Here are some of the recent news stories on U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Recovery Act projects:
Wildlife Refuges Soak up Recovery Act Funds
El Defensor Chieftan - Posted November 19, 2009
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has awarded funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 to install solar photovoltaic systems at the Bosque del Apache and Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuges in New Mexico. The projects were awarded to Sacred Power Corporation in Albuquerque, and will provide long-term cost savings by harnessing solar power to generate electricity in buildings on the refuges, including the Visitors Center at Sevilleta NWR. [read more]
AGFC Makes Plans to Free up Crooked Creek
BaxterBulletin.com - November 11, 2009
YELLVILLE - Kelly’s Slab is coming down. The concrete low-water bridge that crosses Crooked Creek in the Ozark Mountains is widely known among anglers as a premiere spot to fish for smallmouth bass. One Web site describes it as “the blue-ribbon smallmouth bass fishing stream of the state.” But the well-known slab also is hurting the very fish population that attracts anglers. [read more]
Money Offered to Plant Trees Around Post
CoastalCourier.com - November 9, 2009
Private lands surrounding Fort Stewart may soon be planted with longleaf pine seedlings, a native species that also will be reintroduced in other locations across the Georgia coast. The $200,000 project is being funded by federal stimulus money. “The funds are for use on certain private lands where they want to encourage longleaf pine conservation,” said Kevin Larson, Fort Stewart media chief. [read more]
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is One to be Proud of
AikenStandard.com - November 7, 2009
Sam D. Hamilton, the new director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), spoke last week to the Southeastern Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies. The group included USFWS representatives from each of the states, as well as those from state wildlife agencies of the Southeast and outside the region. The focus of his talk and a theme of the conference was North American wildlife conservation. [read more]
Dedication of New Visitors’ Center Held at Britton Ford Peninsula
HenryCountian.com / Tri-County Star - November 6, 2009
KENTUCKY LAKE (November 5, 2009) U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials along with elected officials of Henry County and Paris dedicated the site of the upcoming visitors’ center and headquarters of the Tennessee National Wildlife Refuge on Kentucky Lake. The $6.3 million complex, paid by Stimulus Funds, will serve as the headquarters for the Fish and Wildlife Services and will include an exhibit hall, auditorium, observation deck, and a classroom for environmental education programs. [read more]
Wildlife Director Cites Visitor Center’s Positive Impact
The Paris Post-Intelligencer - November 6, 2009
The director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said Thursday Henry County could look forward to new jobs when construction on the Tennessee National Wildlife Refuge headquarters gets under way. But that impact pales in comparison to the educational and outdoor experiences the new center will bring to Paris and Henry County in the coming years. [read more]
Long-Leaf Cost-Share Grants Available to Landowners
Alfa Farmers News - November 4, 2009
MONTGOMERY, Ala. - Longleaf pine restoration efforts have received a boost from a $300,000 grant to the Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries Division of the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (ADCNR). The grant, awarded Oct. 29 through a partnership with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, is part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, and will be available to qualifying landowners for longleaf pine restoration on private lands. Landowners are encouraged to submit applications to receive cost-share assistance of up to 50 percent of the total cost of seedlings and/or planting costs. [read more]
Refuge’s New Philosophy: Kill Palms, Save Panthers
News-Press.com - November 3, 2009
What we have here is an environmental irony. State and federal agencies spend millions of dollars to get rid of non-native plant and animal species, and now the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has received $171,094 in stimulus funds to remove native cabbage palms - the state tree of Florida, no less - from the Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge. [read more]
Tennessee Rivers get “Stimulus Money” Help
TheChattanoogan.com - November 2, 2009
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will use $250,000 in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds - popularly known as stimulus funds - to improve water quality and habitat for rare species on private lands within four Tennessee watersheds: the Elk River, the Upper Duck River, the Upper Caney/Fork River and the Cypress/Shoal Creek. [read more]
Refuge Plans Irrigation Project
Tribe.com - November 2, 2009
JACKSON — The National Elk Refuge in Jackson has received $5 million for an irrigation project intended to increase natural forage for elk and reduce the need for supplemental feeding during the winter. Officials with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service say $4.3 million is federal stimulus money and the rest is being paid for by the wildlife service. [read more]
Easthampton Seeks Fish Ladder
The Republican - November 1, 2009
EASTHAMPTON - The city has moved one step closer to managing a project in which the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will pay $750,000 to install a fish passage over a dam in the Manhan River near Route 10. Mayor Michael A. Tautznik said he signed an agreement on Wednesday that will allow the project to move forward using federal stimulus money that has been provided to the Fish and Wildlife Service. [read more]
