The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) today announced that the agency will award more than $22.6 million to drive public and private sector innovation in resource conservation. The agency is investing in 33 projects nationwide through its competitive Conservation Innovation Grants (CIG) program, which helps develop the tools, technologies, and strategies to support next-generation conservation efforts on working lands and develop market-based solutions to resource challenges. Public and private grantees – including non-governmental organizations, American Indian tribes, academic institutions and local government entities – will leverage the federal investment by at least matching it. The projects announced today focus
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U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke today announced $1.1 billion in annual funding for state wildlife agencies from revenues generated by the Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration and Dingell-Johnson Sport Fish Restoration acts. State-by-state listings of the final Fiscal year 2017 apportionments of Wildlife Restoration Program fund can be found here and the Sport Fish Restoration Program fund here. The announcement was made during day one of a four-day trip across the Northeast where Secretary Zinke met with New Hampshire Fish and Game Executive Director Glenn Normandeau, whose state will receive $8,146,960 through the acts. The meeting was part of a Pittman-Robertson Dingell-Johnson Grants
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The Central Appalachia Habitat Stewardship Program invests in on-the-ground restoration and planning to restore the quality of forest and freshwater habitats in the Central Appalachian-Allegheny Plateau landscape, including the Appalachian regions of New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Maryland, West Virginia and Virginia. Key partners in the effort are the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service, the U.S. Forest Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the American Forest Foundation. The program will award up to $1.3 million in the first year. Funding in subsequent years will depend on availability. Representative species of interest for forest and riparian zones include cerulean
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Bald eagles are thriving in historic numbers across New York and the State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) reports the highest number of nesting pairs, a record-breaking estimated 323 breeding pairs, since the agency undertook a restoration effort in 1976, DEC Commissioner Basil Seggos announced today. “Early indications from 2017 aerial surveys have revealed that approximately 73 percent of bald eagle territories are occupied this year,” Commissioner Seggos said. “New York State has been a leader in the restoration and recovery of the bald eagle in the northeastern United States, and this news confirms that our rivers, lakes, and forests
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A state-agency partnership is creating more habitat for two troubled game birds and other wildlife species that rely on young forest. Since 2011, the Pennsylvania Game Commission and the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources have teamed to restore thousands of acres of idle, difficult-to-manage habitat for ruffed grouse and woodcock on state forests. The partnership, spearheaded by DCNR’s Emily Just, an ecologist with the Bureau of Forestry, and Lisa Williams, a Game Commission game birds biologist, has been helping state forests and parks personnel write plans to remedy what ails now marginal habitats that once supported substantial populations
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U.S. Rep. Mike Quigley (D-IL) and Rep. Morgan Griffith (R-VA) introduced the Federal Bird-Safe Buildings Act recently. The bipartisan bill is designed to reduce bird mortality by calling for federal buildings to incorporate bird-safe building materials and design features. As many as a billion birds a year die in collisions with buildings in North America alone. “By pursuing cost-neutral, responsible, and realistic solutions we can play an important role in preserving the intrinsic, cultural, and ecological value birds bring to our society,” Rep. Quigley said in a statement. “This bill will put an emphasis on constructing buildings with bird-safe materials
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Click here to view and download the 2023 AMJV Partnership Year in Review!
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The 2023 AMJV Impact Report is now available for downloading and sharing! Starting in 2022, this beautiful report has been designed annually by Liz Brewer (AMJV Outreach Specialist) to…
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by Liz Brewer, AMJV Outreach Specialist Appalachian Mountains Joint Venture (AMJV), in partnership with the National Wild Turkey Federation (NWTF), USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (USDA-NRCS), and the West Virginia…
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