News
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Golden-winged warbler. Photo by Caleb Putnam, CC BY-SA 2.0.
Service announces $7.4 million in grants to help protect imperiled species
January 14, 2021 | 4 minute read
Vulnerable wildlife across the nation will benefit from approximately $7.4 million in grants thanks to the Competitive State Wildlife Grant (C-SWG) Program. The program supports projects led by state and commonwealth fish and wildlife agencies protecting imperiled wildlife and their habitat. This year’s grantees include agencies in Arizona, Connecticut, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, South Carolina, Washington, Wisconsin and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. They will implement 17 conservation projects that span 28 states and four commonwealths. Read the full story...
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Trump Administration celebrates recovery of America’s smallest tern
January 11, 2021 | 6 minute read
After more than three decades of conservation partnerships inspired by the Endangered Species Act, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is celebrating the delisting of the interior least tern due to recovery. According to the best available science, the diverse efforts of local, state and federal stakeholders across the interior least tern’s 18-state range have helped ensure populations are healthy, stable and increasing into the foreseeable future. The tern will continue to be protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. Read the full story...
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Massive restoration project begins on North Breton Island
December 18, 2020 | 3 minute read
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) is pleased to announce the start of restoration work on North Breton Island as the first of 5.87 million cubic yards of dredged sand is placed on the island. This project will add 400 acres of barrier island wildlife habitat to address some of the injuries to birds caused by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The project was approved in 2014 as one of the three components of the Deepwater Horizon Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA) Phase III Early Restoration Louisiana Outer Coast Project. Read the full story...
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U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources conserve salamander habitat
December 10, 2020 | 3 minute read
MONROEVILLE, ALABAMA – The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources celebrated Thursday the acquisition of nearly 5,000 acres for the federally threatened Red Hills salamander. In all, 11,000 acres of prime salamander habitat in south Alabama will be protected and opened for recreation, including hunting. The Service awarded $9 million in endangered species recovery grants – the largest ever distributed in the Southeast – to Alabama for conservation at the Forever Wild Red Hills Complex. Read the full story...
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Red River National Wildlife Refuge are new land managers of Bickham Dickson Park in Shreveport
December 2, 2020 | 3 minute read
Autumn cypress tree at Bickham Dickson Lake. Photo by Terri Jacobson, USFWS In partnership with the City of Shreveport the federal government has taken over operation and management of C. Bickham Dickson Park (Park), which now becomes part of the Red River National Wildlife Refuge (NWR). In 2019 the Shreveport City Council agreed to a 99-year lease of the Park to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Read the full story...
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Service proposes to list population of frecklebelly madtom as threatened under Endangered Species Act
November 17, 2020 | 4 minute read
Following a review of the best available science, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is proposing to list a population of the frecklebelly madtom in the Upper Coosa River in Georgia and Tennessee as threatened under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The proposal, which would provide protections to this distinct population segment (DPS), also includes proposing critical habitat and a 4(d) rule for this population. The frecklebelly madtom is a small catfish that inhabits channels and tributaries of medium to large river systems in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and Tennessee. Read the full story...
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A red-cockaded woodpecker has dinner outside its nesting cavity. Photo by USFWS.
Service announces public hearing on proposed downlisting of red-cockaded woodpecker
November 12, 2020 | 3 minute read
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will hold a public hearing on the proposed downlisting of the red-cockaded woodpecker. The virtual public hearing will be held on December 1, 2020 via Zoom and teleconference, in accordance with COVID-19 pandemic public gathering rules. Virtual meetings are also consistent with Service regulations at 50 CFR 424.16©(3). “The Service is committed to transparency in all of our science-based decisions and to the input of stakeholders and the public,” said Service Regional Director Leo Miranda. Read the full story...