Acting Secretary of the Interior Lynn Scarlett today announced that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is awarding nearly $8 million to help federally recognized Indian tribes conserve fish and wildlife on their lands.
Grants totaling more than $780,000 are being awarded for five projects in the Service’s Midwest Region. The Service is awarding the grants under two programs: the Tribal Landowner Incentive Program and Tribal Wildlife Grants Program.
The Tribal Landowner Incentive Program supports federally recognized Indian tribes as they protect, restore, and manage habitat for species at risk, including federally endangered or threatened species, as well as proposed or candidate species on tribal lands. Nationwide, the Service is providing approximately $2.05 million to help fund 15 Tribal Landowner Incentive projects in 12 states.
In the Midwest Region, the Red Cliff Band of Superior Chippewa Indians of Wisconsin, a first-time tribal grant recipient, is being awarded a $148,088 Tribal Landowner Incentive Program grant to increase its Natural Resources Department’s capacity by acquiring a research vessel.
About $6 million will help fund 28 projects nationwide under the Tribal Wildlife Grants 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. These grants represent 26 tribes in 16 states.
Four projects in the Service’s Midwest Region—one in Michigan, one in Wisconsin and two in Minnesota--received Tribal Wildlife Grant Program funds totaling more than $633,000.
For the Midwest Region Tribal grants, the tribes and their non-federal partners will contribute more than $436,000 toward the grant projects.
Applications for the Tribal Grant programs from tribes in the Midwest Region included five tribes that have never received grants in the past. Two of these tribes were successful this year.
Tribal Landowner Incentive Program grant awarded in the Midwest for 2006:
Wisconsin
Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians, Bayfield, Wis.
Increasing the Red Cliff Natural Resources Department Capacity through the Procurement and Operation of a Research Vessel
Award: $148,088
Match: $140,000
Tribal Wildlife Grant Program grants awarded in the Midwest for 2006:
Michigan
Lac Vieux Desert Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians of Michigan, Watersmeet, Mich.
Lac Vieux Desert Walleye Conservation Program
Award: $27,975
Match: $46,370
Minnesota
Grand Portage Band of Chippewa Indians, Grand Portage, Minn.
Using Pack Size, Territory Size and Interstitial Area of Gray Wolf (Maiingan) to Estimate Wolf Density and Determine Predator/Prey Relationships with Moose (Mooz) and White-Tailed Deer (Wawashkeshshi)
Award: $249,750
Match: $129,500Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians, Red Lake, Minn.
Lake Sturgeon (Acipenser Fulvescens) Reintroduction into the Headwaters of the Largest Tributary to the Red Rivers of the North
in the United States
Award: $159,152
Match: $60,800
Wisconsin
Menominee Indian Tribe, Keshena, Wis.
Menominee Tribal Wildlife Grant Program
Award: $196,782
Match: $60,309
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.
