Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne today announced grants totaling more than $734,000 will go to private landowners and groups in seven Midwestern states to conserve endangered and at-risk species such as the Indiana bat, Topeka shiner, eastern prairie fringed orchid and Karner blue butterfly. Nationwide, $7.2 million in grants were awarded for conservation projects to benefit endangered, threatened and other at-risk species through the Private Stewardship Grants Program.
“ Our conservation goals for fish and wildlife can only be achieved with the help of private citizens and landowners,” said Secretary Kempthorne. “These grants are one of the most important tools we have to protect this country’s threatened and endangered species.”
Administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, each of the grants requires at least a 10 percent match in non-federal dollars or in-kind contributions.
“ It is particularly important in the Midwest, where so much habitat is in private ownership, to give landowners the resources they need to conserve rare plants and animals,” said Robyn Thorson, the Service’s Midwest Regional Director.
Grants to Midwestern landowners include:
Iowa
Topeka shiner recovery and habitat restoration - (application by private landowner) – Calhoun County ($18,040). Benefits shiner and three at-risk butterflies.
Restoration of native prairie and oak savanna communities in the Little Sioux watershed in northwest Iowa – (application by Iowa Lakes Resource Conservation and Development, Inc.) – Buena Vista, Cherokee, Clay, Dickinson, and O’Brien counties ($81,000*). Benefits western prairie fringed orchid, Topeka shiner, Dakota skipper and more than 40 at-risk species.
Michigan
- Restoring southeast Michigan’s high diversity landscapes through collaborative stewardship – (application by The Nature Conservancy)– Hillsdale, Jackson, Lenawee, Oakland, and Washtenaw counties ($64,450). Mitchell’s satyr, copperbelly water snake, Indiana bat, clubshell, Eastern massasauga rattlesnake, as well as at least 12 other at-risk species.
Minnesota
- Imperiled species conservation on private land in western Minnesota – (application by Friends of Morris Wetland Management District) – Kandiyohi and Yellow Medicine counties ($40,304*). Benefits greater prairie chicken, marbled godwit, short-eared owl, Henslows sparrow, Dakota skipper and western prairie fringed orchid.
Missouri
- Mystic Plains native prairie revival – (application by Missouri Prairie Foundation) – Adair and Sullivan counties ($70,000) Benefits Mead’s milkweed and at least five at-risk species including the state endangered greater prairie chicken.
Ohio/Indiana/Michigan
- Reforestation and wetland restoration for permanent native habitat in the St. Joseph River Watershed – (application by St. Joseph River Watershed Initiative Partnership) – Hillsdale County, Michigan; Defiance and Williams counties, Ohio; Allen, Dekalb, and Noble counties, Indiana – ($45,000*) Benefits the copperbelly water snake, Indiana bat, clubshell, white cats pearlymussel, northern riffleshell, and the Eastern massasauga rattlesnake, as well as five other at-risk species
Iowa/Missouri
- Southern Iowa oak savanna and Grand River grassland cooperative restoration initiative – (application by Decatur County Conservation Board) – Clarke, Decatur and Lucas counties, Iowa; Ringgold County, Missouri – ($193,625*) Benefits the Indiana bat, Topeka shiner, Meads milkweed, western prairie fringed orchid, and at least 14 other at-risk species.
Ohio
- Oak savanna, mesic Prairie, midwest sand barren, Twig Rush wet prairie restoration project at the Kitty Todd Preserve – (The Nature Conservancy) – Lucas County, Ohio – ($40,000*). Benefits the endangered Karner blue butterfly.
Wisconsin
Karner blue butterfly and associated declining species – (application by Sand County Foundation) – Adams, Green Lake, Jackson, Juneau, Marquette, Monroe, Outagamie, Portage, Waupaca, Waushara, and Wood counties ($137,600*). Benefits Karner blue and an estimated 56 other at-risk species including the prairie bush clover, Karner blue butterfly, Hill’s thistle, and eastern massasauga.
Waumandee Creek Farm: prairie and savanna restoration – (application by private landowner) – Buffalo County ($21,000*). Benefits at least seven at-risk species including white gentian, cliff goldenrod, dusted skipper and the dusty wing skipper.
Habitat restoration for eastern prairie fringed orchid – (application by private landowner) – Rock County ($23,000). Benefits over half of the known blooming orchids on private land in Wisconsin.
Now in its fifth year, the Private Stewardship Grants Program provides federal grants on a competitive basis to individuals and groups engaged in voluntary conservation efforts on private lands that benefit federally listed endangered or threatened species, candidate species or other at-risk species. Under this program, private landowners as well as groups working with private landowners submit proposals directly to the Service for funding to support these efforts.
Last year, 80 grants totaling $6.9 million were awarded to private individuals and groups in 35 states. In the first four years of the program, 362 grants totaling approximately $29 million were awarded to private landowners across the country.
“ We are seeing tremendous benefits to wildlife by partnering with private landowners,” said H. Dale Hall, Director of the Fish and Wildlife Service. “Each year, these private stewardship grants pay dividends in the effort to preserve imperiled species and their habitats. It is heartening to see how much progress we can make when we work together.”
Examples of the Private Stewardship Grant projects selected for funding in 2007 include the following:
ALABAMA / MISSISSIPPI / LOUISIANA
Pine Ecosystem Restoration ($150,000) - This project, submitted by the Mississippi Fish and Wildlife Foundation, American Forest Foundation and Environmental Defense, will improve habitat for declining species dependent on fire-maintained southern pine communities in Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi. This grant will build on earlier successful projects that resulted in the restoration of 3,335 acres on 24 sites. Restoration activities, including planting longleaf pine, will be performed on 1,088 acres of family forest properties. The threatened gopher tortoise, endangered red-cockaded woodpecker, and the black pine snake and ten other species of concern will benefit from this project.
ALASKA
Little Campbell Creek: “Its a Creek, not a Ditch” ($33,600) – The Anchorage Waterways Council submitted this proposal to work with local residents living adjacent to Little Campbell Creek. The grant will help rehabilitate degraded riparian riparian
Definition of riparian habitat or riparian areas.
Learn more about riparian buffers and restore healthy fish habitat. A creekside stewardship program will be developed to target willing land owners and promote a positive stewardship ethic. The project will provide technical expertise, materials and volunteer labor to assist landowners in modifying their land use practices or physical features of their property to enhance protection of the creek and restore vital fish habitat. Species of concern that will benefit include the chinook, coho and sockeye salmon, the Cook Inlet population of beluga whale; rusty blackbird; and a mayfly species found only in Alaska.
CALIFORNIA
Mattole River Eastern Sub-basin Aquatic Habitat Restoration Project ($95,000) – This project, submitted by the Mattole Restoration Council, will replace three undersized culverts on private lands near Wolf, Buck, and Deer Lick creeks in northern California to allow for full fish passage and reduction of sediment loads into the creeks. The project will benefit three federally threatened fish: Chinook salmon, coho salmon and steelhead. It will also benefit rare species such as Pacific lamprey, foothill yellow-legged frog, northern red-legged frog, tailed frog, and southern torrent salamander.
KANSAS / NEBRASKA
Restoration and Enhancement of Tallgrass Prairies
