Contacts
Rachel F. Levin, 612-713-5311
Interior Secretary Gale Norton today announced more than $70
million in grants to 28 states and one territory to support conservation
planning and acquisition of vital habitat for threatened and endangered fish,
wildlife, and plant species.
In the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Great Lakes-Big
Rivers Region, three grants totaling $742,000 have been awarded to projects
in Iowa, Michigan and Ohio.
“ Today’s grant awards support state efforts to
build and strengthen important cost-effective conservation partnerships with
local groups and private landowners to benefit wildlife,” Norton said.
Funded through the Cooperative Endangered Species Conservation Fund and authorized
by Section 6 of the Endangered Species Act, the grants will enable states to
work with private landowners, conservation groups and other agencies to initiate
conservation planning efforts and acquire and protect habitat to support the
conservation of threatened and endangered species.
The cooperative endangered species fund this year provides
$8.6 million through the Habitat Conservation Planning Assistance Grants
Program, $49 million through the Habitat Conservation Plan Land Acquisition
Grants Program and $13.5 million through the Recovery Land Acquisition Grants
Program. The three programs were established to help reduce potential conflicts
between the conservation of threatened and endangered species and land development
and use.
Under the Habitat Conservation Plan Land Acquisition Program,
the Service provides grants to states or territories for land acquisitions
associated with approved habitat conservation plans (HCPs). Grants do not
fund any mitigation required of an HCP permittee, but are instead intended
to support acquisitions by the state or local governments that complement
actions associated with the HCP.
A habitat conservation plan is an agreement between a landowner
and the Service that allows the landowner to incidentally take a threatened
or endangered species in the course of otherwise lawful activities when the
landowner agrees to conservation measures to minimize and mitigate the impact
of the taking. An HCP may also be developed by a county or state to cover
certain activities of all landowners within their jurisdiction and may address
multiple species.
There are more than 357 habitat conservation plans currently
in effect covering 458 separate species on approximately 39 million acres,
with some 407 additional plans under development covering approximately 100
million acres.
In the Great Lakes-Big Rivers Region, six HCPs are currently
in place, covering more than 710,000 acres in four states.
The Habitat Conservation Planning Assistance Program provides
grants to states and territories to support the development of HCPs, through
funding of baseline surveys and inventories, document preparation, outreach,
and similar planning activities.
The Recovery Land Acquisition Grants Program provides funds
to states and territories to acquire habitat for endangered and threatened
species in approved recovery plans. Acquisition of habitat to secure long
term protection is often an essential element of a comprehensive recovery
effort for a listed species.
For more information on the 2004 grant awards for these programs,
see the Services Endangered Species home page at http://endangered.fws.gov/grants/section6/index.html.
Recovery land acquisition grants awarded in the Great Lakes-Big Rivers Region
are:
Iowa
Land acquisition for eastern prairie fringed orchid protection
(Jones and Jackson counties), $254,625. This grant will be used to acquire
180 acres of tallgrass prairie which will be managed for the benefit of more
than 2,500 threatened eastern prairie fringed orchid plants. This project
will advance the objectives of the eastern fringed prairie orchid recovery
plan by protecting sites in private ownership, enhancing the protection of
known populations and acquiring a potential reintroduction and expansion
area. Land acquisition will protect and enhance the viability of these populations,
ensure that minimum recovery goals are met and help move the species toward
possible de-listing.
Ohio
Conservation easement acquisition along Pymatuning Creek for
clubshell mussel recovery (northeast Ohio), $72,575. This initiative to continues
to secure permanent conservation easements from willing landowners along
the main stem of Pymatuning Creek to aid in recovery efforts for the endangered
clubshell mussel. The easements will complement land acquisition efforts
by the state and local agencies and other organizations. Conditions of the
conservation easements will assure the permanent protection of the riparian
corridor and create significant buffers from potentially adverse land uses
on adjoining properties. There are three landowners identified to protect
approximately 120 acres to benefit 5,000 feet of riparian habitat.
Michigan
Mitchell’s satyr butterfly recovery land acquisition
(southwest Michigan), $416,189. The grant will support acquisition of two
parcels (53 acres) within the Blue Creek Fen area, as well as a 35 acre parcel
in the Cook Lake/Rudy Road Complex, and additional properties within the
Mitchell’s satyr butterfly priority area. In addition to the Mitchell's
satyr, the Blue Creek Fen hosts several state-listed or special concern species
including eastern box turtle, spotted turtle and white lady-slipper. The
site has also been identified as likely habitat for the Eastern massasauga
rattlesnake, a candidate for federal protection. The largest landowner, the
Michigan Department of Transportation, has been working with The Nature Conservancy
and the Service to develop and implement a management plan for the Mitchell’s
satyr butterfly on the publicly owned portions of the fen since the mid-1990s.
The Michigan Department of Natural Resources will partner with the Southwest
Michigan Land Trust to acquire approximately 35 acres in the Cook Lake/Rudy
Road Complex, adding to the amount of permanently protected land in the complex.
In 2001, the land trust leveraged private funds from donors and members to
acquire the 12-acre Cook Lake Fen Preserve which protects high quality prairie
fen occupied by the Mitchell’s satyr.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the principal federal
agency responsible for conserving, protecting and enhancing fish, wildlife
and plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American
people. The Service manages the 95-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge
System, which encompasses 544 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small
wetlands and other special management areas. It also operates 69 national
fish hatcheries, 64 fishery resources offices and 81 ecological services
field stations. The agency enforces federal wildlife laws, administers the
Endangered Species Act, manages migratory bird populations, restores nationally
significant fisheries, conserves and restores wildlife habitat such as wetlands,
and helps foreign and Native American tribal governments with their conservation
efforts. It also oversees the Federal Assistance program, which distributes
hundreds of millions of dollars in excise taxes on fishing and hunting equipment
to state fish and wildlife agencies.
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