For Immediate Release

September 26, 2006

ADDITIONAL FUNDING AWARDED FOR
HOH RIVER CONSERVATION CORRIDOR

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The federal government has awarded another substantial grant that will continue land acquisition for conservation purposes along the Hoh River on Washington's Olympic Peninsula, U.S. Rep. Norm Dicks said Tuesday.

            The congressman said the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service today announced a grant of $6.37 million for the Hoh River Conservation Corridor Project as the largest of nine projects funded this year in Washington state to assist private landowners, conservation groups and other agencies acquire habitat for threatened and endangered species and for conservation planning.   In three previous years, the Hoh project has received $8.75 million from this program for the acquisition of 4,481 acres of habitat area for marbled murrelet, bull trout, northern spotted owl and bald eagles, Rep. Dicks said.

            This year's award will fund the acquisition and protection of 2,320 additional acres from willing sellers.  Rep. Dicks said "it will complement the successful recent  acquisitions that have allowed us to protect critical, environmentally significant portions of habitat along the Hoh River, helping to create the wildlife corridor envisioned under this innovative project."

            Rep. Dicks, who serves as the ranking Democratic member of the House Interior Appropriations Subcommittee, also praised the agency's Section 6 program because of its direct impact in promoting cooperation among interested entities, and because it achieves tangible, near-term protection for threatened and endangered species.

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