The Migratory Bird Conservation Commission has approved $618,000 in federal funding for the Washington State Black River Riparian and Wetlands Conservation Initiative (Black River Initiative). This initiative is one of many projects receiving funding from the more than $18 million being provided nationwide for the protection and management of nearly 175,000 acres of wetlands for ducks and waterfowl. The funds are part of $39.4 million appropriated by Congress for fiscal year 2007 under the Migratory Bird Conservation Act of 1929. The act also created the Commission, whose members are appointed by the President.
Authorized under the North American Wetlands Conservation Act (NAWCA), the funding supports projects to conserve wetlands and associated habitats for the benefit of migratory waterfowl. Also under NAWCA, $6.8 million was authorized to protect and manage more than 4.1 million acres of wetlands in Canada.
The Black River Initiative represents Phase 1 of an extensive, landscape-scale conservation strategy that will ultimately protect and restore more than 5,000 acres of significant floodplain wetland habitats and associated uplands located within the Black River watershed. Phase one will leverage matching funds to allow partners to protect, restore, and enhance approximately 1,100 acres of wetlands and associated uplands spanning over 21 miles of floodplain and wetland habitats, with an additional 1,000 acres addressed through non-matching funds.
The Black River is a tributary of the Chehalis River, the second largest watershed in Washington. The watersheds wetland habitats make up one of the largest undisturbed freshwater wetland systems remaining in all of Puget Sound. The rivers diverse habitats include prairie oak woodlands, sphagnum bogs, wet prairies, alder bottoms, and wetland conifer forests. The watershed contains critical spawning and rearing habitat and migration corridors for steelhead and cutthroat trout and coho and chinook salmon.
This watershed also benefits at least 150 species of migratory birds, including waterfowl and neotropical songbirds, which use the wetland and riparian riparian
Definition of riparian habitat or riparian areas.
Learn more about riparian habitats. The watershed is home to bald eagles, federally protected marbled murrelets and the Olympic mud minnow and is one of only three places where the Oregon spotted frog is known to occur in Washington. The Oregon spotted frog is a state-listed endangered species, and a candidate for federal listing under the Endangered Species Act.
This project will help to remove the pressures of real estate development that threatens the critical freshwater wetlands by protecting these lands in perpetuity and managing them for long-term productivity of the fish and wildlife species that depend on these wetlands.
The wide ranges of partners involved with this project have been working together for multiple years to implement a broad protection and restoration strategy for the Black River. Partners include the Chehalis Tribe, non-governmental organizations, private citizens and local, state and federal agencies.
The Nature Conservancy and The Capitol Land Trust, in cooperation with Thurston County Conservation Futures funding, will protect approximately 300 acres of critical wetland habitats and associated uplands through fee-title acquisition and perpetual conservation easements. The Department of Natural Resources will protect 12 acres through fee-title acquisition adjacent to the 850 acre Mima Mounds Natural Area Preserve. The Chehalis Tribe will protect 45 acres through fee-title ownership. The Service will protect 328 acres through fee acquisition and restore an additional 50 acres. Private landowners will join the project with conservation enhancements on 50 acres through the Wetland Reserve Program. Finally, The Natural Resource Conservation Service will provide $375,000 for restoration of the 1,300 acres through the Wildlife Habitat Incentive Program and the Wetland Reserve Program.
In addition to permanent protection that this project entails, it will also create more wetland habitat through restoration and the creation of ponds for waterfowl adjacent to the Black River. The restoration project will further enhance the values of the properties for waterfowl. Ducks Unlimited, Inc. has been a continual supporter and advocate for restoration and conservation activities that have taken place in the Black River and will provide technical expertise and $10,000 for wetland enhancement activities.
The Commission also approved nearly $10 million for the purchase of 4,542 acres of wetlands for inclusion in the National Wildlife Refuge System.
"National Wildlife Refuges provide the vital wetland habitat migrating waterfowl need for feeding and resting on their long journey," said Department of the Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne. "Adding high-quality wetlands to these refuges is one of the best investments we can make to ensure a future for waterfowl, and the host of other creatures that live in wetlands. The NAWCA program is the perfect compliment to the National Wildlife Refuge System. And combined they provide a solid foundation for partnership projects public and private lands throughout North America."
More than $6.8 million for NAWCAs Canadian Grants Program was also approved by the commission to support 13 conservation projects in 12 Canadian provinces. Combined with matching partner funds, these projects will secure more than 16,500 acres of wetlands and associated uplands, enhance more than 19,000 acres, and manage more than 4 million acres of wetlands. In addition, the more than $18 million will support 21 projects in 16 states under NAWCAs U.S. Standard Grants Program. Partners in these projects will contribute an additional $36.9 million in matching funds to help conserve nearly 175,000 acres of habitat. The grants are financed by annual Congressional appropriations; fines, penalties and forfeitures under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act; interest accrued to the Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration Act; and excise taxes paid on small engine fuels through the Dingell-Johnson Sport Fish Restoration Fund.
The Commission also approved the use of more than $9.3 million under the Migratory Bird Conservation Fund for acquisition of more than 4,200 acres of resting and feeding habitat at eight National Wildlife Refuges located in six states. In addition, the Commission approved the acquisition of a permanent easement of Grasslands Wildlife management Area in California. The fund receives revenue from Duck Stamp sales, import duties on firearms and ammunition, and right-of-way payments to the refuge system. Refuges that will secure additional wetlands include:
- Assabet River National Wildlife Refuge, Middlesex County, Massachusetts - 72 acre acquisition
- Grasslands Wildlife Management Area, Merced County, California - 255 acres in permanent easement
- Lake Umbagog National Wildlife Refuge, Coos County, New Hampshire - 727 acre acquisition
- Rappahannock River Valley National Wildlife Refuge, Richmond County, Virginia - 174 acre acquisition
- Trinity River National Wildlife Refuge, Liberty County, Texas - 1,598 acre acquisition
- Cache River National Wildlife Refuge, Woodruff County, Arkansas - 1,140 acre acquisition
- Panther Swamp National Wildlife Refuge, Yazoo County, Mississippi - 404 acre acquisition
- Silvio O. Conte National Fish and Wildlife Refuge, Hampshire County, Massachusetts - 31 acre acquisition
- Wapanocca National Wildlife Refuge, Crittenden County, Arkansas - 141 acre acquisition
While the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced in August that overall waterfowl populations appear to be on the rise, overall migratory birds populations continue to face threats - loss of habitat continues to be a problem for many bird species. The Commissions NAWCA and refuge acquisition efforts using Duck Stamp revenue serve as successful examples of habitat conservation programs providing a bulwark against these threats.
The Commission meets three times a year and includes Senators Thad Cochran and Blanche Lincoln, Representative John Dingell, Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns, and Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Stephen L. Johnson, with Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne serving as Chairman.
Additional information about the Act can be found on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Website at http://www.fws.gov/birdhabitat/Grants/NAWCA/index.shtm.
Summary Table Fact Sheet: http://www.fws.gov/birdhabitat/Grants/NAWCA/Standard/files/2007_September_StandardGrantSummaryTable.pdf
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 97-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge System, which encompasses 548 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.
