Secretary
of the Interior Sally Jewell and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Dan
Ashe today announced nearly $35 million in grants to 20 states to enable
collaborative efforts to conserve many of America’s imperiled species, ranging
from the red cockaded woodpecker in the Southeast to a variety of bat species in
the Midwest to a colorful flower in the Rocky Mountains. A list of the
projects by state is available here.
“Partnerships
are critical to ensuring future generations will be able to see threatened and
endangered species in the wild rather than simply in a history book,” Jewell
said. “These grants will enable states to work in voluntary partnership with
private landowners and a wide variety of other stakeholders to preserve vital
habitat and move these species down the road to recovery.”
Issued
through the Cooperative Endangered Species Conservation Fund (authorized by
Section 6 of the Endangered Species Act), the competitive grants allow states
to work with private landowners, conservation groups and other government
agencies to initiate conservation planning efforts and acquire and protect
habitat that benefits threatened and endangered fish, wildlife and plants.
“Private
landowners and natural resource managers are the linchpin for the conservation
of many of our most threatened species,” Ashe said. “By fostering partnerships
between federal, state and local governments, private organizations, and
individuals, we can pool our resources to develop creative solutions that will
drive critical conservation and recovery efforts. These grants are one of many
tools available under the Endangered Species Act and we look forward to
providing continued guidance and support for these programs.”
The grant
funding is provided through programs established to help advance creative
partnerships for the recovery of imperiled species. This year, the fund will
allocate approximately $7.4 million in grants through the Habitat Conservation
Planning Assistance Grants Program; nearly $18 million through the Habitat
Conservation Plan Land Acquisition Grants Program, and $9.5 million through the
Recovery Land Acquisition Grants Program.
“We can
wait for fish and wildlife species to decline to the point where we can’t do anything
but react with expensive, last-ditch efforts, or we can take proactive steps to
conserve wildlife and their habitats before it is too late,” said Dan
Forster, President of the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies and
Director of the Georgia Wildlife Resources Division. “These grants will enable
state fish and wildlife agencies to carry out important on-the-ground
conservation actions with our partners to advance the stewardship of our
nation’s fish and wildlife resources.”
A complete
list of the 2014 grant awards under these programs (Catalog of Federal Domestic
Assistance Number 15.615) is available online at: www.fws.gov/endangered/grants/index.html.
Habitat
Conservation Plans (HCPs) are agreements between a landowner and the Service
that allow a landowner to undertake otherwise lawful activities on their
property, even if they may impact listed species. In return, the landowner
agrees to conservation measures designed to avoid, minimize and mitigate the
impact of those actions. HCPs may also be developed by a county or state to
cover certain activities of all landowners within their jurisdiction and may
address multiple species.
Under the
HCP Land Acquisition Grants Program, the Service provides grants to states or
territories for land acquisitions that complement the conservation objectives
of approved HCPs.
For
example, the state of North Carolina will receive nearly $1.1 million to
support the acquisition of up to 1,761 acres of longleaf pine habitat in the
Sandhills region of the state used by red-cockaded woodpeckers. Acquisition,
restoration, and protection of this property will promote connectivity among
woodpecker groups to expand managed areas in and around the Fort Bragg and Camp
Mackall woodpecker populations, and throughout the North Carolina Sandhills.
The HCP
Planning Assistance Grants Program provides grants to states and territories to
support the development of HCPs through funding of baseline surveys and
inventories, document preparation, outreach and similar planning
activities.
For
example, The Departments of Natural Resources in Michigan, Minnesota and
Wisconsin will use a $750,000 grant to develop an HCP for several species of
cave-dwelling bats including the endangered Indiana bat, northern long-eared
bat, and proposed little brown bat and tri-colored bats. The plan will
focus on forest management on state, county and private lands and will result
in a better understanding of species distribution and summer habitat use by
cave-dwelling bats, species currently severely threatened by white-nose
syndrome.
The
Recovery Land Acquisition Grants Program provides funds to states and
territories to acquire habitat for endangered and threatened species with
approved recovery plans. Habitat acquisition to secure long term protection is
often an essential element of a comprehensive recovery effort for a listed
species.
One of
this year’s grants will provide $494,137 to enable the state of Colorado to
acquire up to 83 acres in Archuleta County to protect the endangered Pagosa
skyrocket from planned development. This acquisition is key to the survival and
recovery of this locally-endemic plant species because it will protect up to 90
percent of the largest and most important remaining populations of the species,
as well as designated critical habitat.
The
Endangered Species Act provides a critical safety net for America’s native
fish, wildlife, and plants. The Service is working to actively engage
conservation partners and the public in the search for improved and innovative
ways to conserve and recover imperiled species. To learn more about the
Endangered Species Program, visit www.fws.gov/endangered.