetlands II. Location: Becker, Douglas, Kandiyohi, Mahnomen, Meeker, Otter Tail, Pope, Stearns and Todd counties. Congressional District: 6 and 7. Grantee: Pheasants Forever, Inc. Contact: Ron Leathers, rleathers@pheasantsforever.org. Partners: Minnesota Department of Natural Resources; Ducks Unlimited, Inc.; private individuals. Approved: September 2009. Grant: $1,000,000. Matching Funds: $2,001,594. Nonmatching Funds/Other Federal Funds: $409,000 Joint Venture Region: Prairie Pothole. Flyway: Mississippi. BCR: 23-Prairie Hardwood Transition. |
The Border Prairie Wetlands II project is designed to accelerate protection of tallgrass prairies, prairie wetlands and the diverse plants and animals these habitats support. Partners will continue contributing to long-term conservation efforts by acquiring habitat in fee title and under perpetual easement, including prairie remnant wetlands and adjacent uplands, and enhancing grasslands. A wide array of wetland and grassland dependent species will benefit. |
| MINNESOTA, NORTH DAKOTA, SOUTH DAKOT | |
| Project: Prairies Without Borders. Location: 23 counties in eastern South Dakota; 50 counties in Minnesota; and 9 counties in North Dakota. Congressional District: SD 1. Grantee: Northern Prairies Land Trust. Contact: John H. Davidson, info@northernprairies.org. Partners: South Dakota Game Fish and Parks; Minnesota Department of Natural Resources; The Nature Conservancy; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Approved: September 2009. Grant: $1,000,000. Matching Funds: $1,107,128. Nonmatching Funds/Other Federal Funds: $409,000 Joint Venture Region: Prairie Pothole. Flyway: Mississippi. BCR: 11-Prairie Potholes. |
The goal of this initial phase of the Prairies Without Borders project is to begin perpetually protecting wetlands and grasslands in the eastern the Prairie Pothole region. This project is based on landscape-wide protection of grassland and wetland habitats, but focuses primarily on recognizing the quality of habitat remaining on the northern portions of the Prairie Coteau landscape in northeast South Dakota. The habitat preserved by this project will not only provide direct benefits to waterfowl, but also to numerous species of shorebirds, wading birds, marsh birds, other wetland-dependent wildlife species, grassland songbirds and other grassland-dependent wildlife species. Valuable breeding, migration and, for some resident species, wintering habitat will be protected, benefitting northern pintail, mallard, American wigeon and other upland nesting waterfowl. Upland sandpiper, marbled godwit, greater prairie chicken, and grassland passerine birds will benefit as well. |
| MISSISSIPPI | |
| Project: Theodore Roosevelt National Wildlife Refug Complex Wetlands Restoration and Enhancement II. Location: Holmes, Humphreys, Quitman and Yazoo counties. Congressional District: 2. Grantee: Ducks Unlimited, Inc. Contact: Chris Cole, ccole@ducks.org. Partners: Wetlands America Trust; Walker Foundation; private individuals; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Approved: September 2009. Grant: $921,209. Matching Funds: $2,488,502. Nonmatching Funds/Other Federal Funds: $2,200,000. Joint Venture Region: Lower Mississippi Valley. Flyway: Atlantic. BCR: 26-Mississippi Alluvial Valley. |
This proposal is a continuation of long-term efforts to protect, restore and enhance important wetland habitats in the Lower Mississippi Alluvial Valley, with a focus on public and private lands within the Theodore Roosevelt National Wildlife Refuge Complex. Completion of project activities will help ensure that the valley continues to fulfill its historic role as one of the most important landscapes in North America for continental populations of waterfowl, wading birds, shorebirds and other wetland-dependent migratory birds. Seven partners involved in this project will work together to protect and enhance wetlands on public and private lands in four counties. The ecologically diverse habitats conserved through this project, once restored and enhanced, will provide foraging capacity and habitat for waterfowl species and other species of wetland-dependent migratory birds. |
| MISSOUR | |
| Project: Mingo Basin Partnership Phase I. Location: Bollinger, Butler, Stoddard and Wayne counties. Congressional District: 8. Grantee: Missouri Department of Conse. Contact: Brad Jacobs, brad.jacobs@mdc.mo.gov. Partners: Wetlands America Trust; Ducks Unlimited, Inc.; National Wild Turkey Federation; Missouri Conservation Heritage Foundation; Mingo Swamp Friends; Audubon Society of Missouri; Conservation Federation of Missouri; Conservation Employees Credit Union; Cato Slough Hunting Club, LLC; Greenbrier Wetland Services; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Approved: September 2009. Grant: $1,000,000. Matching Funds: $2,270,582. Nonmatching Funds/Other Federal Funds: $14,500. Joint Venture Region: Lower Mississippi Valley. Flyway: Mississippi. BCR: 24-Central Hardwoods. |
The Mingo Basin Partnership Project Phase I project will restore palustrine emergent and palustrine forested wetlands, and restore a natural flow of floodwaters between pools at Duck Creek Conservation Area and Mingo National Wildlife Refuge. This project is phase one of a three-phase Mingo Basin effort and will restore a natural flood regime that will have widespread effects throughout the 21,592-acre Mingo and 6,234-acre Duck Creek areas. The Mingo Basin is an important core wintering and migratory area for waterfowl and migratory landbirds. Project activities will benefit the migratory and wintering waterfowl such as mallards and northern pintails; migrant and breeding shorebirds such as greater yellowlegs, stilt sandpiper and short-billed dowitcher; breeding and migrant marsh species such as king rail, common moorhen and American bittern; and breeding, migrant and wintering landbirds such as Acadian flycatcher, cerulean warbler, prothonotary warbler and rusty blackbirds. |
| MONTANA | |
| Project: Big Hole Restoration and Protection II. Location: Beaverhead, Madison and Deer Lodge counties. Congressional District: 1. Grantee: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Contact: Jeff Everett, Jeff_Everett@fws.gov. Partners: Bull Creek Ranch; Ralston Ranches; J Bar L Ranches; Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks; Patagonia Outlet; private individual; Beaverhead County; The Nature Conservancy. Approved: September 2009. Grant: $1,000,000. Matching Funds: $3,783,520. Nonmatching Funds/Other Federal Funds: None. Joint Venture Region: Intermountain West. Flyway: Central. BCR: 10-Northern Rockies. |
This project provides a unique opportunity to build on a watershed scale restoration and protection program in Montana’s Big Hole Valley that evolved from partnerships between landowners, agencies, conservation organization and user groups. The project provides an opportunity to build on restoration and land protection efforts by permanently protecting habitat with a conservation easement on Ralston Ranch, and restoring riparian wetlands along Deep Creek and wetland and riparian habitat in the upper Big Hole Valley. The Bull Creek Ranch and the J Bar L Ranch are complementing the protection of important habitats for fish and migratory birds on the Ralston Ranch by donating conservation easements. These intact habitats provide breeding and migratory habitat for dozens of waterfowl, waterbird and riparian species. Twenty-two waterfowl species are expected to benefit, including the northern pintail, mallard and lesser scaup. Other migratory bird species that will benefit include the greater sandhill crane, American white pelican, northern harrier, long-billed curlew and Wilson’s phalarope. |
| NEBRASKA | |
| Project: Lower Platte River Wetlands Conservation. Location: 16 counties. Congressional District: 1, 2, and 3. Grantee: Ducks Unlimited, Inc. Contact: Jonas Davis, jdavis@ducks.org. Partners: Platte River Habitat Foundation; Platte Valley Weed Management Area; Papio-Missouri Natural Resources District ; Central Platte Natural Resources District; Nebraska Land Trust; Nebraska Environmental Trust; Nebraska Department of Agriculture; Lower Platte South Natural Resources District; Lower Platte North Natural Resources District; private individuals; Woollam Foundation; Nebraska Game and Parks Commission; Todd Valley Wetlands Foundation; Natural Resources Conservation Service; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Approved: September 2009. Grant: $1,000,000. Matching Funds: $1,212,417. Nonmatching Funds/Other Federal Funds: $9,974. Joint Venture Region:Rainwater Basin. Flyway: Central. BCR: 19-Central Mixed-grass Prairie. |
The Lower Platte River Wetlands Conservation Project is an integral component of the first large-scale, landscape-level attempt to address habitat loss on the Platte River in eastern Nebraska. Numerous partners and landowners are working together to restore vitally important Platte River habitats, reversing a long trend of habitat loss. As part of this project, partners and landowners will restore, enhance and protect habitats by acquiring key parcels, securing conservation easements, restoring wetlands and adjacent grassland habitat, and removing invasive species that are choking the river and eliminating wetland habitats. |
| NEW YORK, VERMONT | |
| Project: Lake Champlain Wetlands Phase III. Location: Clinton, Essex, Franklin, Washington and Warren counties, New York; Franklin, Grand Isle, Chittenden, Addison and Rutland counties, Vermont. Congressional District: NY 20, 23; VT 1. Grantee: The Nature Conservancy. Contact: Tom Berry, tberry@tnc.org. Partners: New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets; New York State Department of Environmental Conservation; Lake Champlain Land Trust; Vermont Fish and Wildlife Agency; private individuals; Northeast Wilderness Trust; The Vermont Duck Stamp Trust Fund; Adirondack Land Trust; Eddy Foundation; Ducks Unlimited; Washington County, N.Y.; Champlain National Bank; Natural Resources Conservation Service; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Approved: September 2009. Grant: $1,000,000. Matching Funds: $3,126,998. Nonmatching Funds/Other Federal Funds: $17,577,972. Joint Venture Region: Atlantic Coast. Flyway: Atlantic. BCR: 13-Lower Great Lakes/St. Lawrence Plain. |
In this 400th anniversary of Samuel de Champlain’s exploration of Lake Champlain, The Nature Conservancy will conserve habitat containing 61 riparian miles in the Champlain Watershed. These forests are laced with pristine wetlands and riparian areas that provide wildlife habitat and protect water quality. More than 40 percent of the land area to be protected is within 300 feet of wetlands or streams. The Lake Champlain Valley provides breeding and, more importantly, staging and migration habitat for thousands of waterfowl such as the American black duck, mallard, wood duck, green-winged teal, greater and lesser scaup, common goldeneye, ring-necked duck and common merganser. |
| NORTH DAKOTA | |
| Project: Chase Lake Area Wetland Project – IX. Location: McLean, Sheridan, Wells, Foster, Burleigh, Kidder, Stutsman, Logan, LaMoure, McIntosh and Dickey counties. Congressional District: 1. Grantee: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Contact: Kevin Willis, kevin_willis@fws.gov. Partners: North Dakota Game and Fish Department; Ducks Unlimited, Inc.; The Nature Conservancy; North Dakota Natural Resources Trust; private individuals. Approved: September 2009. Grant: $1,000,000. Matching Funds: $2,024,823. Nonmatching Funds/Other Federal Funds: $145,224. Joint Venture Region: Prairie Pothole. Flyway: Central. BCR: 11-Prairie Potholes. |
The project is the ninth phase of an ongoing effort to protect, restore and enhance wetland and grassland communities using a landscape-level approach to planning. Although many of these wetlands have been protected, much of the surrounding prairie uplands have been converted to agricultural use. Because of this habitat fragmentation, predator populations have increased and concentrations of waterfowl and other migratory bird nests in the remaining grassland cover have allowed these predators to become more successful. In this project phase, native grasslands protecting wetlands will be secured with perpetual conservation easements and cropland will be seeded back to native or tame grasses. Wetlands to be restored or created through this project will be within blocks of grasslands or surrounded by grassland easements. Restored grasslands and managed grazing systems will help maintain the function and value of the wetlands by providing buffers as well as new and enhanced upland nesting habitat. These shallow emergent wetland types are important migration and breeding habitats for many waterfowl and wetland-dependant species. Protection of uplands associated with these wetlands, as in this proposal, provides essential nesting habitat for waterfowl and other species, and minimizes the influx of sediments and pesticides into these wetland basins. |
| Project: Missouri Coteau Habitat Conservation Project VIII. Location: 15 counties in central North Dakota. Congressional District: 1. Grantee: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Contact: Kevin Willis, kevin_willis@fws.gov. Partners: North Dakota Game and Fish Department; Turner Foundation; private individual. Approved: September 2009. Grant: $1,000,000. Matching Funds: $1,009,610. Nonmatching Funds/Other Federal Funds: $123,590. Joint Venture Region: Prairie Pothole. Flyway: Central. BCR: 11-Prairie Potholes. |
Phase eight of an ongoing project designed to protect, restore, monitor and evaluate wetland and grassland communities using a landscape level approach to planning will secure native grassland and wetland habitat by perpetual easements. The native grasslands of the Missouri Coteau are essential to the recovery of grassland birds. More than 900,000 acres inside the project boundary are designated as Bird Conservation Areas. The wetland-upland complexes that will be projected by this project will have significant benefits for grassland birds. Protection of native prairie surrounding these critically important prairie wetland habitats, as provided for in this proposal, will provide essential nesting habitat for waterfowl and other species, but will also minimize the influx of sediments, herbicides and pesticides into these wetlands. |
| Project: North Dakota Great Plains Project – VI. Location: 15 counties. Congressional District: 1. Grantee: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Contact: Kevin Willis, kevin_willis@fws.gov. Partners: North Dakota Game and Fish Department; Ducks Unlimited, Inc.; North Dakota State Water Commission; North Dakota Natural Resources Trust; private individuals; Lewis and Clark Wildlife Club. Approved: September 2009. Grant: $719,470. Matching Funds: $721,188. Nonmatching Funds/Other Federal Funds: $107,400. Joint Venture Region: Prairie Pothole. Flyway: Central. BCR: 17-Badlands and Prairies. |
This project is phase six of a multi-year effort to acquire perpetual conservation easements and wetland easements, and establish wetlands using grant and new partner funds. These easements will help to build cooperation among farmers, ranchers, and conservation interests in the Northern Great Plains Joint Venture. The newly created wetlands will greatly increase landowners’ capabilities to implement better grazing management on adjacent grasslands. This will, in turn, improve cover quality for ground nesting birds and other wildlife, thus increasing recruitment of ground nesting migratory birds. The completion of this project and the previous phases will create wetlands, which, along with the enhanced surrounding uplands, will provide excellent breeding and migration habitat for waterfowl, shorebirds, marsh, and wading birds. |
| OREGON | |
| Project: Lake County Closed Basin NAWCA Project – Phase 3. Location: Lake County. Congressional District: 2. Grantee: Ducks Unlimited, Inc. Contact: Michael Shannon, mshannon@ducks.org. Partners: Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife; Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board; Lake County Watershed Council; Lakeview Soil and Water Conservation District; J-Spear Ranch; ZX Ranch; O’Leary Ranch; Murphy Ranch; Garrett Ranch; Warner Ranch; private individual. Approved: September 2009. Grant: $1,000,000. Matching Funds: $1,535,398. Nonmatching Funds/Other Federal Funds: None. Joint Venture Region: Intermountain West. Flyway: Pacific. BCR: 9-Great Basin. |
This project represents the third phase in a long-term effort to conserve critical habitat for migratory birds within the Closed Basin Focus Area in eastern Oregon. Through this project, partners will enhance seasonal wet meadows and riparian wetlands. A variety of habitat types and wildlife will benefit from this project, with conservation activities concentrating on important, declining wetlands. Elsewhere in the Goose Lake Basin, Ducks Unlimited is working with a variety of partners such as the Lake County Watershed Council to restore marsh habitat on the Warner Ranch Tract, riparian habitat on the Drew’s Valley Tract, and riparian habitat on the Thomas Creek Tract. This project will also enhance seasonal wet meadows on the Cottonwood Creek Tract and riparian wetlands on the Maxwell Ranch Tract. As part of Phase 3, wetlands and upland on the McFarland Ranch will be enhanced. Ducks Unlimited and the Bureau of Land Management will further enhance habitat on the Warner Wetlands Tract. Large numbers of migratory birds depend on habitats conserved through this project. |
| OREGON, WASHINGTON | |
| Project: Living Floodplains of NW Oregon and SW Washington. Location: Clark and Cowlitz counties, Washington; Columbia, Multnomah, Washington and Polk counties, Oregon. Congressional District: WA 3; OR 1, 5. Grantee: Ducks Unlimited, Inc. Contact: Chuck Lobdell, clobdell@ducks.org. Partners: Metro; Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife; private individuals; Northwest D&D, Inc.; McDonald Excavating, Inc.; Sauvie Island Kennels; J. L. Storedahl & Sons, Inc.; Columbia Land Trust. Approved: September 2009. Grant: $1,000,000. Matching Funds: $2,004,735. Nonmatching Funds/Other Federal Funds: None. Joint Venture Region: Pacific Coast. Flyway: Pacific. BCR: 5-Northern Pacific Rainforest. |
This project represents an innovative approach to wetland and waterbird conservation that recognizes and addresses the complex ecological interactions between migratory birds that rely on multiple habitats in this area of the country. Through a combination of restoration, protection and enhancement activities, the Living Floodplains project will conserve wetland habitat to provide feeding and resting habitat to waterfowl and other wetland dependant wildlife. Specific project elements target the restoration, enhancement, and protection of floodplain wetland habitat. Collectively, the region’s emergent marshes and lacustrine areas are used by several hundred thousand waterfowl and shorebirds during migration periods and by hundreds of thousands of waterfowl as wintering habitat, including high numbers of mallards, wigeon, pintail and greater scaup. Additionally, the marshes support an abundance of mallards during the breeding season and provide habitat to a number of other avian species such as sandhill crane, marsh-wren, short-billed dowitcher, dunlin, black-bellied plover, and the northern harrier. |
| Project: Lower Columbia Ecoregion, Phase V. Location: Clackamas, Clatsop and Multnomah counties, Oregon; Pacific, Wahkiakum, Cowlitz and Clark counties, Washington. Congressional District: OR 1, 3; WA 3. Grantee: Columbia Land Trust. Contact: Scott McEwen, smcewen@columbialandtrust.org. Partners: North Coast Land Conservancy; Clark County; Ducks Unlimited, Inc.; Miller Hull Architects; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. Approved: September 2009. Grant: $991,930. Matching Funds: $1,984,261. Nonmatching Funds/Other Federal Funds: $49,576. Joint Venture Region: Pacific Coast. Flyway: Pacific. BCR: 5-Northern Pacific Rainforest. |
This project represents a continuing effort by partners to address the needs and opportunities for wetland restoration, enhancement and protection in the Lower Columbia River Ecoregion. Partners will protect, restore and enhance wetlands, riparian areas and adjacent upland habitats. Five of the project tracts will permanently protect high quality and regionally important wetland habitat. Three of the project tracts will restore or enhance intertidal, palustrine forested and palustrine emergent wetlands. These habitats will benefit waterfowl, shorebirds and wading birds, a variety of birds of prey, neotropical migrants, mammals, juvenile and migrating salmon, reptiles and amphibians. |
| SOUTH CAROLINA | |
| Project: South Carolina Lowcountry Wetlands Initiative I. Location: Georgetown, Charleston and Beaufort counties. Congressional District: 1 and 2. Grantee: Ducks Unlimited, Inc. Contact: Craig Leschack, cleschack@ducks.org. Partners: Wetlands America Trust; The Yawkey Foundation; South Carolina Department of Natural Resources; private individual; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Approved: September 2009. Grant: $1,000,000. Matching Funds: $3,243,798. Nonmatching Funds/Other Federal Funds: $69,920. Joint Venture Region: Atlantic Coast. Flyway: Atlantic. BCR: 27-Southeastern Coastal Plain. |
The long-term strategy of this effort is to build on the long-standing network of public and private conservation lands within key watersheds in the Lowcountry Initiative Area that will provide critical wetland and upland habitat for waterfowl, waterbirds, shorebirds, landbirds and other wetland dependent wildlife and plants. This project seeks to combine the financial contributions, expertise and management skills of government agencies, non-government partners and a private landowner with grant funds to support the goals and objectives of the Atlantic Coast Joint Venture South Atlantic Migratory Bird Initiative within South Carolina through a mix of wetlands protection and enhancement projects. The four projects within this larger effort will protect and enhance important wetland, associated upland and riparian habitats along the Waccamaw River on private land and enhance managed wetlands in two state wildlife management areas, a private easement and a federal refuge. |
| Project: Winyah Bay Protection Project, Phase II. Location: Dillon, Georgetown, Horry, Marion and Williamsburg counties. Congressional District: 1 and 6. Grantee: The Nature Conservancy. Contact: Maria Whitehead, mwhitehead@tnc.org. Partners: Pee Dee Land Trust; Ducks Unlimited; Thorne Foundation. Approved: September 2009. Grant: $1,000,000. Matching Funds: $14,304,022. Nonmatching Funds/Other Federal Funds: $7,696. Joint Venture Region: Atlantic Coast. Flyway: Atlantic. BCR: 27-Southeast Coastal Plain. |
This proposal represents the second of a four-phase project to permanently protect strategic tracts consisting of palustrine and estuarine wetlands and associated uplands in the Winyah Bay system. Phase II will protect five tracts, including wetlands and associated uplands to benefit breeding, migrating, and wintering birds. In this project, grant funds will be used to support the acquisition of one tract in the Black River watershed. This tract is strategically located along the Black River corridor and would serve to connect privately protected land within that watershed. |
| TEXAS | |
| Project: Coastal Prairie Wetlands Restoration/Acquisition III. Location: Brazoria, Chambers, Harris, Matagorda and Waller counties. Congressional District: 10 and 14. Grantee: Katy Prairie Conservandy. Contact: Mary Anne Piacentini, maryanne@katyprairie.org. Partners: Private individuals; Texas R.I.C.E.; Houston Endowment Inc.; Meadows Foundation Inc.; Mustang Machinery Corporation, Ltd. Approved: September 2009. Grant: $850,000. Matching Funds: $1,369,557. Nonmatching Funds/Other Federal Funds: $1,369,557. Joint Venture Region: Gulf Coast. Flyway: Central. BCR: 37-Gulf Coastal Prairie. |
This project represents the continuation of a regional effort to protect and improve vital inland coastal prairie and agricultural wetlands on the Katy Prairie, just 30 miles west northwest of Houston. The project recognizes the regional importance and connection to habitat areas closer to the Texas Gulf coast and works cooperatively with Texas R.I.C.E. to ensure that both inland and coastal wetland and prairie areas are restored and enhanced to benefit migratory waterfowl that move back and forth between these habitats in search of resting and foraging habitat. Freshwater emergent and coastal prairie habitats both inland and on the coast of the Texas Mid-Coast region will be positively affected. This project will provide breeding, migration and wintering habitat for mottled ducks, and migration and wintering habitat for northern pintail, mallard and lesser scaup. Acquisition and restoration components will also benefit endangered species such as the piping plover and threatened species such as wood stork. |
| VIRGINIA | |
| Project: Lower Rappahannock River IV. Location: Caroline and Richmond counties. Congressional District: 1. Grantee: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Rappahannock River National Wildlife Refuge. Contact: Joseph McCauley, joseph_mccauley@fws.gov. Partners: The Conservation Fund; private landowners. Approved: September 2009. Grant: $1,000,000. Matching Funds: $2,546,000. Nonmatching Funds/Other Federal Funds: $772,000. Joint Venture Region: Atlantic Coast. Flyway: Atlantic. BCR: 27-Southeast Coastal Plain. |
This project will protect of riparian habitat along Cat Point Creek, a tidal tributary of the Rappahannock River. Once protected, the land will become part of the Rappahannock River Valley National Wildlife Refuge, and will be protected in perpetuity through a wildlife conservation easement. Habitat types protected through this proposal include decreasing wetland types (estuarine and palustrine emergent marsh, palustrine forested), open water, and adjoining uplands. The refuge is vitally important to bald eagles, among other migratory bird species. This project is part of a continuing effort to acquire and protect land in a series of conservation corridors with help this area will retain its usefulness for migratory birds. |
| Project: Southern Tip Ecological Partnership III. Location: Northampton and Accomack counties. Congressional District: 2. Grantee: The Nature Conservancy. Contact: Joe Scalf, jscalf@tnc.org. Partners: Virginia Eastern Shore Land Trust, Inc.; Eastern Shore Soil and Water Conservation District; Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Approved: September 2009. Grant: $919,774. Matching Funds: $2,419,000. Nonmatching Funds/Other Federal Funds: $48,9. Joint Venture Region: Atlantic Coast. Flyway: Atlantic. BCR: 30-New England/Mid-Atlantic Coast. |
The next step in a legacy of cooperative efforts among partners working together to conserve migratory bird habitat in the Southern Tip of the Delmarva Peninsula, the Southern Tip Ecological Partnership III is focused on protecting and restoring migratory bird habitat close to the shorelines of the Chesapeake Bay and seaside coastal bays. The objective is to increase the availability, quality and security of migratory bird habitat through protection and restoration. Habitat protection goals will be achieved through one fee acquisition and four conservation easement donations harboring salt marsh, estuarine and forested wetlands of exceptional habitat value. Affected lands will provide breeding, wintering, or migrating habitat for northern pintail, mallard, lesser scaup and greater scaup. Wetlands protected or restored will provide over-wintering habitat for other priority waterfowl species such as redhead, canvasback, ring-necked duck and American wigeon. |
/birdhabitat/grants/NAWCA/Standard/US/2009_Sept.shtm was last updated 10/20/09 11:05:54
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