News & Announcements

USFWS Seeks Proposals from States for Annual Endangered Species Grants

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is seeking proposals from states and U.S. territories interested in obtaining federal financial assistance to acquire land or conduct planning efforts for endangered species conservation. The Cooperative Endangered Species Conservation Fund (CESCF) is authorized under Section 6 of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and provides grants to states and territories to support participation in a wide array of voluntary conservation projects for species on the Federal Lists of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants, as well as for candidate species. For fiscal year (FY) 2013, the President’s budget request for the annual Cooperative Endangered
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AMJV Partner Receives Interior’s “Conservation” Award

The Appalachian Regional Reforestation Initiative (ARRI) was a recipient of the 2012 “Partners in Conservation” Award presented by the Deputy Secretary of the Interior David J. Hayes at a ceremony in Washington D.C. on October 18, 2012.  The award recognized 17 organizations that have achieved exemplary conservation results through public-private cooperation and community engagements. “The Partners in Conservation Awards offer wonderful examples of how America’s greatest conservation legacies are created when communities from a wide range of backgrounds work together,” said Hayes. “These awards recognize dedicated citizens from across our nation who collaborate to conserve and restore America’s Great Outdoors, to encourage
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AMJV Chairman Receives Southeast’s Most Prestigious Conservation Award

David Whitehurst, Chairman of the Appalachian Mountains Joint Venture (AMJV) and Director of the Bureau of Wildlife Resources at the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries (DGIF), received the Clarence W. Watson Award for his tremendous, sustained service to resource conservation. This is the most prestigious conservation honor given in the southeastern U.S. and recognizes the individual who has made the greatest contribution to wildlife or fish conservation. It was presented at the 66th Annual Conference of the Southeastern Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies held in Hot Springs, Arkansas from Oct. 7-10, 2012. Whitehurst has 40 years of
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Public-Private Partnership to Improve Wildlife Habitat in 16 States

The NWTF, the leading conservation organization dedicated to improving upland wildlife habitat, and the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service are partnering on two initiatives to enhance critical ecosystems on private land across 16 states. The golden-winged warbler and longleaf pine initiatives will improve habitat on private land for targeted species and countless other wildlife and plant species that flourish in the same habitat. “These are landscape scale habitat initiatives that will have far reaching impacts,” said James Earl Kennamer, Ph.D., the NWTF’s chief conservation officer. “The NWTF and our expert wildlife biologists are uniquely positioned to be the driving force
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Agreement to Extend Conservation Efforts on Working Agriculture Lands

Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Chief Dave White and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) Director Dan Ashe today announced an agreement that will provide long-term regulatory predictability for up to 30 years to farmers, ranchers and forest landowners participating in the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Working Lands for Wildlife (WLFW) Initiative. Participants voluntarily implement proven conservation practices designed to protect wildlife habitat, including several at risk species and vulnerable game species on private lands. “This agreement will change the way we manage at-risk species on private lands,” White said. “It will provide landowners with a mechanism to keep working
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Ruffed Grouse Society Activates Woodcock Migration Mapping

The Ruffed Grouse Society (RGS) is again providing access to its National American Woodcock Migration Mapping System, an online tool to track the migrations of the American woodcock.  Hunters and bird watchers are encouraged to enter their woodcock activity reports this fall and winter.  As the birds return north, bird dog trainers and bird watchers again will be able to enter reports until April 30. In partnership with Waterfowler.com, the online authority in waterfowl migration tracking, RGS started providing real-time tracking of the annual American woodcock migrations in 2006 — for the first time in history. It has continued each
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