WASHINGTON, D.C. — Deputy Secretary of the Interior Lynn Scarlett today announced $18.8 million in U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service grants to 14 states in a media teleconference. The grants under the National Coastal Wetlands Grant Program will help conserve, restore and protect coastal wetlands.
States in the Fish and Wildlife Service’s Midwest Region that will receive funds from the National Coastal Wetlands Conservation Grant Program are Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin.
The grants provide funding for 25 projects and will be supplemented with more than $54 million from partners including state and local governments, private landowners and conservation groups. The grants are used to acquire, restore or enhance coastal wetlands for long-term conservation benefits to wildlife and habitat.
" This grant program supports many of the priorities in the U.S. Ocean Action Plan and is one of the most cost-effective conservation programs in the nation," Scarlett said. “A multi-faceted partnership is the key to success.”
FWS Director H. Dale Hall held a simultaneous press conference at the Field Museum in Chicago with Lt. Governor Pat Quinn of Illinois to highlight a grant to the Illinois Department of Natural Resources.
" One of this program’s many strengths is its support of the states’ own coastal conservation priorities," Hall said. "The coastal areas supported by this program represent essential habitat for aquatic and terrestrial plants and animals. Not only will these funds be used to support recovery of imperiled species, they will also help prevent species from becoming threatened by restoring and protecting the coastal areas where they live."
The Fish and Wildlife Service awards the National Coastal Wetlands Conservation grants to states through a competitive process. The program is funded under provisions of the 1990 Coastal Wetlands Planning, Protection and Restoration Act, with money generated from excise taxes on fishing equipment and motorboat and small engine fuels.
Including the 2007 grants, the Service has awarded more than $182 million to states and insular areas since the program began in 1992; when the 2007 projects are complete, they will have protected, restored or enhanced more than 39,000 acres of coastal habitat. A total of more than 235,000 acres will have been protected or restored since the grant program’s inception.
Projects funded by the 2007 grant program in the Fish and Wildlife Service’s Midwest Region are:
Lightfoot Bay Cooperative Coastal Wetlands Acquisition, Michigan – The Michigan Department of Natural Resources will acquire and protect 214 acres of wetlands and shoreline along the south shore of Lake Superior’s Huron Bay. The Lightfoot Bay wetland, near-shore and upland communities provide essential habitat for migrating waterfowl, breeding birds, threatened and endangered species, native plants, and other aquatic and terrestrial wildlife. The project area will also be managed for recreation uses consistent with the conservation objectives, including environmental education.
This project will also strengthen regional public-private and tribal partnerships to protect shared resources. Partners are the Keweenaw Land Trust, Michigan Nature Association, the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community, Central Lake Superior Watershed Partnership, Baraga Conservation District, Copper County Trout Unlimited and Willis Forestry Consulting.
North Maumee Bay Coastal Wetland Acquisition, Michigan – The Michigan Department of Natural Resources will add 132 acres to the Erie State Game Area to protect and enhance the remaining coastal wetlands in North Maumee Bay. The project site is a 12 square mile area on the western end of Lake Erie that encompasses what historically was a broad estuary dominated by shallow waters and emergent wetlands. The coastal wetlands have largely been lost or degraded from development. This acquisition will lead to the large-scale restoration of emergent wetland and shallow water habitat. Restoration of this estuary will require novel techniques for reestablishing sand bars and barrier islands to reduce wave erosion and trap sediments. The area also falls within the Detroit International Wildlife Refuge boundaries. Partners are Ducks Unlimited and Waterfowl USA.
Invasive Species Removal in Illinois’ Northern Coastal Area, Illinois – The Illinois Department of Natural Resources proposes will complete coastal habitat enhancement, including invasive species removal, on 240 acres of dune and swale communities within the ecological coastal wetland complex of Illinois Beach State Park and Spring Bluff Nature Preserve. The project area represents the largest contiguous tract of coastal communities in Illinois, including the globally declining pannes. These sites also support more than 500 species of plants and 300 species of animals, including three threatened and one endangered species. Much of the shoreline with the Illinois Beach State Parks has been designated as critical habitat for the piping plover. Partners are the Lake County Forest Preserve District, Friends of Illinois Beach, John’s Manville and the Alliance for the Great Lakes.
Mink River Estuary-Rowleys Bay, Wisconsin – The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources working with The Nature Conservancy will purchase 139 acres of land, which includes 81 acres of wetlands and over 3,500 feet of shoreline. The purchase will create over 13 miles of contiguous protected shoreline on the Mink River. This area is considered one of the highest quality freshwater estuaries on the western Great Lakes. One million dollars in grant funds will be leveraged with more than $1.5 million in partner funds.
For more information, contact the National Coastal Wetlands Conservation Grant Program, or Division of Federal Assistance, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, both at the address 4401 North Fairfax Drive, Arlington, VA 22203, or visit the programs home page at http://www.fws.gov/coastal/CoastalGrants/.
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 96-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge System, which encompasses 545 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.
