U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Awards Grants to States to Conserve Imperiled Wildlife

Date: April 5, 2007                             RO# 07-027
   Contact:  Amy Gaskill, 503.231.6874

   Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne announced today that the U.S. Fish
   and Wildlife Service will award state and territorial wildlife agencies
   more than $60 million to help prevent imperiled wildlife from suffering
   further decline. The State Wildlife Grant program is designed to provide
   annual funding to all state and territorial fish and wildlife agencies
   that have established comprehensive conservation plans, also known as
   wildlife action plans.  The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Pacific
   Region states and territories (OR, WA, ID & HI, American Samoa , N.
   Mariana Islands and Guam ) combined received more than $4.1 million.

   "States know the most about conservation issues within their borders,”
   said Secretary Kempthorne. “Taken together, all 56 state and territorial
   wildlife action plans represent the most comprehensive national
   assessment of the health of fish and wildlife resources, and steps
   needed to ensure healthy populations.  The State Wildlife Grant programs
   demonstrate our support of conservation partnerships with state, tribal
   and territorial wildlife agencies as well as private partners."

   All 56 state agencies have approved plans that collectively provide a
   nationwide blueprint of actions to conserve imperiled species and
   prevent them from becoming threatened or endangered. The plans were
   created in a collaborative effort that included biologists,
   conservationists, landowners, sportsmen and the general public. The
   plans were reviewed by a national team that included the Fish and
   Wildlife Service and directors from state wildlife agencies.

   "The bottom line is that we use a strong pro-active approach in
   constructing our state wildlife action plans to ensure the health and
   survival of all wildlife," said Ed Parker, president of the Association
   of Fish and Wildlife Agencies and Chief of the Bureau of Natural
   Resources for the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection.
   "It has resulted in closer working relationships with other conservation
   agencies and organization within our states."

   As an example, part of Virginia ’s plan calls for the Virginia Department
   of Game and Inland Fisheries to work in partnership with The Nature
   Conservancy, Virginia Tech, the Upper Tennessee River Roundtable and
   private landowners to restore freshwater mussels in the Tennessee River
   system.  Freshwater mussels are one of the most imperiled groups in
   North America and the Tennessee River system contains more than 100
   species, including several listed as endangered.

   "The plans describe what species and habitats are declining but not yet
   necessarily endangered," continued Kempthorne. "By using this
   information, we can act now before it's too late. The Administration is
   excited about this historic milestone because it represents our best
   chance for large scale cost-effective conservation. This sentiment is
   shared widely by others in the conservation community."

   A state may receive no more than 5 percent or no less than 1 percent of
   the available funds. The District of Columbia and the Commonwealth of
   Puerto Rico each receive 0.5 percent and Guam , American Samoa , the U.S.
   Virgin Islands, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands
   each receive 0.25 percent.  The apportionment is based on a formula that
   uses the state's land area and population.
   Under legislation signed by President Bush in 2001, states and
   territories so far have received a total of $367 million in grants for
   conservation efforts. The Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Number
   for the State Wildlife Grants is 15.634.

   To learn more about a particular state's plan, please see
   http://www.teaming.com/wildlife_state.htm To see a state-by-state
   funding table, please see http://federalaid.fws.gov/.

   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 547 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.