Contacts
Rachel F. Levin
202-208-5631
rachel_levin@fws.gov
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has awarded nearly $14.5 million in grants for 20 projects to 10 states to conserve, restore and protect coastal wetlands. States awarded grants for fiscal year 2002 under the National Coastal Wetlands Conservation Grant Program are Alabama, Alaska, California, Maine, Massachusetts, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas, Washington and Wisconsin. The grants will be supplemented by more than $57 million from state and private partners.
"One of my goals is to work with states, communities and private landowners to conserve our nation’s natural resources," said Interior Secretary Gale Norton. "The National Coastal Wetlands Conservation Grant program fits in perfectly with the touchstone of the Administration’s environmental policy, what I call the ‘four C’s’ -- communication, collaboration and consultation with our partners–all in the service of conservation."
The Service makes yearly matching grants to coastal states and U.S. territories for projects involving the acquisition, restoration or enhancement of coastal wetlands. Projects must be administered for long-term conservation benefits to wildlife and habitat.
To date, the Service has given nearly $105 million in grants to 25 states and one U.S. territory under the National Coastal Wetlands Conservation Grant Program. When the 2002 grants projects are complete, more than 130,000 acres will have been protected or restored since the wetlands grant program was enacted in 1990. The grant program is one of three conservation efforts authorized by the Coastal Wetlands Planning Protection and Restoration Act.
All National Coastal Wetlands Conservation grants are awarded through a competitive process. Funding for the program is generated from excise taxes on fishing equipment and motorboat and small engine fuels. These taxes are deposited into the Sport Fish Restoration Account of the Aquatic Resources Trust Fund (commonly called Wallop-Breaux after its Congressional sponsors).
Descriptions of the 2002 Coastal Wetlands Conservation Grant projects follow.
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 94-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge System which encompasses more than 535 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small wetlands and other special management areas. It also operates 70 national fish hatcheries, 64 fishery resource offices and 78 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 Aid program that distributes hundreds of millions of dollars in excise taxes on fishing and hunting equipment to state fish and wildlife agencies.
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For more information about the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, visit our home page at http://www.fws.gov
For more information about the National Coastal Wetlands Conservation Grants program write to the National Coastal Wetlands Conservation Grant Program, Division of Fish and Wildlife Management and Habitat Restoration, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 4401 North Fairfax Drive, Room 840, Arlington, VA 22203 or Division of Federal Aid, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 4401 North Fairfax Drive, Room 140, Arlington, VA 22203; or check the program’s Internet home page at <http://www.fws.gov/cep/cwgcover.html>.
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Fiscal Year 2002 National Coastal Wetlands Conservation Grant Projects
Alabama
Grand Bay Savannah Wetlands: The Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources will acquire 722 acres of coastal wetlands in the Little Bay portion of Pertersville and Grand Bay estuaries in Mobile County, protecting from immediate development the only available large, undisturbed wetland within the Forever Wild Land Trust’s Grand Bay Savannah Bioreserve Initiative.
Partners: Alabama Forever Wild Trust, Alabama Lands, The Nature Conservancy of Alabama
Coastal grant : $ 1,000,000
State share: $ 884,341
Partner share: $ 75,000
Total cost: $ 1,959,341
Alaska
Anchor River Estuary: The Alaska Department of Fish and Game will acquire 130 acres of estuary and protective barrier beach at the mouth of the Anchor River into Cook Inlet on the Kenai Peninsula. The project will protect marine and estuarine wetlands, barrier beaches, and spruce forest and shrub land buffer. It would also protect habitat for the Steller’s eider, an endangered species.
Partners: The Nature Conservancy, Kachemak Heritage Land Trust
Coastal grant: $ 310,000
State share: $ 50,000
Partner share: $ 57,000
Total cost: $ 417,000
Fish Creek Estuary Project: The Alaska Department of Fish and Game will acquire 32 acres of estuarine and buffering riparian upland habitat at the mouth of Fish Creek and Cook Inlet in Anchorage, preserving a native coastal estuary in the midst of Alaska’s major metropolitan area and completing a wildlife corridor for the Fish Creek watershed by linking the estuary to protected lands upstream.
Partners: Municipality of Anchorage, The Great Land Trust, Ducks Unlimited, Alaska Fly Fishers, Anchorage Waterways Council, Friends of Fish Creek
Coastal grant: $ 650,000
State share: $ 30,000
Partner share: $ 220,000
Total cost: $ 900,000
California
Big River Estuary and Associated Wetlands: The California Coastal Conservancy will acquire 7,400 acres of the lower Big River watershed in Mendocino Bay. Acquisition of this Mendocino County land will permanently protect 8.2 miles of tidal, brackish and freshwater wetlands surrounded on three sides by state-owned property. It will also protect habitat for the coho salmon, steelhead trout, bald eagle and northern spotted owl.
Partners: California Wildlife Conservation Board, California Department of Parks and Recreation, California Water Resources Control Board, California Transportation Enhancement Act funding, Trust for Wildland Communities, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, Marin Community Foundation
Coastal grant: $ 1,000,000
State share: $18,573,000
Partner share: $ 6,000,000
Total cost: $ 25,573,000
Protection of the Lake Earl/Talawa Lagoon: The California Department of Fish and Game will acquire 2,500 acres of sub-tidal and inter-tidal marsh in the Lake Earl Wildlife Area in Del Norte County, providing control of water levels and flushing of two major lagoons that lie between state-owned lands. The project will protect habitat for federally listed species such as the northern Steller’s sea lion and western snowy plover.
Partners: Del Norte County, Ducks Unlimited, California Waterfowl Association, Humboldt State University Wildlife Society, Lake Earl Working Group, Pacific Gas and Electric, private landowners, 4-H Club, Bar-0 Boys Ranch, Friends of Del Norte, Del Norte Integrated Waste Management Authority, California Department of Parks and Recreation, California Wildlife Conservation Board, Humboldt State University
Coastal grant: $ 949,500
State share: $ 2,080,500
Partner share: $ 388,000
Total cost: $ 3,418,000
Protection of Morro Bay Estuary and Associated Wetlands: The California State Coastal Conservancy will acquire and begin restoring 580 acres of watershed lands along Chorro Creek, adjacent to Morro Bay. The project would protect habitat for endangered and threatened species such as the Morro Bay kangaroo rat, Charro Creek bog thistle, tidewater goby, California red-legged frog, California clapper rail, southern sea otter and western snowy plover.
Partners: California Resource Agency, Wildlife Conservation Board, Transportation Equity Act, California Transportation Enhancement Act funding, Morro Bay Foundation, California Water Resources Control Board, National Resources Conservation Service, California Department of Fish and Game, City of Morro Bay
Coastal grant: $ 550,000
State share: $ 4,500,000
Partner share: $ 1,950,000
Total cost: $ 7,000,000
San Elijo Lagoon Acquisition and Restoration Project: The California State Coastal Conservancy will acquire 18.9 acres of coastal wetlands in San Diego County’s San Elijo Lagoon, and prepare a restoration plan for implementation in 2003. The acquisition will allow the partners to protect and enhance this estuarine habitat and continue a broader effort to restore 900 acres of wetlands in the surrounding San Elijo Lagoon Ecological Reserve. It will also benefit listed and candidate species such as the California gnatcatcher, San Diego horned lizard, western snowy plover, least Bell’s vireo and silvery legless lizard.
Partners: County of San Diego, San Elijo Lagoon Conservancy
Coastal grant: $ 850,000
State share: $ 850,000
Partner share: $ 300,000
Total cost: $ 2,000,000
Maine
Flag Island Acquisition: The Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife will permanently protect 170 acres on two islands in Casco Bay by acquiring Flag Island and a conservation easement on a portion of Upper Goose Island. Partners will protect maritime-influenced shrub and woodland, intertidal wetlands and shore frontage representing the largest breeding grounds for eiders--a declining migratory bird species--in the southern portion of their range.
Partners: Maine Coast Heritage Trust, Maine Outdoor Heritage Fund, Casco Bay National Estuary Project Land Opportunity Fund
Coastal grant: $ 502,000
State share: $ 142,000
Partner share: $ 326,094
Total cost: $ 970,094
Massachusetts
Great Marsh Estuary - Wendell Acquisition: Massachusetts’ Division of Fisheries and Wildlife will acquire 91 acres of coastal salt marsh in the Parker River/Essex Bay area of Plum Island Sound - Great Marsh Estuary in Ipswich County. The acquisition will protect habitat for the threatened piping plover and roseate tern, as well as one of the last pieces of privately owned, undeveloped land in the Great Marsh Estuary, fronted by Parker River National Wildlife Refuge.
Partners: Massachusetts Department of Environmental Management, Town of Ipswich, The Trust for Public Land, Trustees of Reservations
Coastal grant: $ 1,000,000
State share: $ -0-
Partner share: $ 2,553,250
Total cost: $ 3,553,250
Namskaket Creek Salt Marsh Restoration: The Massachusetts Wetlands Restoration Program will provide an expanded culvert on Namskaket Creek beneath the Cape Cod Rail Trail to increase tidal flows to the upstream salt marsh and remove phragmites, an invasive weed. Restoring full tidal exchange to Namskaket Marsh, located on the cape between Brewster and Orleans, will improve the ecological integrity of the marsh and benefit species such as the roseate tern and piping plover.
Partners: Massachusetts Coastal Zone Management, Natural Resources Conservation Service, towns of Brewster and Orleans, the Massachusetts Corporate Wetlands Restoration Partnership, University of Massachusetts, Antioch New England Graduate School
Coastal grant: $ 45,000
State share: $ 46,657
Partner share: $ 22,500
Total cost: $ 114,157
North Carolina
Kitty Hawk Woods Coastal Reserve: The North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources will acquire 322 acres of coastal wetlands in Kitty Hawk Woods Maritime Forest in Dare County. These lands would become part of the North Carolina Coastal Reserve.
The area includes maritime swamp forest, maritime deciduous forest, and freshwater and brackish marsh, and habitat for endangered and threatened species such as the bald eagle and shortnose sturgeon.
Partners: The Nature Conservancy, Town of Kitty Hawk, private land owners, the Carolina Estuarine Reserve Foundation, the North Carolina Division of Forest Resources
Coastal grant: $ 682,300
State share: $ 201,000
Partner share: $ 262,500
Total cost: $ 1,145,800
Roper Island Conservation Easement Acquisition: The North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources will acquire a conservation easement to 8,274-acre Roper Island in the Alligator River in Hyde County. The easement will provide contiguous protected tidal wetlands from Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge to Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge through a unit of the North Carolina Coastal Reserve system. The island includes tidal cypress swamp forest, estuarine shrub, pine flats, non-riverine hardwood swamp and marsh, and this project will protect habitat for species including the red wolf, short-nosed sturgeon and red-cockaded woodpecker.
Coastal grant: $ 900,000
State share: $ 750,000
Partner share: $ - 0-
Total cost: $ 1,650,000
South Carolina
Morgan Island Protection Project: The South Carolina Department of Natural Resources will acquire the Morgan Island (4,995 acres), located in St. Helena Sound in Beaufort County. It will protect habitat for the bald eagle, eastern indigo snake and loggerhead sea turtle.
Partners: National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, the Conservation Fund, The Nature Conservancy, Ducks Unlimited, private landowners
Coastal grant: $ 1,000,000
State share: $ 319,500
Partner share: $10,680,500
Total cost: $12,000,000
Texas
Coastal Riparian Wetlands in League City: The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department will acquire 146 acres of riparian habitat on Clear Creek in League City. The acquisition of this Galveston County site will protect an unchannelized bayou leading to Galveston Bay. The area is in the midst of major urban development.
Partners: City of League City, City of Nassau Bay, private landowner
Coastal grant: $ 1,000,000
State share: $ 1,200,000
Partner share: $ 400,000
Total cost: $ 2,600,000
Protection and Restoration of West Bay Bird Island and Adjacent Habitats: The Texas Land Office and the Texas Department of Parks and Wildlife will construct 1,000 feet of breakwater along the southern shore of Bird Island in Galveston West Bay, Brazoria County, and restore 30 acres of wetland vegetation between the breakwater and the island. This project will stabilize the southern shoreline of West Bay Bird Island from further erosion and protect the 34 acres remaining of Bird Island, a third of which eroded away between 1956 and 1992. This project will protect and restore nesting habitat for the endangered brown pelican.
Partners: Reliant Energy, Texas Audubon Society
Coastal grant: $ 340,000
State share: $ 245,000
Partner share: $ 35,000
Total cost: $ 620,000
Deer Lagoon: The Washington State Department of Ecology will acquire 379 acres of estuarine lagoon and freshwater wetland in Useless Bay on Whidbey Island in Island County. The acquisition will protect existing intertidal habitat and provide water control to restore the freshwater wetlands to intertidal habitat and benefit imperiled species including chinook salmon and bull trout.
Partners: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Puget Sound Program, Island County, private landowners
Coastal grant: $ 800,000
State share: $ 1,200,812
Partner share: $ 677,688
Total cost: $ 2,678,500
Lower Nooksack River Acquisition and Restoration: The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife will acquire 324 acres of formerly tidal river flood plain and wetland habitat on the Lower Nooksack River, feeding Bellingham Bay in Whatcom County. The acquisition would complete a continuous 4.4-mile, 1,700-acre wildlife corridor and provide important rearing and salt water transition habitat for six species of Pacific salmon, including chinook salmon and bull trout.
Partners: Salmon Recovery Funding Board, Ducks Unlimited, Whatcom County
Coastal grant: $ 954,600
State share: $ 345,000
Partner share: $ 66,700
Total cost: $ 1,366,300
Niawiakum River Natural Area Preserve: The Washington Department of Natural Resources will acquire wetlands, salt marsh and riparian uplands in Willapa Bay in Pacific County. The project includes acquiring inholdings of the 1,700-acre Niawiakum River Natural Area Preserve, which provides important feeding and resting habitat for migratory waterfowl and shorebirds.
Partner: The Nature Conservancy
Coastal grant: $ 250,000
State share: $ 200,000
Partner share: $ 71,500
Total cost: $ 521,500
Qwuloolt "Great Marsh" Phase II: The Washington State Department of Ecology will acquire 390 acres of intertidal wetlands in the lower Snohomish River watershed and delta in Snohomish County. The acquisitions will complete land control needed to restore wetlands within a diking district and re-establish a connection with Allen Creek. The project is expected to improve habitat for threatened chinook populations and other salmon species by providing transitional rearing, resting and feeding habitats and access to spawning areas in Allen Creek.
Partners: National Resources Conservation Service, Wetland Reserve Program, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Tulalip Tribes, City of Marysville, two private landowners
Coastal grant: $ 850,000
State share: $ 700,000
Partner share: $ 850,000
Total cost: $ 2,400,000
Washington Island Wetlands Acquisition: The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources will acquire fee title or permanent easement to 240 acres of coastal wetlands and riparian habitat on Washington Island in Door County. The acquisition will protect coastal wetlands and Lake Michigan shoreline, benefitting the threatened dwarf lake iris and the endangered Hine’s emerald dragonfly.
Partner: Door County Land Trust
Coastal grant: $ 795,000
State share: $ 275,000
Partner share: $ 30,000
Total cost: $ 1,100,000
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