Region 3's
news releases are organized in reverse chronological
order starting with the current month. A brief
synopsis of each release is included here. Click on
the news release title for a full text version. For
news releases issued prior to those available here,
visit the national website and use the
searchable database to obtain the Region's archived
releases through 1991.
October
October
6, 2004
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Creates
New National Wildlife Refuge in Minnesota
35,000 Acre Glacial Ridge National Wildlife Refuge
to Preserve Tallgrass Prairie and Wetlands
Thirty-five thousand acres of wetland
and tallgrass prairie habitat in Minnesota has become the nation’s newest
National Wildlife Refuge as a result of action taken today by Interior
Secretary Gale Norton and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director
Steve Williams, moving forward the largest tallgrass prairie and
wetland restoration project in history. The new Glacial Ridge National
Wildlife Refuge, located near Crookston, in northwest Minnesota’s
Polk County, will become a major waterfowl breeding and nesting
area.
October
6,
2004
Fish and Wildlife Service Honors
Forest Lake’s Wildlife Science Center
with Prestigious Silver Eagle Award
The Wildlife Science Center, a wildlife
research and education facility, has received the prestigious
Silver Eagle
Award from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Great Lakes-Big
Rivers Region. Deputy Regional Director Charlie Wooley presented
the award to Wildlife Science Center Director Peggy Callahan during
a ceremony today at the center’s Forest Lake, Minn., facility.
September
September
23, 2004
Interior Secretary Announces More Than
$70 Million
in Grants to Support Land Acquisition and
Conservation Planning for Endangered Species
Interior Secretary Gale Norton today announced more
than $70 million in grants to 28 states and one territory to support
conservation planning and acquisition of vital habitat for threatened
and endangered fish, wildlife, and plant species.
September
23, 2004
Comprehensive Conservation Plan Completed
For
Mark Twain National Wildlife Refuge Complex
The Comprehensive Conservation Plan (CCP) for the
five refuges within the Mark Twain National Wildlife Refuge Complex
has been completed and Notice of Availability of the plan published
in the Federal Register, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced
today. The plan articulates the goals, objectives and strategies
that will guide management at these refuges, scattered along nearly
350 miles of the Mississippi River, for the next 15 years.
September
23, 2004
Ashland Public Hearing on Proposal to
Delist Gray Wolf Set for September 29
The U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service is hosting a public hearing to take
comments on the agency’s proposal to remove
the eastern population of the gray wolf from the list of endangered
and threatened species. The hearing is scheduled for Wednesday,
September 29, 2004, in Ashland, Wisconsin.
September
23, 2004
Madison Public Hearing on Proposal to
Delist Gray Wolf Set for September 27
Wisconsin residents are invited to
attend a public hearing hosted by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service to take comments
on the agency’s proposal to remove the eastern population
of the gray wolf from the list of endangered and threatened species.
The hearing is scheduled for Monday, September 27, 2004, in Madison.
September
23, 2004
Wausau Public Hearing on Proposal to
Delist Gray Wolf Set for September 28
Wisconsin residents are invited to
attend a public hearing hosted by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service to take comments
on the agency’s proposal to remove the eastern population
of the gray wolf from the list of endangered and threatened species.
The hearing is scheduled for Tuesday, September 28, 2004, in Wausau.
September
23, 2004
Comprehensive Conservation Plan Completed
For
Illinois River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge Complex
The Comprehensive Conservation Plan (CCP) for the
Illinois River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge has been completed
and Notice of Availability of the plan published in the Federal
Register, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced today. Five
years in the making, the plan articulates the goals, objectives
and strategies that will guide management of the refuge complex
for the next 15 years.
September
23, 2004
Comprehensive Conservation Plan Completed
For Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge
and Wetland Management District
The Comprehensive Conservation Plan (CCP) for the
Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge and Wetland Management
District has been completed and Notice of Availability of the plan
published in the Federal Register, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
announced today. Six years in the making, the plan articulates
the goals, objectives and strategies that will guide management
of the refuge for the next 15 years.
September
9, 2004
Illinois Awarded Nearly $1 Million
Boating Infrastructure Grant
The State of Illinois is among four states that will
share nearly $4 million in Boating Infrastructure Grants (BIG)
the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced today. The Illinois
Department of Natural Resources will receive $996,000 for construction
of transient boat slips and facilities at a new marina at Grafton
Ill., located along the Mississippi and Illinois Rivers about 20
miles north of St. Louis, Missouri. The new facilities will provide
recreational boaters with access to Grafton that was not previously
available.
September
8, 2004
Public Hearing on Proposal to Delist Gray
Wolf
Set for September 14 in
Sault Ste Marie, Michigan
Residents
of Michigan are invited to attend a public hearing hosted by
the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to take comments
on the agency’s proposal to remove the eastern population
of the gray wolf from the list of endangered and threatened species.
The hearing is scheduled for Tuesday, September 14, 2004, in Sault
Ste. Marie, Michigan.
September
8, 2004
Public Hearing on Proposal to Delist Gray
Wolf
Set for September 13 in Marquette
Residents
of Michigan are invited to attend a public hearing hosted by
the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to take comments
on the agency’s proposal to remove the eastern population
of the gray wolf from the list of endangered and threatened species.
The hearing is scheduled for Monday, September 13, 2004, in Marquette.
September
8, 2004
Public Hearing on Proposal to Delist Gray
Wolf
Set for September 15 in East Lansing
Michigan
residents are invited to attend a public hearing hosted by the
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to take comments
on the agency’s proposal to remove the eastern population
of the gray wolf from the list of endangered and threatened species.
The hearing is scheduled for Wednesday, September 15, 2004, in
East Lansing.
September
1,
2004
Removing Invasive Trees is a Key Component
to Restoring Minnesota’s Tallgrass Prairie
For many people who live on the spacious prairies
of western Minnesota, planting a tree can be a personal statement
about their conservation ethic. On this sweeping landscape dominated
by vast tilled fields of active farms, and the stubby grass and
woody overgrowth of farms long-dormant, trees can provide an aesthetically
pleasing contrast, as well as a nesting perch and habitat for all
manner of migratory birds.
So trees are a good thing, right?
August
August
30, 2004
Public Hearings on Proposal to Delist Gray
Wolf
Set for August 31 in Bemidji
and September 1 in Virginia
Residents
of northern Minnesota are invited to attend a public hearing
hosted by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to
take comments on the agency’s proposal to remove the eastern
population of the gray wolf from the list of endangered and threatened
species. The hearings are scheduled for Tuesday, August 31, 2004,
in Bemidji and Wednesday, September 1, in Virginia, Minn.
August
27, 2004
Ohio To Receive $45,000 in
Clean Vessel Act Pumpout Grants
The state of Ohio is among 23 states that will share
more than $11 million in Clean Vessel Act Pumpout Grants, the U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service announced today.
August
27, 2004
Michigan To Receive $60,000 in
Clean Vessel Act Pumpout Grants
The State of Michigan is among 23 states that will
share more than $11 million in Clean Vessel Act (CVA) Pumpout Grants,
the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced today. Michigan will
receive a grant award of $60,000 that will be distributed to local
governments and private marina owners for pumpouts and CVA related
informational campaigns focusing on the Great Lakes.
August
27, 2004
Missouri To Receive $36,000 in
Clean Vessel Act Pumpout Grants
The State
of Missouri is among 23 states that will share more than $11
million in Clean Vessel Act Pumpout Grants,
the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced today. Missouri will
receive a grant award of $36,000 that will help fund pumpout stations
at private marinas on the state’s major lakes and rivers.
August
26, 2004
Secretary Norton Announces $9 Million In
Tribal Grants
To Help Fund Fish And Wildlife Conservation Projects
$1.26 Million Awarded to Tribes in Michigan, Minnesota
and Wisconsin
Eight Native American tribes in Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin are among
48 federally recognized tribes that will share 53 grants totaling nearly $9
million to conserve and recover endangered, threatened and at-risk species
and other wildlife on tribal lands in 22 states, Interior Secretary Gale Norton
announced today.
August
26, 2004
Secretary Norton Announce $16 Million In
Grants to Conserve Imperiled Wildlife in 42 States
Interior Secretary Gale Norton applauded President
Bush for signing an executive order today in support of cooperative
conservation and announced $16 million in cost-share conservation
grants to private landowners and Native American tribes. The grants
will support 150 projects to conserve threatened, endangered and
at-risk species across the country.
August
26, 2004
Deputy Interior Secretary Highlights
$400,000 in Grants to Conserve and
Restore Wildlife Habitat in Wisconsin
Deputy Secretary of the Interior Steve Griles today
highlighted more than $400,000 in grants to private landowners,
conservation organizations and Native American tribes in Wisconsin
to undertake conservation projects to benefit endangered, threatened,
and at-risk species and other wildlife.
August
20, 2004
Historic $56 Million Settlement Paves Way
for Restoring Fish and Wildlife Habitat in Indiana
Indiana Governor Joe
Kernan, Assistant Secretary of the Interior Lynn Scarlett and Deputy
Assistant Attorney General John Cruden announced today that eight
companies have agreed to pay nearly $60 million to restore natural
resources in the Grand Calumet River and Indiana Harbor Canal.
August
13, 2004
Federal Gray Wolf Public Hearings Scheduled
in Minnesota, Michigan and Wisconsin
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has scheduled
nine public hearings in Minnesota, Michigan and Wisconsin to give
the public opportunity to comment on a proposal to delist gray
wolves in the Eastern Distinct Population Segment (DPS).
August
11, 2004
Deputy Secretary Griles Joins Rep. LaTourette,
Ashtabula School District to Celebrate Agreement
Deputy Secretary of the
Interior Steve Griles joined U.S. Rep. Steven C. LaTourette of
Ohio, Ashtabula Area City School District Superintendent William
Licate and other community members in Saybrook Township, Ohio,
today to recognize the partnership that allowed construction of
the new Lakeside High School to commence near an endangered bat
colony.
August
10, 2004
Three New Shot Types Approved for Waterfowl
Hunters
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service yesterday approved
three new non-toxic shot types--tungsten-bronze-iron, a new formulation
of tungsten-iron, and tungsten-tin-bismuth--for use in waterfowl
hunting.
August
9, 2004
Public Input Sought on Draft
Supplemental Environmental Assessment
for the City of Fulton Transient Boating Facility
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, in cooperation
with the City of Fulton, Ill., and the Illinois Department of Natural
Resources, invites the public to review and comment on a draft
Supplemental Environmental Assessment (EA) for the construction
of transient boating facilities on the Mississippi River in Fulton,
Ill.
August
9, 2004
Agency, Partners Will Pool $4.8 Million
to
Remove Fish Passage Barriers in 26 States
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the agencys
partners will pool $4.8 million in 2004 to remove 91 barriers to
fish passage in 26 states.
August
6, 2004
Region 3 Refuge Manager John Magera
Earns Spot on U.S. Olympic Archery Team
You
can add “Olympian” next to John Magera’s title
of Refuge Manager at Region 3’s Middle Mississippi River
National Wildlife Refuge in southern Illinois. A little more than
a year after competing in his first bow tournament, Magera, 34,
is representing the United States at the 2004 Summer Olympics as
a member of the U.S. Olympic Archery Team.
August
6, 2004
Service Announces $566,000 in
Great Lakes States Restoration Projects
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today announced
the granting of $566,256 to fund fish and wildlife restoration
projects in the Great Lakes basin. The projects will be funded
under authority of the Great Lakes Fish and Wildlife Restoration
Act of 1998, which provides assistance to the Great Lakes Fishery
Commission, States, Tribes and other interested entities to encourage
cooperative conservation, restoration and management of fish and
wildlife resources and their habitat in the Great Lakes basin.
August
6, 2004
Draft
Plan Outlines Steps to Help Rare Beetle
A
small beetle found only in northern Lower Michigan and Ontario,
Canada, is the focus of a draft recovery plan that outlines steps
to ward off extinction of the species. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service has announced a draft recovery plan for the endangered
Hungerford’s crawling water beetle, and is seeking input
on the draft.
August
6, 2004
Draft Plan Outlines Steps to Help Rare
Freshwater Mussel
A draft plan outlining steps to ward off extinction
for the scaleshell mussel has been released by the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service, which seeks public comment on the plan. Found
in streams in Arkansas, Missouri and Oklahoma, the Service listed
the scaleshell as an endangered species in 2001.
August
3,
2004
Public Input Sought on Draft Environmental
Assessment
for Reconstruction of Hurds Corner Road
in Tuscola County
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, in cooperation
with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (MDNR) and the
Tuscola County Road Commission, invites the public to review and
comment on a draft Environmental Assessment (EA) for the reconstruction
of 2 1/2 miles of Hurds Corner Road from Frankford Road to Deckerville
Road in Wells and Ellington Townships.
July
July
27, 2004
Critical Habitat for the Topeka Shiner
Designated in
Iowa, Minnesota, and Nebraska
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today designated
836 miles of stream in Iowa, Minnesota, and Nebraska as critical
habitat for the endangered Topeka shiner.
July
23, 2004
Service Reports 2003-2004
Waterfowl Hunting Harvests
Hunters harvested nearly 6.8 million ducks and 1.5
million geese in the Mississippi Flyway during the 2003 hunting
season, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
July
23, 2004
Biologists Hope to Come Up Empty
in Search for Carp and Gobies
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will again be
searching the Illinois Waterway from the western Chicago suburbs
to the La Salle-Peru area for invasive fish.
This event has been rescheduled for August 10-13 after being postponed in June
due to flooding in the waterway.
July
15, 2004
Secretary Norton Announces Proposal
to Remove Eastern Population of
Gray Wolves from Endangered Species List
Three decades after gray wolves were
nearly extinct in the lower 48 states, Interior Secretary Gale
Norton announced today that wolves in the eastern United States
have recovered to the point where they can be proposed for removal
from the list of threatened and endangered species.
July
15, 2004
Service
Releases Final Recovery Plan
for Higgins Eye Pearlymussel
A
plan to recover the endangered Higgins eye pearlymussel, a freshwater
mussel found in the Upper Mississippi River and its major tributaries,
has been revised by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and is
now available. The new plan addresses threats to the species
that were not anticipated when the original Higgins eye recovery
plan was developed in 1983. Among the new threats considered
in the revised recovery plan is the invasion of the Upper Mississippi
River by non-native zebra mussels.
July
15, 2004
Two Indicted For Illegally Selling,
Killing and Transporting
White-Tailed Deer in Indiana
Northern District of Indiana United States Attorney
Joseph S. Van Bokkelen announced today that a Grand Jury in South
Bend, Ind., released a 38-count indictment charging two men with
illegally selling and transporting wildlife across state boundaries;
facilitating the illegal killing and transportation of wildlife;
knowingly providing false information to federal agents; and, illegally
introducing chemicals into food producing wildlife for interstate
transfer.
July
13, 2004
Wendi
Weber Named Assistant
Regional Director of Ecological Services
For Service’s Midwest Region
Wendi
Weber has been selected as the new Assistant Regional Director
of Ecological Services for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s
Midwest Region, headquartered in Fort Snelling, Minnesota. Weber
succeeds Charlie Wooley, who became the Service’s Midwest
Deputy Regional Director in January 2004.
July
12, 2004
Service Seeks Public Input on
Draft Environmental Assessment for Implementing
Chronic Wasting Disease Management Plan
at Leopold Wetland Management District
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is seeking public
comments on a draft Environmental Assessment (EA) that considers
adoption of a Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) Management Plan for
the Leopold Wetland Management District. The draft EA looks at
various alternatives for surveillance and management of CWD on
Service lands within District boundaries in south central Wisconsin.
July
1, 2004
Volunteers Needed to Search for Threatened
Dune Plant
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
is asking volunteers for help in locating known and new populations
of Pitcher’s
thistle, a rare dune plant listed as threatened under the federal
Endangered Species Act. The Service will conduct a survey on Thursday,
July 15, at Hoffmaster State Park, in Muskegon, Michigan. Volunteers
are asked to meet at 9:30 a.m. at the Gillette Visitor’s
Center at the park.
July
1, 2004
Public Input Sought on
Draft Environmental Assessment for
Alton Marina Breakwater Extension
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, in cooperation
with the City of Alton and the Illinois Department of Natural Resources,
invites the public to review and comment on a draft Environmental
Assessment (EA) for the construction of a marina breakwater extension
on the Mississippi River in Alton, Ill.
June
June
24, 2004
Partnership Helps Replace Wetlands Lost
to Pollution
Efforts by a partnership of private conservation
groups and local, state and government agencies helped acquire
more than 500 acres for wildlife management and public recreation
in two Iowa counties. The two properties in Harrison and Woodbury
counties were acquired to replace wetlands contaminated by pollution
at a site in Woodbury County.
June
24, 2004
John Hartig Selected as First
Full-Time Manager for Detroit River
International Wildlife Refuge
As a young boy in the 1960s, John Hartig relished
his days spent fishing in the Detroit River in southeast Michigan.
Today, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced that the 51
year-old Trenton, Mich., native will become the first full-time
refuge manager at the Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge.
June
18, 2004
Service and Michigan DNR
Seek Comments on Draft Plan for
Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) has
released for public review and comment a draft of the Comprehensive
Conservation Plan and Environmental Assessment for the Detroit
River International Wildlife Refuge. The Service and the Michigan
Department of Natural Resources will host an open house next month
in Trenton, Mich., to accept comments on the draft plan and answer
questions from the public about the plan. The draft Comprehensive
Conservation Plan presents management alternatives for the refuge,
including fish and wildlife habitat protection priorities and partnership
opportunities, and will serve as a guide for the refuge through
the next 15 years.
June
16, 2004
Public Input Sought on Draft Environmental
Assessment
for the Public Water Access Development Program
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, in cooperation
with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR), invites
the public to review and comment on a draft generic Environmental
Assessment (EA) for the construction of public water access sites
in Wisconsin.
June
15, 2004
Savanna District Manager Ed Britton
Earns Department of Interior Award for
His Role in Creating Lost Mound Unit
When the Cold War ended in the early
1990s, military installations across the nation were being closed
as part of a
government cost-saving effort referred to as the “peace dividend.” More
than a decade later, the vision and leadership of one Fish and
Wildlife Service employee has helped turn a large portion of a
former Army installation in Illinois into a place that is paying
dividends for migratory birds and other wildlife on the Upper Mississippi
River.
June
14, 2004
Service Announces 409-acre Land Acquisition
for Wildlife Refuge in Michigan,
$5.9 Million in Grants for Midwest Habitat Conservation
Michigan’s
Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge will gain more than
400 acres of migratory bird habitat
through land acquisition approved by the Migratory Bird Conservation
Commission.
June
10, 2004
Service Probes Pelican Exodus at
Chase Lake National Wildlife Refuge
Biologists are trying to determine what caused the
disappearance of thousands of white pelicans from nesting sites
at Chase Lake National Wildlife Refuge in late May, and where the
pelicans may have gone.
June
10, 2004
Interior
Secretary Announces Grants
in Four Midwestern States and Latin America
to Conserve Migratory Birds
Interior Secretary Gale Norton today announced 40
grants to conservation organizations working in 16 U.S. states,
21 Latin American and Caribbean countries, and Puerto Rico to support
neotropical migratory bird conservation. The grants total $3.8
million and will be matched by $16 million in contributions by
partnering organizations.
June 8, 2004
Dan Frisk Named New Project Leader
at Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge
Dan Frisk, a five-year veteran of the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service, (Service) has been named project leader for Crab
Orchard National Wildlife Refuge in southern Illinois, the Service
announced today. Frisk, currently the project leader at Ottawa
NWR in northwest Ohio, will begin his new assignment July 25, 2004.
June 3, 2004
Biologists Hope to Come Up
Empty-Handed in Search for Carp, Gobies
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service--along with a
host of federal, state and regional partners--will again be searching
the Illinois Waterway from the western Chicago suburbs to the La
Salle-Peru area for invasive fish this month.
June 1, 2004
Special Agent Named Officer of the Year
by
North American Wildlife Enforcement Officers Association
Tim Santel, resident agent in charge
of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s law enforcement
office in Springfield, Ill., has been named Officer of the Year
by the North American
Wildlife Enforcement Officers Association (NAWEOA). He is the first
Service special agent to receive the prestigious award.
U.S. Fish & Wildlife
Service
