SACRAMENTO -- The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today announced nearly $5 million in Tribal Wildlife Grants to Native American and Alaska Native tribes in 16 states. More than $800,000 will go to five tribes in California, Nevada and Oregon for projects that range from telemetry studies of sage grouse in Nevada to assessing impacts to imperiled wildlife from rodenticides used in illegal large-scale marijuana growing in northern California.
This year’s grant awards will support 29 fish and wildlife conservation projects nationally that benefit a wide range of wildlife and habitat, including species of Native American cultural or traditional importance and species that are not hunted or fished.
“Tribal lands protect some of North America’s most important remaining blocks of wildlife habitat, encompassing more than 100 million acres of land home to hundreds of native species,” said Service Director Dan Ashe. “The Tribal Wildlife Grants Program helps us work in partnership with federally-recognized tribes, state wildlife agencies and other federal government agencies to restore and sustain important habitat to benefit all Americans for generations to come.”
Since its inception in 2003, the competitive Tribal Wildlife Grants program has awarded more than $72 million to Native American and Alaska Native tribes, providing support for more than 420 conservation projects. The funds have also provided technical and financial assistance for development and implementation of projects that benefit fish and wildlife and their habitats, including non-game species.
The grants have enabled tribes to develop increased management capacity, improve and enhance relationships with conservation partners, address cultural and environmental priorities and help train the next generation of conservationists by engaging tribal students interested in fisheries, wildlife and related fields of study. Some grants have been awarded to support recovery efforts for federally listed threatened and endangered species.
The grants are provided exclusively to federally recognized Indian tribal governments, and are made possible under the Related Agencies Appropriations Act of 2002 through the State and Tribal Wildlife Grants Program. Proposals for the 2017 grant cycle will open May 2, 2016 and are due September 2, 2016.
This year’s grant awards in the Pacific Southwest Region include:
Bear River Band Rohnerville Rancheria ($159,209)
Salt River Ecosystem Restoration Project: The Bear River Band Rohnerville Rancheria will collaborate with local, state and federal partners to restore 2.2 miles of the Salt River and Francis Creek in California. Activities include reconnecting tributaries to the Eel River Estuary and re-vegetation of riparian riparian
Definition of riparian habitat or riparian areas.
Learn more about riparian forests and wetlands with native species. This project will benefit tidewater goby, anadromous fish, and Pacific lamprey.
Hoopa Valley Tribe ($200,000)
Potential Impacts of Trespass Marijuana Cultivation on Tribal and Public Lands to Fishers, Spotted Owls, Mountain Lions and the Forest Environment: The goal of this project is to implement methods to determine the direct and indirect impacts of large scale illegal marijuana growing to the threatened northern spotted owl, Pacific fisher and mountain lion prey on public and tribal lands of northern Humboldt County, California. The Tribe will assess environmental impacts, test wildlife exposure to anticoagulant rodenticides, and remediate and restore habitat at abandoned marijuana cultivation sites.
Washoe Tribe of Nevada and California ($50,000)
Meeks Meadow Restoration: The goal of this project is to restore biological diversity and ecological meadow process and functions to approximately 300 acres of Meeks Meadow in the Sierra Nevada of California. Activities include conifer removal through vegetative treatments and prescribed fire. The Meeks Meadow Restoration project will allow the Washoe Tribe to actively manage aboriginal lands in a historical and cultural manner.
Summit Lake Paiute Tribe ($200,000)
A Strategy to Promote Conservation of Greater Sage Grouse on Homelands of the Summit Lake Paiute Tribe, Northwestern Nevada: The goal of this project is to conduct a sage grouse population and telemetry study with the aim of protecting sage grouse habitat on the Summit Lake Paiute Reservation. The secondary goal of this project is outreach and education of Tribal members on seed collection and radio telemetry techniques and developing additional partnerships within the scientific community.
The Klamath Tribes ($200,000)
Klamath Reservation Forest Habitat Restoration and Ecosystem Resiliency Project: Phase 2: This project involves the planning and implementation to restore forest complexity and wildlife habitat on over 25,000 acres of forest lands in the upper Klamath Basin. This project will restore habitat for the culturally important mule deer species and support a Tribal ecosystem workforce that employs 20 individuals.
A complete list of the 2016 Tribal Wildlife Grant awards can be found here.
For additional information about Native American conservation projects and the Tribal Wildlife Grants application process, visit http://www.fws.gov/nativeamerican/grants.html or http://www.grants.gov/ .
