After eight weeks of rehabilitation, a young tufted puffin was returned to the wild recently off the Oregon Coast in time for the annual migration to sea. The injured puffin was found by a young girl vacationing on the Oregon Coast and taken to the Wildlife Center of the North Coast near Astoria, where it was nurtured back to health. Read about his return to the wild at the link below.

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The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has named the Leavenworth National Fish Hatchery Complex in eastern Washington Hatchery of the Year for its innovative achievements in environmental leadership. The hatchery complex was recognized for eliminating all hazardous waste streams, removing invasive plants without the use of pesticides and operating an on-site alternative high school that teaches natural resource education.

News Release

More than 60 Idaho students, grades 4 through 6, attended a writing camp this summer to learn about local ecosystems and stewardship of the Boise Foothills and nurture an inner sense of wonder about their natural world. Professional biologists, botanists, environmental educators and local writers worked with the students, leading them to explore their environment and how to observe, reflect and journal about what they saw and felt. A partnership of the USFWS Pacific Region, the Cabin Literary Center, the Foothills Learning Center and the Idaho Botanical Garden, the project was funded partly by an FWS "Connecting People with Nature" grant from the Pacific Regional Directorate. It was one of 20 projects the regional directorate funded this year. See the video and read the story to learn more about the region's efforts to connect people with nature.

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Recovery Act
at Work

Replace Walkways on Lower Raceways
FFS# R1PN

Where: Little White Salmon National Fish Hatchery

What's Happening: Little White Salmon National Fish Hatchery received $29,665 in American Recovery Reinvestment Act funding to replace the walkways on the lower spring Chinook salmon raceways. The existing structures pose a safety threat to the employees as they stand on the walkways to feed the fish and clean the raceways. This project is expected to create two jobs in the local area as crews reinforce the walkways with steel bar grating and stair treads.

Grants.gov
FBO.gov

8/18/09 - Federal Wetlands Mapping Standard Approved    

8/18/09 - Fish and Wildlife Service to Conduct Status Reviews for 29 Species    

8/18/09 - Leavenworth National Fish Hatchery Complex Named 2009 Hatchery of the Year