10 States Receive Funds for Coastal Wetlands Conservation Work With PartnersInterior Secretary Announces Coastal Wetland Grants to Protect Wildlife and Habitat in 10 States

Secretary of the Interior Secretary Gale Norton announced today that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will award more than $13 million in grants to 10 states to conserve, restore and protect coastal wetlands. States awarded grants for fiscal year 2005 under the National Coastal Wetlands Conservation Grant Program are Alaska, Georgia, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, North Carolina, Texas, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin.

The grants provide funding for 16 projects and will be supplemented with nearly $13 million from state and private partners. The grants will be used to acquire, restore or enhance coastal wetlands for long-term conservation benefits to wildlife and habitat. Partners in this years projects include state and local governments, private landowners, and conservation groups such as Ducks Unlimited, the Trust for Public Land, and the Wildlife Forever Foundation.

"Citizen-stewards are often are our most effective conservationists, and programs like the National Coastal Wetlands Conservation Grant program empower them." Interior Secretary Gale Norton said. "People working in partnership will help us ensure that we can pass along a country to our children and grandchildren a country, that is as healthy and whole as the one we inherited.. This is another effective example of cooperative conservation, a concept in which President Bush firmly believes."

National Coastal Wetlands Conservation grants are awarded to states through a competitive process. The program is funded by the 1990 Coastal Wetlands Planning, Protection and Restoration Act. Funding for the program is generated from excise taxes on fishing equipment and motorboat and small engine fuels. These taxes are deposited into the Sport Fish Restoration Account of the Aquatic Resources Trust Fund.

To date, the Service has awarded almost $152 million in grants to states and a U.S. territory under the program. When the 2005 grants projects are complete, they will have protected and/or restored almost 22,000 acres. Almost 189,000 acres will have been protected or restored since the wetlands grant program began in 1990. National Coastal Wetlands Conservation grants are awarded through a competitive process.

For more information about the National Coastal Wetlands Conservation Grants Pprogram contact the National Coastal Wetlands Conservation Grant Program, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 4401 North Fairfax Drive, Arlington, VA 22203 or Division of Federal Aid, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 4401 North Fairfax Drive, Arlington, VA 22203; or check the programs Internet home page at http://www.fws.gov/cep/cwgcover.html.

This year, the program became the first Service grant program to accept proposals electronically through grants.gov">. The grants.gov"> website is a cross-agency E-Government initiative, spanning 900 federal financial assistance programs and $350 billion in annual grants.

Descriptions of the 2005 National Coastal Wetlands Conservation Grant projects follow.

Fiscal Year 2005 National Coastal Wetlands Conservation Grant Project Proposals

Alaska

Gustavus Forelands: Snyder Parcel.

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game will acquire 135 acres of wetlands and coastal habitats adjacent to Icy Strait in Alaska's panhandle. This parcel adjoins both Glacier Bay National Park and an area designated for the protection of the sandhill crane.

Partners:

The Nature Conservancy.

Coastal grant request:

$283,900

Partner share:

$129,045

Total cost:

$412,945

Nushagak Bay Watershed Conservation, Wood-Tikchik: Phase II.

Alaska's Division of State Parks and Outdoor Recreation will acquire perpetual conservation easements on 7,000 acres along the Agulowak River within the Nushagak Bay Watershed. The Agulowak River is a major anadromous fish system. It provides spawning habitat and passage for nearly 2 million adult salmon, representing all five Pacific species.

Partners:

The Conservation Fund and Nushagak-Mulchatna Wood-Tikchik Land Trust.

Coastal grant request:

$1,000,000

State share:

$10,000

Partners share:

$444,500

Total cost:

$1,454,500

Georgia

Clayhole Swamp Acquisition.

The Georgia Department of Natural Resources will acquire 5491acres in Clayhole Swamp in the Altamaha River Watershed. The Altamaha River supports Georgia's best stocks of anadromous fish including American shad, shortnose sturgeon and Atlantic sturgeon. After acquisition the site will be available for hunting, fishing, hiking and other outdoor recreational use.

Partner:

The Nature Conservancy.

Coastal grant request:

$1,000,000

State share:

$722,500

Partner share:

$1,500,000

Total cost:

$3,222,500

Maine

Cobscook Falls: Habitat Protection Initiative.

Maine's Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife will protect 257 acres including 2.68 miles of shoreline along Cobscook Bay. This project will add to protected areas along the Bay and preserve high value habitat for migratory birds.

Partners:

A private landowner and the March Hill Real Estate Trust, Ducks Unlimited, Maine Coast Heritage Trust, and the Quoddy Regional Land Trust.

Coastal grant request:

$528,000

Partners share:

$335,000

Total cost:

$863,000

Massachusetts:

Great Allens Pond Ecosystem Protection and Restoration Project.

The Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation will protect about 156 acres along Buzzards Bay and restore 7 acres of salt marsh salt marsh
Salt marshes are found in tidal areas near the coast, where freshwater mixes with saltwater.

Learn more about salt marsh . The project area will become part a contiguous block of 1,000 acres of protected habitats, including salt marsh, coastal oak woodlands, and grasslands.

Partners:

A private landowner, Buzzards Bay Project/Massachusetts Conservation Trust, Dartmouth Natural Resources Trust, Massachusetts Audubon Society, and Natural Resources Conservation Services.

Coastal grant request:

$600,000

State share:

$109,500

Partners share:

$1,545,615

Total cost:

$2,255,115

Sandy Neck/Barnstable Marshes Barrier Beach System Land Acquisition and Restoration Project. Phase II.

The Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation will continue to work with partners to protect 30.3 acres of in-holdings and further restore this regionally significant coastal resource system in Cape Cod's Barnstable County. The 7-mile beach at Sandy Neck is one of the largest barrier beaches on the North Atlantic Coast and provides nesting and feeding habitat for a number of shorebirds, including the federally-threatened piping plover and least tern.

Partners:

Barnstable Land Trust, The Nature Conservancy, and the Town of Barnstable.

Coastal grant request:

$520,000

State share:

$97,000

Partners share:

$155,000

Total cost:

$772,000

Michigan

Bete Grise Coastal Wetlands Acquisition.

Michigan's Department of Natural Resources will acquire 1,800 acres in Keweenaw County adjacent to the Bete Grise Bay of Lake Superior. The Nature Conservancy and Michigan's Departments of Natural Resources and Environmental Quality have identified this area as being the single most important estuarine marsh remaining in the Upper Great Lakes.

Partners:

The Nature Conservancy, Keweenaw Land Trust, Houghton/Keweenaw Conservation District, and the South Shore Association.

Coastal grant request:

$1,000,000

Partners share:

$488,443

Total cost:

$1,488,443

North Carolina

Brown's Island.

The North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission will acquire 107 acres on Brown's located within the White Oak River Basin in Carteret County. Brown's is an undeveloped that hosts a diversity of natural communities and has been designated by the State as a significant natural heritage site.

Partner:

North Carolina Coastal Land Trust.

Coastal grant request:

$904,267

State share:

$428,843

Partners share:

$6,000

Total cost:

$1,391,110

Texas

West Bay Conservation Corridor.

Texas Parks and Wildlife will acquire 1500 acres including marsh and coastal prairie habitats adjacent to West Bay in Galveston County. In addition, 42 acres of shallow open water will be restored to estuarine emergent marsh. The habitats protected and restored will benefit migratory birds and commercially and recreationally important fish species.

Partners:

Harborwalk-Watkins Properties, Trust for Public Lands, and Scenic Galveston, Inc.

Coastal grant request:

$1,000,000

Partners share:

$508,000

Total cost:

$1,508,000

Virginia

Protection of Mark's and Jack's Islands.

The Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation will acquire 2,000 acres of salt marsh wetlands on the western side of the Chesapeake Bay in Accomack County. This acquisition will protect: spawning, nursery and feeding habitat for a variety of fish and shellfish; habitat for threatened and endangered species; and habitat for numerous species of resident and migratory birds.

Partners:

The Nature Conservancy and Basic, Inc.

Coastal grant request:

$1,000,000

Partners share:

$1,021,750

Total cost:

$2,021,750

Washington

Davis Bay Acquisition and Restoration.

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife will acquire conservation easements and restore approximately 120 acres of estuarine and freshwater wetlands on Davis Bay, within the Puget Sound Ecosystem. The restoration includes the removal of the existing tide gate system, filling of drain ditches, raising two sections of roads that will be inudated by the restoration, and providing a new potable water system for several families. This project will provide rearing habitat for fish and important migration and wintering habitat for birds.

Partners:

A private landowner, Ducks Unlimited, Pacific Coast Joint Venture, and the San Juan Preservation Trust.

Coastal grant request:

$1,000,000

State share:

$10,000

Partners share:

$1,083,000

Total cost:

$2,093,000

Lower Tarboo Creek Wetland Acquisition and Floodplain Restoration.

The Washington Department of Ecology will protect 216 acres, 200 by purchasing the land and 16 acres through conservation easements. The project will also restore 1.5 miles of Tarboo Creek and 1.5 miles of tributary channels and 120 acres of wetlands that had been drained for agricultural use.

Partners:

Private individuals, Jefferson Land Trust, and Northwest Watershed Institute.

Coastal grant request:

$875,000

State share:

$350,000

Partners share:

$50,000

Total cost:

$1,275,000

Willapa Bay/ Seal Slough Acquisition Project.

The Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife will purchase 1,002 acres of fee title and 374 acres of conservation easement conservation easement
A conservation easement is a voluntary legal agreement between a landowner and a government agency or qualified conservation organization that restricts the type and amount of development that may take place on a property in the future. Conservation easements aim to protect habitat for birds, fish and other wildlife by limiting residential, industrial or commercial development. Contracts may prohibit alteration of the natural topography, conversion of native grassland to cropland, drainage of wetland and establishment of game farms. Easement land remains in private ownership.

Learn more about conservation easement acquisition along Seal Slough, Lynn Point, and Willapa Bay tidelands and adjacent uplands. The project will include control of invasive Spartina on 300 acres of the tide flats, enhancing utilization by wintering shorebirds and foraging waterfowl.

Partners:

Cascade Land Conservancy, Pacific Coast Joint Venture, and Wildlife Forever Foundation.

Coastal grant request:

$900,000

State share:

$5,000

Partners share:

$562,400

Total cost:

$1,467,400

Wisconsin

Clough Preservation and Restoration Project.

Wisconsin's Department of Natural Resources will acquire 350 acres of wetlands and associated upland habitat at the westernmost tip of the Great Lakes. Of these 350 acres, 133 acres of impaired wetlands will be restored. Clough is in the St. Louis River estuary, and is surrounded by the metropolitan areas of Superior, Wisconsin and Duluth, Minnesota. The State of Minnesota will work with Wisconsin to implement the proposal.

Partners:

Duluth Audubon Society, Friends of Superior Municipal Forest, Lake Superior Chapter of Muskies Incorporated, McCabe Chapter of the Izaak Walton League, Save Lake Superior Association, and Twin Ports Bass Masters (Minnesota B.A.S.S. Federation), and Western Skyline Preservation Alliance.

Coastal grant request:

$1,000,000

State share:

$1,000,000

Partners share:

$650

Total cost:

$1,000,650

North Bay"Mud Lake Ridges Land Acquisition.

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources will acquire or purchase conservation easements on 655 acres surrounding the North Bay of Lake Michigan in Door County. The project will protect important feeding, spawning and nursery grounds for a number of fish, including northern pike, smallmouth bass and whitefish.

Partners:

The Nature Conservancy and the Ridges Sanctuary.

Coastal grant request:

$1,000,000

State share:

$1,000,000

Partners share:

$220,000

Total cost:

$2,220,000

Washington and Detroit Acquisition.

Wisconsin's Department of Natural Resources will acquire or purchase conservation easements on about 250 acres, including 11,200 feet of Lake Michigan shoreline in Door County. These islands are at the tip of the Door Peninsula, and provide spring and fall migration stopover habitat for songbirds and birds of prey.

Partners:

Door County Land Trust and the Washington Art and Nature Center.

Coastal grant request:

$788,833

State share:

$960,750

Partners share:

$65,000

Total cost:

$1,814,583