Contacts
Bruce Woods (907) 786-3695 Sonja Jahrsdoerfer (907) 786-3323
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service recently awarded $7.2 million in 36 states through the Private Stewardship Grant Program. In Alaska, four organizations working with private landowners in voluntary conservation efforts were awarded a total of $287,550.
The Private Stewardship Grant Program is one of a variety of tools under the Endangered Species Act that helps private landowners plan and implement projects that benefit at-risk and federally listed, endangered, threatened, or candidate species. Two of the four projects funded in Alaska will help reduce interactions between humans and brown bears on the Kenai Peninsula by providing bear-resistant garbage containers at reduced cost to private landowners in Homer and Seward. The other projects will conserve habitat along Little Campbell Creek in Anchorage and on Afognak Island.
?The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service in Alaska has a long history of working with private organizations and land-owners,? said Alaska Regional Director, Tom Melius. ?These new grant projects continue the tradition of promoting voluntary stewardship on privately owned lands in Alaska.?
2007 Award Summaries for Alaska
Homer Wildlife Conservation Community Program ? (application by Kachemak Bay Conservation Alliance) ? Alaska ? ($100,000) ? The Kachemak Bay Conservation Alliance, City of Homer, Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Quick Sanitation, and Alaska Audubon will establish a comprehensive Wildlife Conservation Community Program for the City of Homer to address problematic Kenai Peninsula brown bear interactions and bear-related public safety issues caused by easy access to food sources in residential neighborhoods. The Homer area is experiencing steady human population growth and associated development, which have resulted in an increase in bear-human interactions, putting both humans and bears at risk. This program will provide bear-resistant garbage containers at reduced cost to Homer residents, and will complement existing brown bear conservation efforts on the Kenai Peninsula.
Seward Area Wildlife Conservation Community Program ? (application by Resurrection Bay Conservation Alliance) ? Alaska ? ($108,150) ? The Resurrection Bay Conservation Alliance, City of Seward, Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Alaska Waste, and Alaska Audubon will establish a comprehensive Wildlife Conservation Community Program for the Seward area to address problematic Kenai Peninsula brown bear interactions and bear-related public safety issues caused by easy access to food sources in residential neighborhoods. The Seward area is experiencing steady human population growth and associated development, which have resulted in an increase in bear-human interactions, putting both humans and bears at risk. This program will provide bear-resistant garbage containers at reduced cost to Seward residents, and will complement existing brown bear conservation efforts on the Kenai Peninsula.
Little Campbell Creek: ?It's a Creek, not a Ditch? - (application by Anchorage Waterways Council) ? Alaska ? ($33,600) ? The Anchorage Waterways Council will work with local residents living adjacent to Little Campbell Creek to rehabilitate degraded riparian buffers and restore healthy fish habitat. A creekside stewardship program will be developed to target willing land owners and promote a positive stewardship ethic. The project will provide technical expertise, materials, and volunteer labor to assist landowners in modifying their land use practices or physical features of their property to enhance protection of the creek and restore vital fish habitat. Species of concern that will benefit include anadromous fish (chinook, coho, and sockeye salmon), the Cook Inlet population of beluga whale, rusty blackbird, and a mayfly species found only in Alaska.
Afognak Island Motorized Access Denial: Phase V ? (application by Wildlife Forever) ? Alaska ? ($45,800) ? Wildlife Forever will work with a large Native Corporation landowner to reclaim forest roads to reduce habitat fragmentation and minimize harassment and disturbance of Kodiak brown bears. The project will also benefit Pacific salmon by reducing habitat degradation caused by soil erosion and siltation. Phase V will continue enhancing natural resource and riparian qualities on lands in proximity to other protected habitat areas. Other species of concern that will indirectly benefit from the project are harbor seals, marbled murrelets, sea otters, harlequin ducks, and bald eagles.
For more information about the Private Stewardship Grant Program: http://www.fws.gov/endangered/grants/private_stewardship/index.html
For information on other grants awarded by the Service and other federal agencies:
http://www.fws.gov/grants/
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, 63 Fish and Wildlife Management 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 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.
- FWS -
For more information about the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,visit our homepage at http://www.fws.gov
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