The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today announced $18.8 million in U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service grants to 14 states. These grants, awarded under the National Coastal Wetlands Grant Program, will help conserve, restore and protect coastal wetlands.
States receiving funds from the National Coastal Wetlands Conservation Grant Program include Alaska, California, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin.
TEXT-AUTOSPACE: ideograph-numeric; -align: autoHere in Alaska, the Alaska Department of Natural Resources will acquire 960 acres of wetland, riparian riparian
Definition of riparian habitat or riparian areas.
Learn more about riparian and coastal upland habitat in the Portage Drainage on the north coast of Afognak in the Gulf of Alaska. This acquisition will link with 4,019 acres of protected lands to the east and west and form a continuous corridor of over 100 miles of protected coastline. This area ranked the highest for breeding, nesting, feeding and rearing habitat for an array of wildlife species, including species injured by the Exxon Valdez oil spill. More than $900,000 in grant funds will be leveraged with more than $400,000 in partner funds.
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"The grant is another step to completing the conservation of all three of Perenosa Bays key watersheds, and it will connect public lands to the east and west for some of Alaskas best recreational hunting and fishing," said Ron Marcoux, Land Specialist of the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation.
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Tim Richardson, Director of Government Affairs for American Land Conservancy, was equally enthusiastic, adding, "We are pleased with the administrations continued support of Perenosa Bay conservation and the on-going progress in protecting the rich aquatic and wetland resources of the bay. This is a win for sea otters, salmon, Kodiak bears, waterfowl, and elk."
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"Such comments illustrate the cooperative nature of the Coastal Wetlands Grant Program," said U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Alaska Regional Director Tom Melius. "These grants offer the Service the chance to work with a wide range of conservation partners in order to help states achieve their coastal conservation goals."
The Fish and Wildlife Service awards the National Coastal Wetlands Conservation grants to states through a competitive process. The program is funded under provisions of the 1990 Coastal Wetlands Planning, Protection and Restoration Act, with money generated from excise taxes on fishing equipment and motorboat and small engine fuels.
Including the 2007 grants, the Service has awarded more than $182 million to states and insular areas since the program began in 1992; when the 2007 projects are complete, they will have protected, restored or enhanced more than 39,000 acres of coastal habitat. A total of more than 235,000 acres will have been protected or restored since the grant program's inception.
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 542 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, which distributes hundreds of millions of dollars in excise taxes on fishing and hunting equipment to state fish and wildlife agencies.
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For more information about the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,visit our home page at http://www.fws.gov">
