Pacific Regional Director Highlights Grants to Benefit
Wildlife In Oregon, Washington and Idaho

USFWS 8/26/04

Dave Allen, Regional Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's
Pacific Region, highlighted more than $2.2 million in grants announced
today to private landowners, conservation organizations and Native American
Tribes in Oregon, Washington and Idaho for conservation projects to benefit
endangered, threatened and at-risk species and other wildlife.

The grants, announced today by Interior Secretary Gale Norton, will help
conserve the habitat of a wide range of species from coho salmon and
steelhead trout to Washington ground squirrels and white-tailed deer. The
announcement came shortly after President Bush signed an executive order
instructing federal agencies to work with states, Tribes, local
communities, conservation groups, private landowners and other partners in
cooperative conservation projects.

"President Bush believes the most effective action we can take to conserve
wildlife and its habitat is to empower the people who live and work on the
land," Regional Director Allen said.  "His executive order will ensure
federal agencies make building partnerships in states and communities
across the country our highest priority."

President Bush's executive order instructs federal departments and agencies
such as the Interior Department to ensure that they carry out their
statutory obligations in a "manner that promotes cooperative conservation,
with an emphasis on appropriate inclusion of local participation in federal
decision making."

Norton announced the grants through three programs begun by President Bush
the Private Stewardship Grant program, the Tribal Landowner Incentive
Program and the Tribal Wildlife Grant Program.

"With today's executive order, President Bush has made working in voluntary
partnership with states, local communities, Tribes, private landowners and
others the gold standard for our conservation efforts," Norton said. "The
grants we are announcing today meet that standard by empowering Tribes and
private citizens to do what the federal government cannot do alone ?
conserve habitat for imperiled species on private and tribal lands."

Overall, $16 million in grants is being awarded in 42 states. A
state-by-state list is available at www.doi.gov.

In the Pacific Northwest, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is awarding
$839,810 in grants under the Private Stewardship Grant program begun by
President Bush last year. This program provides federal grants on a
competitive basis to individuals and groups engaged in voluntary
conservation efforts on private lands that benefit federally listed
endangered or threatened species, candidate species or other at-risk
species. Grant recipients must provide at least 10 percent of the total
project cost either in non-federal dollars or in-kind contributions.

Private Stewardship Grant awarded in Idaho:

Esche Diversion Fish Passage and Thomas Fork Habitat Restoration Project -
(Trout Unlimited) ? Bear Lake County, Idaho ($170,000).This grant will
provide upstream and downstream fish passage for spawning Bonneville
cutthroat trout and their offspring during seasonal irrigation diversions
along the Thomas Fork River. It also will help finance repairs to degraded
riparian and aquatic habitats along the Thomas Fork River and help decrease
agricultural inputs of fine sediment and nutrients into the Thomas Fork and
Bear Rivers.

Private Stewardship Grants awarded in Oregon:

Powder River Off-Stream Watering and River Restoration Project - (Baker
Valley Soil & Water Conservation District) - Baker County, Oregon
($164,370). This grant will increase water quality and quantity for fish
habitat by constructing 12 grade-control structures and eliminating four
water-control diversion structures to improve fish passage, decrease
nutrient and bacteria loading, enhance the riparian area and potentially
increase stream flow during low-flow periods to benefit threatened bull
trout and redband trout, a sensitive species.

Crane Creek Restoration Project, Phase 1 - (Klamath Basin Rangeland Trust)
- Klamath County, Oregon ($81,330). This grant will restore the natural
Crane Creek channel to maximize fish and wildlife benefits and return
natural hydrologic function to the stream. Crane Creek is part of the
proposed critical habitat area for bull trout. This improved habitat will
also support endangered shortnose suckers and Lost River suckers, as well
as the yellow rail and the Oregon spotted frog.

East Fork Williams Creek Salmonid Habitat Restoration Project - (Williams
Watershed Council) - Williams and Josephine Counties, Oregon ($19,073).
This grant will enhance and improve aquatic and riparian habitat in key
salmon and steelhead spawning and rearing areas.  Large wood placement and
random boulder clusters will be placed to improve gravel retention for
spawning, enhance channel complexity and pool structure for juvenile
survival and provide high-water refuge and organic material to the aquatic
system.

Douglas County Oak Restoration Project  ? (McKenzie River Trust) ? Douglas
County, Oregon($53,000). This grant will restore 200 acres of oak
woodlands, mixed conifer and riparian forest habitats for the benefit of
numerous and diverse wildlife and plant species including Columbia
white-tailed deer.

Threatened and Endangered Species Recovery Project through Private
Stewardship of Shrub-steppe and Grassland Habitats in the Columbia Basin in
Oregon - (The Nature Conservancy) - Gilliam and Morrow Counties,
Oregon($22,287). This grant will restore native grasses, forbes, and shrubs
in the grassland and shrub-steppe habitats in this portion of the Columbia
Basin.  The area to be treated is 20 acres of the 22,642-acre Boardman
Conservation Area.  Species that will benefit from this restoration effort
include Washington ground squirrel, ferruginous hawk, loggerhead shrike,
western burrowing owl and long-billed curlew.

Sycan River Restoration Project  - (Private individual) - Klamath County,
Oregon ($125,000). This grant will improve instream habitat for the
endangered Lost River sucker and shortnose sucker and redband trout, a
sensitive species, by reconnecting springs to the Sycan River, improving
spawning substrate, increasing woody structure in the river, increasing
stream length and improving riparian cover.  The grant will also be used to
improve habitat for the federally threatened bald eagle by restoring
habitat for their prey base. An active nest is located within a mile of
this site.

Private Stewardship Grants awarded in Washington:

Tarboo Watershed Riparian and Wetland Restoration Project - (Northwest
Watershed Institute) - East Jefferson County, Washington($108,000). This
grant will restore a total of 31 acres of riparian and associated wetlands
at three high priority sites in the Tarboo Watershed, located in the North
Hood Canal region of Washington. The three sites are located on properties
owned by five landowners.  The restored areas will improve rearing and
spawning habitats for coho salmon and steelhead and cutthroat trout and
also benefit other wildlife species.

Taneum Creek Restoration Project, Phase III - (Mid-Columbia Fisheries
Enhancement Group) - Kittitas County,Washington($25,750). This grant will
establish woody riparian plants along the shoreline and improve flood plain
connectivity, giving Chinook and coho salmon and bull trout better access
to the upper Taneum Creek watershed.  Project proponents will install root
wads in select locations where it can provide bank protection, channel
stability and habitat complexity for fish, and construct rock bars
(deflectors) with embedded native vegetation at other locations.

Ahtanum Creek Stream Restoration Project -(City of Yakima) ? Yakima County,
Washington($71,000). This grant will enhance flood plain connectivity,
restore 3,421 feet of streambank riparian habitat and improve
spawning/rearing habitat for coho salmon, migratory/rearing habitat for
steelhead and bull trout and general habitat for bald eagles on Ahtanum
Creek.

Under the Tribal Landowner Incentive Program (TLIP), the Service is
awarding $750,481 for six grants in Idaho and Washington. This grant
program was also begun by President Bush last year. The grants were chosen
through a competitive process to address protection, restoration and
management of habitat to benefit at-risk species, including federally
listed endangered or threatened species and proposed or candidate species.
The maximum award under this program is $150,000, with a required minimum
25 percent match from non-federal funds.

Nationwide, the Service is awarding $3 million in grants under the Tribal
Landowner Incentive Program to federally-recognized Indian Tribes to help
fund 25 projects. Contributions from Tribes and other partners raise the
total value of these projects to $4.4 million.

In Idaho, a TLIP grant was awarded to:

Nez Perce Tribal Executive Committee  ($149,999).  Rare Plant Surveys on
Nez Perce Tribe Fee and Trust Lands in Idaho, Oregon and Washington. This
grant will allow the Tribe to conduct surveys for three rare plant species
inhabiting grassland and dry forest habitats on lands owned and managed by
the Tribe. Evaluation of these populations of plants will help biologists
address threats and mitigate impacts from land uses in long term.

In Washington, five TLIP grants were awarded:

Lummi Indian Business Council($150,000). Acme-Saxon Phase I Habitat
Restoration Project. This grant will fund the re-creation of two of 10
historic scale logjams in the South Fork River, improving habitat for
resident and anadromous fish. Additionally, a 7-acre riparian conifer
forest buffer to the South Fork will be enhanced, contributing to a
previous 110-acre restoration effort adjacent to this project.

Swinomish Indian Tribal Community ($142,000).  Fornsby Creek / Smokehouse
Flood plain Tidal Wetland Restoration Project. This project will replace
impassible tide gates for salmon with self-regulating ones and restore
tidal influence to channels to improve fresh/saltwater mixing zones for
juvenile salmonids.  Additionally, 1.3 miles of channel habitat will be
restored and 40 acres of permanent conservation easements will be purchased
on agricultural lands.

Colville Business Council($147,202).  Shrub-Steppe Habitat Conservation and
Sustainability Project. This grant will help finance a program to
inventory, map and analyze shrub-steppe habitat for the sustainability and
conservation of sagebrush, bunch grass and riparian communities on the
Colville Reservation.

Yakama Indian Nation ($149,280).  Shrub-Steppe Assessment and Management
Project. This grant will enable the Tribe to conduct vegetation sampling
for supporting four culturally and biologically significant species and
construct grazing enclosures to monitor grazing effects by native
ungulates, livestock and wild horses.

Upper Skagit Tribal Council ($12,000).  Skagit River Groundwater Channel
Feasibility Investigation. This project will help identify off-channel
habitat restoration sites for spawning and rearing needs critical to salmon
species in the Skagit River watershed.

Under the Tribal Wildlife Grants Program (TWG), the Service also is
awarding $692,563 for three projects in Oregon and Washington. These grants
are awarded to federally-recognized Indian Tribes to benefit fish, wildlife
and their habitat including non-game species. Although matching funds are
not required for these grants, they are considered to be an indicator of a
Tribe's commitment. Nationwide, the Service is awarding $6 million for 28
conservation grants  to Native American Tribes under the Tribal Wildlife
Grants program.

In Oregon, a TWG grant was awarded to:

      Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs ($239,237).  Lower Deschutes
River Adult Pacific Lamprey Radio Telemetry Study. This project will help
address major uncertainties surrounding the life-history of Pacific Lamprey
and allow the Tribe to identify critical habitat needs for updating its
Integrated Resource Management Plan.

In Washington, two TWG grants were awarded:

Yakama Indian Nation($249,826). Second-Year Survey and Groundwork Program
for a Yakama Reservation Wildlife Management Plan.  This grant will provide
funding for the second phase of the Tribes' Wildlife Plan Groundwork
Program, which began in 2004 (funded by 2003 Tribal Wildlife Grant dollars
from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service).  The focus will be on enhancing
the long-term comprehensive Forest and Range Wildlife Management Plan and
for better addressing direction and guidance for management of wildlife
species and their habitats on the Reservation.

Muckleshoot Tribal Council($203,500). Managing Elk and Deer for Sustainable
Harvest in a Habitat-limited & Predator-rich Landscape. This grant will
enable the Tribe to conduct specific habitat enhancement projects in two
adjacent watersheds that are important historical hunting areas for the
Tribe.

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 544 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small
wetlands and other special management areas. It also operates 69 national
fish hatcheries, 64 fishery resource 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 Aid program that distributes hundreds
of millions of dollars in excise taxes on fishing and hunting equipment to
state fish and wildlife agencies.
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