The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced today that it will award more than $13 million in grants to 10 states to conserve, restore, and protect coastal wetlands. 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. Here in Alaska, a total of $1,283,900 in grants, augmented by $583,545 in matching funds from the State and other partners, will be used to conserve habitats adjoining Icy Strait and Nushagak Bay.

To date, the Service has awarded almost $152 million in grants to states and a U.S. territory under the program. Almost 189,000 acres will have been protected or restored since the wetlands grant program began in 1990. 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.

"Programs like the National Coastal Wetlands Conservation grants strengthen the hands of those citizens and groups of citizens who are eager to roll up their sleeves and contribute to meaningful conservation efforts," said the Service's Alaska Regional Director Rowan Gould. "With the help of such partners, and only with their willing help, we will be able to pass on to our children and grandchildren a legacy of natural resources we, and they, can be proud of.?

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.

For more information about the National Coastal Wetlands Conservation Grant Program, contact the National Coastal Wetlands Conservation Grant Program, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 4401 North Fairfax Drive, Arlington, VA 22203; or the 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 overseeing $350 billion in annual grants.

Descriptions of 2005 National Coastal Wetlands Conservation Grant projects in Alaska follow:

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 544 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small wetlands and other special management areas. It also operates 69 national fish hatcheries, 64 fishery resources 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 and Native American tribal governments with their conservation efforts. It also oversees the Federal Assistance program, which distributes hundreds of millions of dollars in excise taxes on fishing and hunting equipment to state fish and wildlife agenciies.

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For more information about the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, visit our home page at http://www.fws.gov">