Contacts
Patricia Fisher 202-208-1459
Don Morgan 703-358-2106
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) is seeking proposals
from states and U.S. territories interested in acquiring land or conducting
conservation planning for endangered species. Congress has appropriated $71
million for fiscal year 2004 to support grants awarded under the Cooperative
Endangered Species Conservation Fund.
“ These grant programs are important not only because
they fund projects that protect irreplaceable habitat for threatened and
endangered species, but also because they are the building blocks for ensuring
strong conservation partnerships among states, territories, private organizations,
landowners and the Service,” said Service Director Steve Williams.
As authorized under the U.S. Endangered Species Act, these
grants are available to states and territories to support their participation
in a wide array of voluntary conservation projects for listed species, as
well as for species that are either proposed or candidates for listing. By
law, the state or territory must have a current cooperative agreement with
the Service and contribute 25 percent of the estimated program costs of approved
projects, or 10 percent when two or more states or territories undertake
a joint project. The grants are expected to be awarded in summer 2004.
The Service is seeking proposals for the following three grant
categories under the Cooperative Endangered Species Conservation Fund:
Recovery Land Acquisition Grants - These grants provide funds to states and
territories for acquisition of habitat for endangered and threatened species
in support of 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.
Habitat Conservation Planning Assistance Grants - These grants
provide funds to states and territories to support the development of Habitat
Conservation Plans (HCPs), through the support of baseline surveys and inventories,
document preparation, outreach, and similar planning activities.
HCP Land Acquisition Grants - These grants provide funds to
states and territories to acquire land associated with approved HCPs. Grants
do not fund the mitigation required of an HCP permittee; instead, they support
acquisitions by the State or local governments that complement actions associated
with the HCP. Some examples from the fiscal year 2003 program of how these
grants are making a difference include:
• Along the Clinch River in Hancock County, Tennessee,
a significant portion of the Kyles Ford shoal, which harbors the most diverse
mussel community in Tennessee, is being acquired and protected with funding
provided through a Recovery Land Acquisition grant. The Clinch River is
one of the last major strongholds of Cumberlandian mussel fauna, and the
Kyles Ford mussel shoal has been identified as the most biologically diverse
mussel habitat on Earth; at least 10 federally listed mussel species occur
on the shoal.
• A Recovery Land Acquisition grant is providing funds
to the North Dakota Game and Fish Dept, American Foundation for Wildlife,
The Conservation Fund, and the North Dakota Natural Resources Trust to
acquire approximately 1,387 acres at the confluence of the Missouri and
Yellowstone Rivers to protect and enhance habitat for the federally endangered
pallid sturgeon. This land shelters the last stronghold and best remaining
habitat for the pallid sturgeon and supports several imperiled fish species.
It has one of the strongest populations of paddlefish as well as healthy
populations of imperiled sicklefin and sturgeon chub. The acquisition will
also provide improved management opportunities for the federally listed
least tern and piping plover.
• A Habitat Conservation Plan Land Acquisition grant
in Riverside County, California, will benefit more than 100 Federal and
State listed wildlife species by supporting efforts to conserve habitat
in large, interconnected blocks. These species include the federally threatened
coastal California gnatcatcher and the federally endangered least Bell’s
vireo and Stephen’s kangaroo rat. The plant communities found in
the area, including sage scrub and riparian habitat, are representative
of the original, native habitats of the region. The additional public benefits
of maintaining these areas as open space include various recreational purposes
such as hiking and mountain biking.
• In Monroe County, Indiana, a Habitat Conservation
Land Acquisition grant will support the acquisition of a 293 acre parcel
that is home to Coon and Grotto caves. These caves provide winter shelter
for hibernating endangered Indiana bats. Since 1985, when winter disturbances
to the caves were removed, the winter population of Indiana bats has increased
steadily to more than 20,000 in the two caves combined. This acquisition
will not only protect the critical winter habitat, but also ensure protection
for fall swarming, spring staging, and summer foraging for Indiana bats.
Other known state-listed species to benefit through this acquisition include
the bobcat, a cave crayfish, and two cave beetles.
• With the help of a Habitat Conservation Planning
Assistance grant, the Altar Valley Conservation Alliance, in Pima County,
Arizona, will develop a watershed-wide habitat protection and restoration
plan in cooperation with the Natural Resources Conservation Service, Arizona
State Land Department, and Arizona Department of Water Resources. Altar
Valley harbors one of the last intact Sonoran savanna grasslands in southern
Arizona, as well as riparian and Madrean oak woodland habitats, and is
home to 24 species of concern, including five federally listed species.
The Altar Valley provides habitat for the cactus ferruginous pygmy owl
and is important for the recovery of Pima pineapple cactus. It is the largest
unfragmented landscape in eastern Pima County, encompassing approximately
700,000 acres on the US/Mexico border.
• A Habitat Conservation Planning Assistance grant
will help fund the development of a Habitat Conservation Plan in Pocahontas
County, West Virginia, to benefit the federally endangered West Virginia
Northern Flying Squirrel and federally threatened Cheat Mountain Salamander.
The project will determine the presence or absence of the West Virginia
northern flying squirrel along the western slope of Cheat Mountain; develop
a habitat quality ranking and define the breeding season for West Virginia
northern flying squirrels; survey for the Cheat Mountain salamander in
areas covered by the focused Habitat Conservation Plan; and use satellite
imagery to identify squirrel and salamander habitat.
The Cooperative Endangered Species Conservation Fund appears
as number 15.615 in the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance. For more
information about these grants contact: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Division
of Consultation, Habitat Conservation Planning, Recovery and State Grants,
4401 N. Fairfax Drive, Room 420, Arlington, VA 22203, 703-358-2106.
Information also can be accessed at http://endangered.fws.gov/grants/
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 542 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 governments with their conservation efforts. It also oversees
the Federal Aid 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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