Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne has announced more than $6.2 million in grants will go to 38 Native American projects in 18 states to fund a wide range of conservation projects nationwide.
Five grants totaling more than $983,000 are being awarded to Native American tribes in the Midwest: three in Minnesota, one in Iowa and one in Wisconsin.
“Tribal Wildlife Grants are much more than a fiscal resource for tribes. The projects and partnerships supported by this program have enhanced our commitment to Native Americans and to the United States’ shared wildlife resources,” Secretary Kempthorne said.
More than $34 million has gone to Native American tribes through the Tribal Wildlife Grants program in the past six years, providing funding for 175 conservation projects administered by 133 participating federally recognized tribes. The grants provide technical and financial assistance for the development and implementation of efforts that benefit fish and wildlife resources and their habitat, including species that are not hunted or fished.
“The Tribal Wildlife Grants program has helped the Service to collaborate more effectively with Native American tribes in conserving and restoring the vast diversity of fish and wildlife habitat that they manage,” added the Interior Department’s Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks Lyle Laverty.
The grants have enabled tribes to develop increased management capacity, improve and enhance relationships with partners including state agencies, address cultural and environmental priorities, and heighten interest of tribal students in fisheries, wildlife and related fields of study. Some grants have been awarded to enhance recovery efforts for threatened and endangered species.
Grants are provided exclusively to federally recognized Indian tribal governments under the Related Agencies Appropriations Act of 2002 and through a component of the State Wildlife Grant program.
During the current grant cycle, tribes submitted a total of 110 proposals that were scored by panels in each Service region using uniform ranking criteria. A national scoring panel recommended 38 proposals for funding.
Tribal grants awarded in the Midwest are:
Iowa:
Sac and Fox Tribe of the Mississippi (Meskwaki Nation): Meskwaki Buffalo Herd and Prairie Restoration
This is the first Tribal Grant award earned by the Meskwaki in the six years of the grant program. The tribe will use a grant of $195,195 and a match of $171,092 to study the bison herd and conduct prairie restoration.
Minnesota:
Grand Portage Band of Chippewa Indians: Viral Hemorrhagic Septicemia (VHS) Surveillance and Detection in Grand Portage Waters and Within the 1854 Ceded Territory
The tribe will do survey work on the newly diagnosed VHS virus within the waters of the Great Lakes. The grant totals $325,037 -- $199,944 through the Tribal Wildlife Grant Program, and $125,073 in matching funds.
Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe: Assessment of Double-Crested Cormorant Predation Effects on Selected Fish Species and Colonial Waterbird Management on the Pelican Complex in Leech Lake
This project includes the management of colonial waterbirds and is the second phase of an investigation by the tribe into double-crested cormorant predation on selected fish. The tribe will match the $200,000 federal grant with $118,166.
Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians: Gray Wolf Inventory, Monitoring, and Management Plan Development
Using a $196,015 Tribal Wildlife Grant and $72,670 in matching funds, the tribe will identify baseline data on the recently delisted gray wolf in northern Minnesota.
7Wisconsin:
Stockbridge Munsee Community: Stockbridge Munsee Fish and Wildlife Project
A $192,690 federal grant and $201,239 in matching money will fund the second phase of a trout restoration project as well as reservation studies involving bobcat, otter and deer.
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