Public Comment Period Reopened on Sea Otter Critical Habitat

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has proposed the designation of a total of approximately 15,000 square kilometers of near-shore, shallow waters in five separate critical habitat units for the southwest Alaska Distinct Population Segment of the northern sea otter. Since 2005, this population of otters has been protected as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act. The comment period on the proposed rule has been reopened and will remain open until July 1, 2009. The Service will hold one public hearing on June 18, 2009, at the Z.J. Loussac Library in Anchorage, Alaska. There will be an informational meeting with a questions and answer session from 7:00 p.m. until 7:30 p.m. and we will accept public comments verbally from 7:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m More...

Two Alaskan Partnerships Receive Awards from Secretary Salazar

Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar today presented 26 Partners in Conservation Awards, including awards to two Alaskan partnership efforts, the Rat Island Restoration Project and the Southwest Alaska Salmon Habitat Partnership. The Secretary said "the Partners in Conservation Awards demonstrate that our greatest conservation legacies often emerge when stakeholders, agencies, and citizens from a wide range of backgrounds come together to address shared challenges." The Rat Island Restoration Project is carrying out the largest island rat eradication project in the United States more. Since 2001, the Southwest Alaska Salmon Habitat Partnership has worked to conserve and protect 94,000 acres of habitat, including rivers that are prime spawning grounds for salmon and other fish in southwestern Alaska.

Tribal Wildlife Grant Application Period Opens

On May 1, 2009 the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service issued a request for grant proposals from federally recognized Tribes for projects that will benefit fish and wildlife and their habitats. The Tribal Wildlife Grant program funds projects such as conservation planning, laboratory and field research, habitat restoration, and population surveys and monitoring. This grant request is for fiscal year 2010. In fiscal year 2009 five Alaska tribes received tribal wildlife grants totaling nearly $900,000. Proposals and grant applications must be postmarked by September 1, 2009. The maximum award for any one project under this program is $200,000. For more information and to obtain a copy of the grant application kit, or to find a regional Tribal grants contact, please visit http://www.fws.gov/nativeamerican/grants.html

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Announces 88 Projects in the Alaska Region Under President’s Economic Recovery Plan

Anchorage, Alaska – From the remote islands of the Aleutians in the south to Kotzebue in the north, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will undertake 88 construction, energy efficiency, habitat restoration, and other improvement projects at national wildlife refuges and other public and private lands, to create jobs and ensure our nation’s fish and wildlife resources, treasured landscapes, and rich heritage are conserved for future generations, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar announced today. More...

 
   Recovery.gov

USFWS to Award more than $800,000 in Resource Management and Youth Science Camp Grants in Alaska

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will award more than $800,000 in Challenge Cost Share grants in 2009 to projects in Alaska.  Challenge Cost Share grants are Congressionally appropriated funds designated for the protection and conservation of wildlife resources.  This is a federal matching grant program which leverages federal dollars with support from non-federal sources. More...

2010 Calendar Contest Winners Announced!

On Thursday, April 9, five judges converged in Anchorage to conduct the state-wide judging of the 2010 Alaska Migratory Bird Calendar Contest. More than 1,000 students, grades K-12 from Adak to Kotzebue, entered this year's contest, submitting either posters or literature. Contest winners will be published in the 2010 Alaska Migratory Bird Calendar. In addition, each office selects "Manager's Choices" which are also published - those are yet to be selected. Prior to yesterday's judging each of eleven U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service offices in Alaska held local competitions, so there is another set of proud winners to congratulate. Begun in 1988, the real reason for the contest and resulting calendar is to educate students about bird conservation. Click here for more information about the calendar contest and to view the names of the winners.

Memorandum of Understanding Signed to Protect Eiders

On Thursday, March 26, 2009, the North Slope Borough, the Native Village of Barrow, the Inupiat Community of the Arctic Slope, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to facilitate protection of spectacled and Steller's eiders during the 2009 Migratory Bird Subsistence Harvest on the North Slope. The Ukpeagvik Inupiat Corporation was also involved in the drafting of the MOU, but its President was not available at the time the other parties signed. The MOU sets forth specific measures to conserve Steller’s eiders and other migratory birds. More ... (pdf)

Yellow-billed Loon Petition Finding

The U. S. Fish and Wildlife has determined that listing the yellow-billed loon as a threatened or endangered species is warranted under the Endangered Species Act, but that listing is precluded by other higher priority species.  The “warranted but precluded” finding will publish in the Federal Register on March 25, 2009.  The yellow-billed loon is now designated as a candidate species. More...

Southeast Alaska Sea Otter Poacher Sentenced Following Two-year USFWS-led Undercover Operation

The United State’s Attorney’s office for the District of Alaska announced on March 10 that a Southeast Alaska resident had been sentenced to 37 months in prison and $5,000 in fines for illegally killing sea otters, seals, and sea lions and selling their pelts.

The investigation that led to the defendant’s arrest and eventual sentencing began with a tip from a concerned citizen, and evolved into a two-year undercover operation lead by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Alaska Region Office of Law Enforcement. Over the course of the investigation, Service Special Agents documented the illegal killing of approximately 75 sea otters, animals protected by the Marine Mammal Protection Act, and the illegal sale of a half dozen sea otter pelts and several skulls. More...

New World War 2 National Monument Includes Refuge Lands

The World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument was created by Presidential Proclamation on December 5, 2008 by President Bush. Sites on the Aleutian Islands of Attu, Kiska and Atka, all within the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge, were included in the monument; as were other locations in Hawaii and California. Bush said the monument would remind generations of Americans of the sacrifices that were made to protect our country, and of the transformative effect of freedom. More...

Critical Habitat Proposed for Southwest Alaska Sea Otters

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has proposed the designation of a total of approximately 15,000 square kilometers of near-shore, shallow waters in five separate critical habitat units for the southwest Alaska Distinct Population Segment (DPS) of the northern sea otter. Since 2005, this population of otters has been protected as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The proposed rule, which includes the announcement of the opening of a 60-day comment period, was published today in the Federal Register. More... (pdf)

New Rule Unifies Domestic and International Conservation Laws to Manage Polar Bear

Former Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne announced today that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has finalized a Special Rule under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) providing for the conservation of the polar bear. While implementing important protections provided by the ESA, the special rule, in most instances, adopts existing conservation requirements for the polar bear under the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). The Service protected the polar bear as a threatened species under the ESA on May 15, 2008. More... (pdf)

Special Rule Questions & Answers (pdf)