The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, through the U.S. Department of the Interior, has awarded a $120,000 grant to the State of West Virginia to fund surveys of population levels, habitat conditions and distribution of the West Virginia Northern flying squirrel and the Cheat Mountain salamander. The grant is part of a nationwide package announced today by Interior Secretary Gale Norton of more than $16 million to 25 states to promote the conservation of threatened and endangered species.
According to Dr. Mamie A. Parker, acting regional director for the Service=s Northeast Region, the grant also will be used to investigate potential impacts of forest fragmentation on the squirrel and habitat restoration for both the squirrel and the salamander in Pocahontas County, West Virginia.
Dr. Parker explained that the project will promote ecosystem- and landscape-level land use planning at the Snowshoe Resort.
The investigations are necessary, she said, in order to collect as much information as possible integral to the development of an Habitat Conservation Plan for the area.
Marshall Jones, acting director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service added, AThese grants recognize creative and effective partnerships among states, organizations and landowners that are making a difference for endangered species on the ground. Successful implementation of the Endangered Species Act depends on these types of partnerships.@
Nationwide, the grant in West Virginia and other states will benefit threatened and endangered species in every region of the country, helping local partnerships acquire and protect crucial habitat and supporting the development of Habitat Conservation Plans that allow private landowners to use and develop their land while conserving listed species.
AThese grants are very much in line with my philosophy that states should be given more resources and greater flexibility to protect habitat and conserve threatened and endangered species,@ said Secretary Norton. AStates will use these grants to strengthen and build vital and cost-effective conservation partnerships with local communities and willing private landowners
