Indiana received grants totaling $180,000.
The cost-share grants, part of the administrations new Landowner Incentive Program, will support innovative partnerships in 42 states. State fish and wildlife agencies, landowners or non-profit groups must put up at least 25 percent of the cost of projects. With these grants, states will be able to provide financial and technical assistance to interested landowners.
"For wildlife conservation to be successful, it must be a partnership between the government and the people," Norton said. "This is especially true with threatened and endangered species, half of which depend on private lands for the majority of their habitat. These grants will enable states to work with landowners and to defray the costs of habitat improvements for imperiled species on their land."
The Landowner Incentive Program supports the administrations overall Cooperative Conservation Initiative, which includes a number of conservation grant programs to assist states, tribes, conservation organizations, private landowners and others in conservation projects and programs. President Bush proposed $113.2 million for the Cooperative Conservation Initiative in his Fiscal Year 2004 budget.
"If conservation is going to be successful in the 21st century, we must empower citizen stewards to conserve and protect natural resources while also achieving important community and economic goals," Norton said. "We must provide new and expanded opportunities for landowners, land managers, and others to participate in projects that foster innovation and create incentives for stewardship. The Landowner Incentive Program accomplishes this."
The LIP grant program is two-tiered. Grants awarded to states under Tier 1 focus on administrative program needs and may not exceed $180,000 in federal money. U.S. Territories and the District of Columbia may apply for Tier 1 grants of up to $75,000." face Tier 2 grants support project implementation. All grants require at least a 25 percent match from non-federal sources.
Many states already have a landowner incentive program. For states that currently do not have a landowner program, the grants will allow them to create one. "We are providing seed money to many states to get their landowner programs off the ground," Norton said.
Tribes also are eligible for an additional $4 million in grants under the program. Public comment on guidance specific to tribes closed Jan. 28, and a request for proposals will be announced in the future.
"These grants are the catalysts to support efforts of local partners to come up with new and better ways to conserve at-risk fish and wildlife species," said FWS Director Steve Williams. "Through this program, the Service is pooling its resources with private landowners and state wildlife agencies to ensure these species have sufficient habitat."
For more information on the Landowner Incentive Program, please contact: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Division of Federal Aid, 4401 N. Fairfax Drive, Room 140, Arlington, VA 22203; phone (703) 358-2156 or visit the FWS Grants-at- a-Glance web site: www.grants.fws.gov
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 540 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small wetlands and other special management areas. It also operates 69 national fish hatcheries, 64 fishery resource 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 that distributes hundreds of millions of dollars in excise taxes on fishing and hunting equipment to state fish and wildlife agencies.
For further information about programs and activities of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in the Great Lakes-Big Rivers Region, visit our website at http://midwest.fws.gov
