For Immediate Release

November 19, 2001

FEDERAL WILDLIFE GRANTS WILL FUND
CONSERVATION, HABITAT WORK IN WASH. STATE

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service has awarded six grants totaling $4.8 million to Washington for wildlife habitat preservation and other conservation activities in the state, U.S. Congressman Norm Dicks said.

        The funds are issued through a state grant program that was expanded significantly by Rep. Dicks as part of a six-year conservation initiative he pushed through Congress in 2000.

        "Because of the importance of protecting threatened and endangered salmon and other species in our state and region, I am very pleased that  Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife has aggressively sought assistance through this program," Rep. Dicks said.

        The congressman noted that Washington has thus far received the largest share of the funding awarded by the federal government for these state grants.

        The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, an agency within the Department of the Interior, informed Rep. Dicks today that it was making the following grants:

Prairie and Oak Woodland Habitat Conservation and Restoration
This public-private partnership will conserve and restore the remaining 3% of Washington's rare Puget prairie ecosystem for a diverse array of listed and candidate species including rare small mammals, birds, amphibians and butterflies. Methods include evaluating habitat, managing vegetation, and captive rearing and release   ..........................................................     $554,600

Restoration and Management of the Shrub-Steppe Ecosystem
This project will improve our understanding of the extent and condition of existing and restored sagebrush-grassland communities in eastern Washington and how human-caused changes in the landscape influence associated wildlife. Methods include conducting biological surveys, mapping habitat, distributing information and coordinating the existing efforts of multiple state, federal, tribal and private partners  ....................................     $730,000

Okanogan-Similkameen Conservation Corridor Project
This project, centered in North Central Washington and South Central British Columbia, is intended to protect and restore habitat within the internationally-significant Okanogan and Similkameen waterhseds.  The area is an important ecological corridor for movement of wildlife, and it is rapidly becoming urbanized  ...................................................................     $964,000

Ecoregional Conservation Planning
With approximately 70,000 acres of fish and wildlife habitat altered or destroyed each year in Washington State, there is a greater need for ecosystem planning.  This program will design a network of "conservation sites" that, if properly managed, should preserve biological diversity, particularly in the Puget Lowlands Ecoregion, where most of the state's growth is occurring  .............................................................................     $843,848

Recovery of Endangered and Threatened Species in Wash.
The intent of this project is to reverse the declines of the 37 species in Washington State that are listed as threatened or endangered through coordinated actions statewide  ..............................................................     $1,204,443

Conservation and Recovery of Priority Species
State, federal, tribal and private groups will collaborate on-the-ground to protect and improve habitats and increase several declining populations of mountain goats, elk, and mountain quail  ...............................................     $519,573

        Jeff Koenings, Director of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife,  commented on the award today, saying "I am extremely pleased that so many of Washington’s projects have qualified for funding in the Department of Interior’s competitive grant process."

       "These one-time funds will go a long way toward helping us safeguard the future of Washington’s fish and wildlife at a time when other funding sources are severely constrained. These projects are designed to protect and restore threatened and endangered species along with a broad diversity of wildlife and their habitat throughout the state," he added.

        "Areas affected by these projects range from the oak woodlands of the Puget Sound area and south central Washington to the shrub-steppe of Eastern Washington. We are truly indebted to the Department of the Interior and Rep. Dicks for recognizing the importance of this work," Koenings said.

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