Interior Secretary Gale Norton today announced that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is awarding nearly $8.1 million to help 45 federally recognized Indian tribes manage, conserve and protect fish and wildlife resources on tribal lands in 18 states.
The Service is awarding the grants under two programs: the Tribal Landowner Incentive Program and Tribal Wildlife Grant Program. The Tribal Landowner Incentive Program supports federally recognized Indian tribes to protect, restore, and manage habitat for species at-risk, including federally listed endangered or threatened species, as well as proposed or candidate species on tribal lands. The Service is providing about $2.1 million to help fund 17 Tribal Landowner Incentive projects.
About $6 million will help fund 28 projects under the Tribal Wildlife Grant program. These grants are awarded to federally recognized Indian tribes to benefit fish, wildlife and their habitat including species that are not hunted or fished.
"We are empowering Tribes to do what the federal government cannot do alone for imperiled species on tribal lands," said Secretary of the Department of Interior Gale Norton. "These programs help us preserve tribal lands and their natural resources to conserve our shared wildlife heritage."
Since 2003, the Service has put $23 million to work for tribal conservation efforts through both the Tribal Landowner Incentive Program and the Tribal Wildlife Grant Program.
"From the Orca inlet in Alaska to the cypress swamps in Florida, Indians and Indian tribes are helping us achieve our mission," said acting FWS director Matt Hogan. "Thanks to these two special grant programs, we are strengthening our partnerships to promote species conservation and protect healthy ecosystems for future generations."
The 562 federally recognized Indians and Indian tribes have a controlling interest in more than 52 million acres of tribal trust lands and an additional 40 million acres held by Alaska native corporations. Much of this land is relatively undisturbed, providing a significant amount of rare and important fish and wildlife habitat.
Examples of Tribal Landowner Incentive Program grants awarded today:
The Lummi Tribe in Washington will receive $150,000 to design the Upper South Fork Instream Project, which will support salmon recovery in the Nooksack River basin. Designated as the highest priority for habitat restoration for Nookstack stocks, this 16-mile reach will provide habitat for chinook and other salmonid species. The Lummi tribe will design permit-ready projects that address habitat diversity, channel stability, sediment load and water quality to address salmonid critical habitat needs.
The Native Village of Eyak in Alaska will receive $149,559 to help restore the razor clam in southeastern Prince William Sound. After declaring the razor clam a species-at-risk, the Traditional Council of the Native Village of Eyak requested funding to help them restore the stock to levels that would sustain a subsistence harvest and eventually provide commercial harvest opportunities.
The Penobscot Indian Nation in Maine will receive $149,490 to restore and reopen 500 miles of river habitat for shortnose sturgeon, Atlantic salmon, American eel, American shad, and alewives. The Penobscot are working with numerous partners to remove two large dams, decommission a third, and boost power production at six other dams in the Penobscot watershed. For the first time in over 200 years, 100 percent of migratory fish historical habitat will be reopened.
Examples of Tribal Wildlife Grants awarded today:
The Pueblo of Acoma will receive $250,000 to study bighorn sheep and Rocky Mountain Elk in New Mexico. They will use GIS landscape methods to evaluate if the 431,000-acre reservation contains suitable habitat for a potential reintroduction of bighorn sheep. They are also monitoring Rocky Mountain elk movements using GPS collars to document migration patterns, seasonal usage, and identify critical areas.
The White Earth Band of Ojibwe will receive $155,000 to rear and restock Lake Sturgeon in Minnesotas Red River watershed. The White Earth Reservation Lake Sturgeon Recovery Plan requires 8,000 fingerlings to be reared and stocked in White Earth Lake, and an additional 5,000 fingerlings to be reared and stocked into Round Lake every year. With their partners at both the state and federal level, the White Earth Land Recovery Project and Rainy River First Nations have reintroduced over 48,000 fingerlings of this endangered species into its historical habitat.
The Lower Brule Sioux Tribe in South Dakota will receive $250,000 to reintroduce both the swift fox and black-footed ferret to the Lower Brule Sioux Reservation. These species will help restore ecological balance, increase biodiversity and promote prairie ecosystem conservation by increasing public awareness.
The Seminole Tribe of Florida will receive $250,000 to develop an invasive species invasive species
An invasive species is any plant or animal that has spread or been introduced into a new area where they are, or could, cause harm to the environment, economy, or human, animal, or plant health. Their unwelcome presence can destroy ecosystems and cost millions of dollars.
Learn more about invasive species management plan for both plant and fish species on the Big Cypress and Brighton reservations. They will determine the impact of non-indigenous fish populations on native fish populations and remove exotic plant species, which will help restore habitat for the federally protected wood stork, Florida panther, Audubons Crested Cara Cara, and bald eagle.
The Chickaloon Native Traditional Council in Alaska will receive $167,768 to restore fish passage fish passage
Fish passage is the ability of fish or other aquatic species to move freely throughout their life to find food, reproduce, and complete their natural migration cycles. Millions of barriers to fish passage across the country are fragmenting habitat and leading to species declines. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's National Fish Passage Program is working to reconnect watersheds to benefit both wildlife and people.
Learn more about fish passage and improve habitat on Moose Creek. They will restore over 1000 lineal feet of stream channel from a fast flowing steep channel to a step-pool system that improves fish passage for adult and juvenile coho and Chinook salmon, dolly varden and trout. They will also enhance 2.5 acres of riparian riparian
Definition of riparian habitat or riparian areas.
Learn more about riparian vegetation in the flood plain.
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 545 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 agencies.
-FWS-
The Tribal Landowner Incentive Program supports federally recognized Indian tribes to protect, restore, and manage habitat to benefit species at-risk, including federally listed endangered or threatened species, as well as proposed or candidate species on tribal lands. The Service has approximately $2.14 million available for this program and will fund 17 of the 35 proposals submitted. These selected grants represent 17 tribes in 11 states.
Tribal Landowner Incentive Program grants awarded
AK
Native Village of Eyak
$149,559
Razor Clam Rehabilitation Project
CA
Susanville Tribe8
8$28,525
Cradle Valley Indigenous Landscape Enhancement Project
Round Valley Indian Tribes
$95,300
Mill Creek Habitat Restoration Project and Fisheries and Wildlife Management Plan
ME
Penobscot Indian Nation3 4
$149,490
Katahdin to the Sea: Restoring the Penobscot River Ecosystem (Phase 2)
MI
Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians3
$17,800
Inventory and Protection of White Ash and Black Ash
Little River Band of Ottawa Indians6
6$149,805
Comprehensive Management Plan for White-Tailed Deer
MN
Grand Portage Band of Chippewa Indians
$141,616
Identification of Suitable Habitat for Canada Lynx
MT
Fort Peck Tribes8
8$150,000
Manning Lake Wetlands Tribal Wildlife Refuge Project
Northern Cheyenne Tribe
$150,000
Native Prairie Conservation Incentive Program
ND
Spirit Lake Nation8
8$150,000
Assessment of Flooded Habitats, Important Wildlife Habitats and the Development of a Land Use Plan
NM
Pueblo of Sandia8
8$78,094
Wetland/Bosque Pond Restoration Project for Habitat Creation for the Southwestern Willow Flycatcher
Pueblo of Santa Ana8
8$149,997
Pueblo of Santa Ana Rio Grande Restoration Program: Rio Grande Silvery Minnow Survey and Habitat Assessment
NV
Duck Valley - Shoshone-Paiute Tribe
$149,347
Survey Wildlife and Habitat in the Blue Creek Wetlands for the Development of a Wetlands Management Plan
SD
Lower Brule Sioux Tribe
$149,904
County Line Prairie Restoration and Conservation Project
WA
Lummi Tribe
$150,000
Upper South Fork Instream Project Design
Nooksack Tribe8
8$103,000
Replacement of Multiple Fish Passage Barriers
Yakama Tribe
$149,981
Shrub-Steppe Rehabilitation and Management Project
The Tribal Wildlife Grant Program supports federally recognized Indian tribes to develop and implement programs that benefit wildlife and their habitat, including non-game species on tribal lands. The Service has approximately $5.98 million available for this program and will fund 28 of the 121 proposals submitted. These selected grants represent 28 tribes in 16 states.
Tribal Wildlife Grants awarded
AK
Chickaloon Village Traditional Council
$167,768
Moose Creek Fish Passage Restoration Project
Huslia Tribal Council8
8$248,100
A Holsitic Appraoch to Managing Moose along the Koyukuk River
Native Village of Larsen Bay
$75,000
Acquire and Apply Digital Orthophoto and GIS Technologies in the Karluk River Watershed
Native Village of Port Lions
$250,000
Port Lions Brown Bear Rehabilitation Project
AL
Poarch Band of Creek Indians6
6$225,000
Box Turtle, Migratory Duck & Longleaf Pine Ecosystem Recovery Project on the Magnolia Branch Wildlife Reserve
AZ
Hopi Tribe
$250,000
Golden Eagle Nest Inventory, Population, Productivity Survey and Ethnographic Study
San Carlos Apache Tribe
$249,596
Assessment of Domestic Cattle Mortality in an Area of Mexican Wolves and Three Other Sympatric Carnivores on the San Carlos Apache Reservation
CA
Hopland Tribe
$119,417
Hopland Band of Pomo Indians Creek Habitat Restoration Project
Twenty-Nine Palms Tribe
$249,847
Old Woman Mountain Preserve Project
FL
Seminole Tribe of Florida
$250,000
Development of an Invasive Species Management Plan for Fish and Plant Species on Lands of the Seminole Tribe of Florida
ID Coeur dAlene Tribal Council
$182,399
Detecting the Presence of Fisher and Lynx on the Ceded Territory of the Coeur dAlene Indian Tribe
ME
Passamaquoddy Tribe - Pleasant Point Reservation
$106,218
Monitoring the Water Quality at Boydens Lake Tributaries After the Re-introduction of Alewives
Passamaquoddy Tribe - Indian Township
$250,000
Comprehensive Plan to Protect, Enhance and Manage Freshwater Fish
MI
Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians3
$250,000
Engineering and Feasibility Study of the Potential Removal of the Boardman River Dams
Little Traverse Bay Band of Odawa Indians
$250,000
Gray Wolf Management Plan
MN
Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians6
6$241,788
Red Lake Wildlife Habitat Maintenance, Enhancement and Evaluation Project (Phase 2)
White Earth Band of Ojibwe
$155,000
Lake Sturgeon Restoration Plan
ND
Spirit Lake Nation8
8$250,000
Implementation of Biological Wildlife Surveys for a Wildlife Management Program
NM
Mescalero Apache Tribe
$249,923
Bringing Native Fish to Native Peoples: A Plan to Raise and Distribute Rio Grande Cutthroat Trout at the Mescalero Tribal Fish Hatchery
Pueblo of Acoma8
8$250,000
Wildlife Management on the Pueblo of Acoma: Assessment of Bighorn Sheep Habitat and Seasonal Movements, Population Characteristics and Habitat Use of Rocky Mountain Elk
Pueblo of Jemez
$162,691
Pueblo of Jemez Wildlife Management Proposal
NY
St. Regis Mohawk Tribe
$187,941
Inventory and Evaluation of Suitable Wetland Habitat for Blandings and Snapping Turtles on the St. Regis Mohawk Reservation
OK
Peoria Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma6
6$240,000
Endangered Species of Spring and Neosho River Neosho Madtom and Neosho Mucket
SD
Lower Brule Sioux Tribe
$250,000
Swift Fox and Black-footed Ferret Reintroduction Project (Phase 2 - Reintroduction)
Yankton Sioux Tribe8
8$250,000
Riverine Endangered Species Habitat Development
WA
Nooksack Indian Tribal Council6
6$216,416
South Fork Nooksack Floodplain Restoration - Lower Acme Reach Project
Puyallup Tribal Council
$244,343
South Rainier Elk Herd Management and Habitat Protection Project
WI
Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa
$134,234
Lake Sturgeon Restoration on the Lac Du Flambeau Chain of Lakes and Bear River
