FOR IMMEDIATE
RELEASE: April 2, 2004
Contact:
Rachel F. Levin, 612-713-5311
EA 04-26
North American Wetlands Conservation Act Funds
13 Wetland Conservation
Projects in the Midwest
The North American Wetlands Conservation Council
in March approved nearly $500,000 in funding for small grants to
fund 13 wetland restoration
projects in the Midwest, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced.
Small grants are awarded once a year, with a maximum of $2 million
available each year for the program nationwide. Small grants may receive
funding up to $50,000 dollars, and a 1:1 non-federal match by partners
is required.
Eleven of the projects are in the Upper Mississippi River and Great
Lakes Region Joint Venture and two are in the Minnesota portion of
Prairie Pothole Joint Venture. All projects will help achieve the goals
identified in the North American Waterfowl Management Plan and the
Joint Venture Implementation Plans. The council awarded 43 small grants
nationwide for 2004, totaling just under $2 million.
“
The projects funded by these small grants are anything but small,” said
Robyn Thorson, regional director for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s
Midwest Region. “Our partners have leveraged millions of dollars
to preserve wetlands and benefit migratory birds and other wildlife
for generations to enjoy.”
The purpose of the 1989 North American
Wetlands Conservation Act, as amended, is to promote long-term conservation—through
protection, enhancement and restoration of wetlands and associated
uplands—of
North American wetland ecosystems and the waterfowl and other migratory
birds, fish and wildlife that depend them. The Act established the
nine-member North American Wetlands Conservation Council to review
and recommend grant proposals to the Migratory Bird Conservation Commission
for funding.
In conjunction with its Standard Grants program, the
Council created a Small Grants program to promote long-term wetlands
conservation
activities
by encouraging participation by new grantees and partners who may not
otherwise be able to compete in the Standard Grants program. Since
1996, when the small grants program began, more than 200 projects have
been awarded funding totaling $8.6 million.
The Director of the U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service and the Executive Secretary of the National
Fish and Wildlife Foundation have permanent
seats on the Council. Four state representatives (one from each flyway)
and three non-government organization representatives (each from a
different non-government organization that is an active partner in
wetlands conservation) are appointed by the Secretary of the Interior.
North
American Wetlands Conservation Act small grants awarded in the Midwest
for 2004 are:
Turkey Run Wildlife Management Area Wetland
Development – Des
Moines River – Pheasants Forever will receive a $50,000 grant
to complete restoration work on 12.1 acres of wetlands and 52.3 acres
of upland habitat in Lee County, Iowa. This work is one component
of a 232-acre acquisition being completed by the Lee County Conservation
Board. A $65,000 contribution from Lee County Pheasants Forever and
the Iowa Department of Natural Resources was used as the non-federal
match for this grant; the total cost of the project was $313,000
and
a number of partners contributed.
Limberlost and Loblolly
Wetland Restoration Project – Friends
of the Limberlost State Historic Site, Inc., will receive $48,000
to acquire and restore 112.5 acres of wetlands and associated
uplands
in Jay and Adams counties, Indiana. The project will primarily benefit
wetland-associated migratory birds. Partners including the Limberlost
Swamp Remembered Committee, June Windmiller Estate and others contributed
$96,000 to accomplish this project.
Restoration of Wetlands
for Wildlife at Spunky Bottoms Merwin Preserve – The
Nature Conservancy will receive $49,993 to restore and enhance 265
acres of wetland habitat in Brown County, Illinois. TNC is providing
the non-federal matching funds for this grant. The Illinois Department
of Natural Resources has entrusted TNC with management and restoration
responsibilities on state lands adjacent to the TNC property.
Hutchinson
Property on Lake Leelanau Narrows – The Leelanau
Conservancy will receive $50,000 to acquire property in Leelanau
County, Michigan.
The project will protect 43 acres of wetlands and associated uplands
and 850 feet of shoreline along Lake Leelanau. The Leelanau Conservancy
is providing $350,000 as the non-federal match for the project.
Pigeon
River Protection Project – Busch Acquisition – The
Little Traverse Conservancy will use a $50,000 grant to acquire and
protect 60 acres of wetland and 140 acres of associated wetlands along
the Pigeon River in Michigan. The project will protect 6,600 feet of
shoreline habitat. The conservancy, along with private donations and
foundations, collectively committed $1,450,000 as non-federal match.
Northeast
Ohio Coastal Wetland and Native Grassland Project – The
Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Division of Wildlife, will
receive $50,000 for habitat work in Trumbull County, Ohio. The
project will
enhance 396 acres of wetland and restore 52 acres of native prairie
to benefit waterfowl during migration, as well as other wetland associated
migratory birds. The Ohio Division of Wildlife, the National Wild
Turkey Federation and other contributed $1,275,026 as a non-federal
match
to this project.
Fox River National Wildlife
Refuge Wetland Restoration – Fox
River National Wildlife Refuge will receive $17,500 for wetland restoration
in Marquette County, Wisconsin, to restore 100 acres of wetlands
by strategically filling an old ditch system on the refuge. Ducks
Unlimited
and the River Crossing Charter School are contributing $17,500 as
non-federal match.
Lea Lake Principal Spillway Construction – Rusk
County, Wisconsin, will receive $50,000 to replace and improve
the water control structure
on Lea Lake, which will ensure the integrity of this impoundment
and the wild rice it contains. Rusk County, Lac Courte Oreilles
Conservation Department, Ducks Unlimited and other partners have
committed $120,000
as non-federal matching funds.
Pheasant Branch Conservancy Habitat
Enhancement Project – The
Friends of Pheasant Branch Conservancy, Inc., will receive $50,000
to do habitat work on 185 acres in Dane County, Wisconsin. This partnership
will enhance 50 acres of wetland and upland by removing shrubs and
restore 135 acres of prairie and oak savanna habitat. The Friends,
Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and others contributed
$188,691 as non-federal match to this project.
Rose Lake Acquisition – Madison
Audubon Society will use a $50,000 grant to acquire 80 acres adjacent
to Rose Lake in Jefferson County,
Wisconsin. This acquisition, combined with an existing 120 acres,
will protect 200 acres of property and 7,600 feet shoreline along
Rose Lake.
Madison Audubon, Jefferson County Parks Department and the Wisconsin
Department of Natural Resources committed $385,000 as a non-federal
match to this project.
Yahara River – Cherokee Marsh
Wetland Restoration – The
City of Madison’s Parks Division will receive $25,464 to plant
submerged and emergent plant materials in an 80-acre area at Cherokee
Marsh Conservation Park in Dane County, Wisconsin. On the water-ward
side of the planted area, brush piles and wooden snow fencing will
be placed to reduce wave action until the vegetation becomes established.
When completed, the project will provide a secondary benefit by protecting
a 200-acre floating sedge meadow from erosive wave action. The Wisconsin
Department of Natural Resources, the City of Madison and other partners
contributed $25,464 as non-federal match.
Mud Lake Wildlife Management
Area Project – Pheasants Forever
will receive a $50,000 grant to acquire 70.5 acres of habitat in
Morrison County, Minnesota, part of a 318.5-acre acquisition being
completed
by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. The total acquisition
includes about half of the Mud Lake shoreline, and will compliment
an existing state wildlife management area adjacent to Mud Lake.
Pheasants Forever and the DNR committed $58,900 as non-federal match.
Buffalo
Ridge Nesting Habitat Enhancement Project – Pheasants
Forever will receive $50,000 to acquire, restore and enhance habitat
in Lincoln and Lyon counties, Minnesota. The grant will help restore
and enhance 118 acres of wetland associated upland habitat and acquire
85 acres of wetland and upland habitat. A partnership comprising
Pheasants Forever, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources and
two Soil and
Water Conservation Districts committed $50,705 in non-federal match.
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 544 national wildlife refuges, thousands
of small wetlands and other special management areas. It also operates
69 national fish hatcheries, 63 Fish and Wildlife Management 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 Assistance
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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