REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS - GRANTS TO STATES FOR ENDANGERED SPECIES CONSERVATION

USF&WS ^ | February 11, 2004 | Patricia Fisher

[Issaquahking]

GRANTS TO STATES FOR ENDANGERED SPECIES CONSERVATION


FOR RELEASE: February 11, 2004
CONTACTS:   Patricia Fisher, 202-208-1459
            Don Morgan 703-358-2106

      The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) is seeking proposals
from states and U.S. territories interested in acquiring land or conducting
conservation planning for endangered species. Congress has appropriated
$71million for fiscal year 2004 to support grants awarded under the
Cooperative Endangered Species Conservation Fund.

      "These grant programs are important not only because they fund
projects that protect irreplaceable habitat for threatened and endangered
species, but also because they are the building blocks for ensuring strong
conservation partnerships among states, territories, private organizations,
landowners and the Service," said Service Director Steve Williams.

      As authorized under the U.S. Endangered Species Act, these grants are
available to states and territories to support their participation in a
wide array of voluntary conservation projects for listed species, as well
as for species that are either proposed or candidates for listing.  By law,
the state or territory must have a current cooperative agreement with the
Service and contribute 25% of the estimated program costs of approved
projects, or 10% when two or more states or territories undertake a joint
project.  The grants are expected to be awarded in summer 2004.

The Service is seeking proposals for the following three grant categories
under the Cooperative Endangered Species Conservation Fund:

Recovery Land Acquisition Grants  -  These grants provide funds to states
and territories for acquisition of habitat for endangered and threatened
species in support of approved recovery plans.  Acquisition of habitat to
secure long term protection is often an essential element of a
comprehensive recovery effort for a listed species.

Habitat Conservation Planning Assistance Grants  - These grants provide
funds to states and territories to support the development of Habitat
Conservation Plans (HCPs), through the support of baseline surveys and
inventories, document preparation, outreach, and similar planning
activities.

HCP Land Acquisition Grants  - These grants provide funds to states and
territories to acquire land associated with approved HCPs.  Grants do not
fund the mitigation required of an HCP permittee; instead, they support
acquisitions by the State or local governments that complement actions
associated with the HCP.

Some examples from the fiscal year 2003 program of how these grants are
making a difference include:

?  Along the Clinch River in Hancock County, Tennessee, a significant
portion of the Kyles Ford shoal, which harbors the most diverse mussel
community in Tennessee, is being acquired and protected with funding
provided through a Recovery Land Acquisition grant. The Clinch River is one
of the last major strongholds of Cumberlandian mussel fauna, and the Kyles
Ford mussel shoal has been identified as the most biologically diverse
mussel habitat on Earth; at least 10 federally listed mussel species occur
on the shoal.

?  A Recovery Land Acquisition grant is providing funds to the North Dakota
Game and Fish Dept, American Foundation for Wildlife, The Conservation
Fund, and the North Dakota Natural Resources Trust to acquire approximately
1,387 acres at the confluence of the
Missouri and Yellowstone Rivers to protect and enhance habitat for the
federally endangered pallid sturgeon. This land shelters the last
stronghold and best remaining habitat for the pallid sturgeon and supports
several imperiled fish species. It has one of the strongest populations of
paddlefish as well as healthy populations of imperiled sicklefin and
sturgeon chub.  The acquisition will also provide improved management
opportunities for the federally listed least tern and piping plover.

?   A Habitat Conservation Plan Land Acquisition grant in Riverside County,
California, will benefit more than 100 Federal and State listed wildlife
species by supporting efforts to conserve habitat in large, interconnected
blocks.  These species include the federally threatened coastal California
gnatcatcher and the federally endangered least Bell's vireo and Stephen's
kangaroo rat. The plant communities found in the area, including sage scrub
and riparian habitat, are representative of the original, native habitats
of the region. The additional public benefits of maintaining these areas as
open space include various recreational purposes such as hiking and
mountain biking.

?   In Monroe County, Indiana, a Habitat Conservation Land Acquisition
grant will support the acquisition of a 293 acre parcel that is home to
Coon and Grotto caves. These caves provide winter shelter for hibernating
endangered Indiana bats. Since 1985, when winter disturbances to the caves
were removed, the winter population of Indiana
bats has increased steadily to more than 20,000 in the two caves combined.
This acquisition will not only protect the critical winter habitat, but
also ensure protection for fall swarming, spring staging, and summer
foraging for Indiana bats. Other known state-listed species to benefit
through this acquisition include the bobcat, a cave crayfish, and two cave
beetles.

?   With the help of a Habitat Conservation Planning Assistance grant, the
Altar Valley Conservation Alliance, in Pima County, Arizona, will develop a
watershed-wide habitat protection and restoration plan in cooperation with
the Natural Resources Conservation Service, Arizona State Land Department,
and Arizona Department of Water Resources.
Altar Valley harbors one of the last intact Sonoran savanna grasslands in
southern Arizona, as well as riparian and Madrean oak woodland habitats,
and is home to 24 species of concern, including five federally listed
species.  The Altar Valley provides habitat for the cactus ferruginous
pygmy owl and is important for the recovery of Pima pineapple cactus. It is
the largest unfragmented landscape in eastern Pima County, encompassing
approximately 700,000 acres on the US/Mexico border.

?   A Habitat Conservation Planning Assistance grant will help fund the
development of an Habitat Conservation Plan in Pocahontas County, West
Virginia, to benefit the federally endangered West Virginia Northern Flying
Squirrel and federally threatened Cheat Mountain Salamander. The project
will determine the presence or absence of the West Virginia northern flying
squirrel along the western slope of Cheat Mountain; develop a habitat
quality ranking and define the breeding season for West Virginia northern
flying squirrels; survey for the Cheat Mountain salamander in areas covered
by the focused Habitat Conservation Plan; and use satellite imagery to
identify squirrel and salamander habitat.

The Cooperative Endangered Species Conservation Fund appears as number
15.615 in the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance.  For more information
about these grants contact: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Division of
Consultation, Habitat Conservation Planning, Recovery and State Grants,
4401 N. Fairfax Drive, Room 420, Arlington, VA 22203, 703-358-2106.
Information also can be accessed at http://endangered.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 94-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge
System which encompasses 540 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small
wetlands and other special management areas. It also operates 70 national
fish hatcheries, 64 fishery resource offices and 78 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.

 

[Issaquahking]

I would bet that this is not the meaning of the U.S. Constitution, Article I, Section 8. Another program brought to you by the people who put the wolf on our door step in the West.

I live in a state where over 85% of the property is controlled by the government - how much do they want? Perhaps if they had it all, and we were serfs, they'd be happy?

[Issaquahking]

Ping

[Issaquahking]

ping

[Red Boots]

Perhaps if they had it all, and we were serfs, they'd be happy? Nah, because you'd still be alive on it, and defiling it by your very exsistence. Endangered fish, mosquitos and plants only.

[Jacquerie]

Last week I talked with a civil engineering firm regarding the development of 10 acres I own near the north Gulf of Mexico coast in Florida. The short of it is that I may have to grant a five acre conservation "easement" to the state in order to develop the remaining five acres.

It is real slick. These easements read more like warranty deeds. I and my heirs and assigns lose all right to use, develop, etc the five acres yet technically it is still my property.

I suspect this ruse is widespread, in that state and fed governments have control yet not title to much more land than many of us realize.

Our trip down the road to serfdom continues.

[sergeantdave]

What you describe is clearly a taking. However, I doubt the fascist courts will see it that way. There was a pro-private property ruling from the court of claims with a rancher out west whose name was Hage. I don't know if it applies to you.

It's outright theft for the state to steal your development rights thru this conservation easement. You might want to look up the law to determine if some eco-fascist bureaucrats are trying to score an easy theft.

I've seen the Florida map of how the eco-fascists envision Florida 30 years from now. The ultimate goal is to throw everyone off their land and pack them into cities that look like Bombay. That Jeb Bush allows this proves to me that he's no conservative.

[B4Ranch]

We need the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to become an ENDANGERED SPECIES!

[Jacquerie]

Thanks for the advice. I'm sure there are thousands of similar stories yet we hear nothing of them in the media.

[countrydummy]

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) is seeking proposals from states and U.S. territories interested in acquiring land or conducting conservation planning for endangered species. Congress has appropriated $71million for fiscal year 2004 to support grants awarded under the Cooperative Endangered Species Conservation Fund.

Oh God in Heaven help us all!

71 million dollars to further aid in the rape of rural American, and their homes, heritages, and ways of life! I am so sick of this!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[isasis]

I wish I had access to my computer in Tabiona. On there I have a list of all the states and how much land the government owns in each state. Everybody would be amazed. I'm sure you know which list I refer to. The information is available to anybody. Check it out on your computer for yourself to find out how much land is controlled by the government in the state that you live in. And believe me, they ain't through yet. They will keep taking as long as we allow it to happen.

[farmfriend]

Rights, farms, environment ping.
Let me know if you wish to be added or removed from this list.
I don't get offended if you want to be removed.

[snopercod]

This is the way the federal government gets around the 5th amendment.

They don't take your property, they give money to the states to take your property.

[sauropod]

Bingo.

Its rural Nurse Bloombergism.

[cyborg]

His latest is taxing breast implants and gourmet coffee so I'm not surprised.

[Daryl L.Hunter]

If I ever get any time I would like to start an organization called -

The Mountain Folk Preservation Coalition

I wonder if I could qualify for a grant?

Citizens For A Freer America & The Upper Valley Free Press

Daryl L. Hunter - Editor

[SierraWasp]

"Constitution" yada yada yada "Property Rights" yada yada yada "Individual Ownership & Control" yada yada yada "Conservatism" yada yada yada "Conservation" yada yada yada "Free Enterprise" yada yada yada "Freedom of Expression" yada yada yada "Fiscal Conservatives" yada yada "From My Cold Dead Hands" yada yada yada "Fighting for Freedom" yada yada yada "Privacy of Property" yada yada yada "Power to the People" yada yada yada "Putting People First" yada yada yada "We The People" yada yada yada "They Can't Do That To Us" yada yada yada "Will of the People" yada yada yada "This Land Is Your Land, This Land Is My Land" awllllllright!!! "From California, to the New York Island" riiiiiiight on!!! "Berkeley's People's Park" now that's powerrrrrrr to the people!!! "But Richard Nixon Signed the ESA" those wascally wepublicans!!! "And Ronald Reagan Signed The CA EnvironMental Quality Act" well... we needed more EIR's "And Arnold Schwarzenegger supports Enveloping the Entire Sierra-Nevada Mountain Range in an Ecological Conservancy" vel, ve hafta git alla those pipple outta that Range of Light!!!

Ping! Dammit!!!

[Delphinium]

I would bet that this is not the meaning of the U.S. Constitution, Article I, Section 8.

What it means is they will offer to give back a little of what they have stolen if we make an agreement to give up a whole lot more.

[E.G.C.]

BTTT!!!!!!!

[Issaquahking]

I know that you are going into the busy part of work season,(yehaww for neck deep powder!) but would be happy to join, whatever season works best for you.

[Daryl L.Hunter]

happy to join

Great, it won't be anytime soon though because my Upper Valley Free Press hasn't allowed me to quit may day job yet. After that it is my hope to pursue that more diligently