75th Anniversary Federal Duck Stamp Debuts
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| Director Hall proudly displays his Duck Stamp while Postmaster Stanley Newsome thanks Bass Pro VP of Conservation Martin MacDonald for hosting the event. Credit: LaVonda Walton/USFWS |
June 27, 2008
The first 75th Anniversary Federal Duck Stamp was sold to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director H. Dale Hall during a special ceremony hosted today by Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World, near Baltimore, Maryland. Minnesota artist Joseph Hautman's depiction of a pair of Northern pintails was selected to grace the stamp.
News Release
Watch a video from the ceremony (Flash format)
Federal Duck Stamp Program |
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National Geographic Features Kingman Reef National Wildlife Refuge
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| Kingman Reef coral. Credit: Dr. Jim Maragos / USFWS |
June 27, 2008
Few people in the world will ever get to visit remote Kingman Reef National Wildlife Refuge, located at the northern end of the Line Islands in the Central tropical Pacific. Thanks to the National Geographic Society, thousands of people will have the opportunity to see and learn about this coral reef ecosystem through the July issue of National Geographic Magazine. National Geographic Explorer Dr. Enric Sala led a marine biological expedition in August 2007. Dr. Jim Maragos of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Pacific Remote Islands NWR Complex served as the coral biologist on the team. Kingman Reef National Wildlife Refuge is considered one of the most pristine reefs in the world.
Learn More
National Geographic Article on Kingman Reef |
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Harvest Strategy for Scaup Set
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| Lesser scaup pair. Credit: Dave Menke / USFWS |
June 27, 2008
The Flyway Councils and Service began deliberation on the waterfowl hunting regulations for the upcoming fall season. Among a number of key issues addressed by the Regulations Committee this year was a harvest strategy for scaup. The scaup population has experienced a significant long-term decline. The Service has expressed concern for more than a decade. Early teal seasons similar to last year.
News Release |
Initial Assessments of Waterfowl Breeding Habitat Conditions Available at www.Flyways.us
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| Blue-winged Teal. Credit:Dave Menke |
June 23, 2008
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Canadian Wildlife Service are making available the initial assessments of waterfowl breeding habitat conditions in new video segments posted on the agencies’ joint website www.Flyways.us. These assessments offer a first glimpse of habitat conditions and the status of waterfowl populations entering the breeding period starting in May 2008.
News Release
Flyways.us Web site |
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Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee Celebrates 25 Years
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| Grizzly bear at Yellowstone National Park. Credit: Terry Tollefsbol / USFWS |
June 23 2008
The Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee celebrated a quarter century of grizzly bear recovery on June 21, 2008, with a public ceremony at the Blackfoot—Clearwater Wildlife Management Area in Montana. The event was open to the public, and included displays and demonstrations of bear-related educational and safety programs and a ceremony with key partners involved in grizzly bear recovery.
News Release
For more information visit the Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee Web site |
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Celebrate Pollinator Week, June 22-28, with U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service!
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| Bee
on a flower. Credit: Mike Higgins,
USFWS. |
June 23, 2008
In celebration of Pollinator Week the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
is releasing a series of podcasts about pollinators throughout
the week. Each day learn more about pollinators, such as native
bees and endangered butterflies, and what you can do to help
them. Visit the Pollinators Web
site to get started. |
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U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Small Wetlands Program: A Half Century of Conserving Prairie Habitat
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| Through the Small Wetlands Program, the Service has purchased more than 36,000 separate fee and permanent easement tracts that make up the 3 million acres of lands administered as Waterfowl Production Areas, as part of the National Wildlife Refuge System. Credit: USFWS |
June 23, 2008
Fifty years ago an amendment to the Migratory Bird Hunting Stamp Act of 1934 (also known as the Duck Stamp Act) authorized the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to acquire wetlands and surrounding areas for the benefit of migratory waterfowl. A half century later, the Service’s Small Wetlands Program, created to stem the rapid loss of important prairie habitat, has developed into one of the most successful conservation efforts in the United States.
News Release
Visit the Small Wetlands Program Web site.
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U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes Sign Annual Funding Agreement for National Bison Range Complex
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| Signing of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes Annual Funding Agreement for National Bison Range Complex. Credit:Tami Heilemann / DOI |
June 19, 2008
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the
Flathead Reservation today signed an Annual Funding Agreement for the National Bison Range
Complex, located in Moiese, Montana within the boundaries of the Flathead Indian Reservation.
The agreement was negotiated over the past six months by professional natural resource management
staff from both parties with support from Service, Department of the Interior, and Tribal
leadership, and outlines the activities the Tribes will perform at the Bison Range during fiscal
years 2009 through 2011.
News Release |
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Crews Work to Contain Wildfire on North Carolina Refuge
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| Evans Road Fire on right approaches Evans Road and adjacent plowed area, known in the fire community as "potato patching". Credit: USFWS |
June 17, 2008
A wildfire in Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge in rural eastern North Carolina has burned more than 40,000 acres as of June 17. Containment is now estimated at 70 percent.
More than 450 firefighters from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the State of North Carolina and other local and county agencies are working to contain the fire. Burned areas are being flooded with water in an attempt to put out the ground fire and reduce smoke.
Visit the Inciweb Web site for additional information on the fire, including photos and maps.
Meanwhile, a wildfire near Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge on the border of Virginia and North Carolina that has burned nearly 2,500 acres is 20 percent contained as of June 17. The fire started Monday, June 9, when logging equipment caught fire.
About 322 firefighters from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Virginia State Department of Forestry, The Nature Conservancy, National Park Service, U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Indian Affairs, the North Carolina Department of Forest Resources, Chesapeake Fire Rescue, and Suffolk Fire Rescue are working to contain the fire. |
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Secretary Kempthorne Announces Massive Addition to Wildlife Refuge
June 12, 2008
As part of a suite of wetlands acquisition and conservation grant approvals, the Migratory Bird Conservation Commission today approved $4 million to purchase more than 18,000 acres of prime prairie wetland and associated grassland habitat for the Glacial Ridge National Wildlife Refuge in northwestern Minnesota – one of the largest purchases ever using dollars generated from Federal Duck Stamp sales and import duties on firearms and ammunition.
News Release
DOI Podcast: Service Director H.Dale Hall on acquisition |
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Service Proposes to Expand Hunting and Fishing
Opportunities on National Wildlife Refuges
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| Duck hunting. Credit. Dr. Eugene Hester |
June 11, 2008
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today opened a 30-day public comment period on a proposal to add one national wildlife refuge to the list of areas open for hunting during the 2008-09 season and increase hunting opportunities at six other refuges.
The Service today also published a final rule that opens Cape May National Wildlife Refuge (New Jersey) to fishing, makes minor administrative changes, and modifies existing regulations.
News Release |
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Service to Honor Endangered Species Act Bald Eagle Agreements
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| Bald eagle in flight. Credit: USFWS |
May 20, 2008
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today issued revised regulations under the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act that will enable the Service to continue honoring authorizations for "take" of bald eagles previously granted under the Endangered Species Act. The regulations are part of an ongoing effort to ensure that the bald eagle is effectively conserved and managed under the Eagle Act now that the eagle is no longer protected as a threatened species.
News Release
Learn More |
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Our home page archived features page is temporarily offline due to maintenance upgrading. If you wish to inquire on previous stories, contact malcomb_barsella@fws.gov. |
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