New Wildlife Advisory

[NCangler]

NEW WILDLIFE ADVISORY

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Now Accepting Grant Proposals for Conservation Program

RALEIGH, N.C. (Feb. 10, 2005) — Request a grant. Conserve wildlife. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service wants to provide grants to private landowners and conservation partners who are interested in conserving North Carolina’s rare fish and wildlife species, as well as their habitats.

Through its Private Stewardship Grant Program, the Fish and Wildlife Service is now accepting grant proposals for fiscal year 2005. Proposals must be submitted to the Fish and Wildlife Service’s regional office in Atlanta by March 21.


The Fish and Wildlife Service last year awarded more than $7 million in financial assistance to private landowners and conservation partners across the country who voluntarily undertook conservation projects on private lands to benefit federally listed endangered, threatened, proposed, candidate or at-risk species.


Applicants should contact a Fish and Wildlife Service office to discuss potential projects. Call the Raleigh office, 919-856-4520, for projects in the central or eastern part of North Carolina. Call the Asheville office, 828-258-3939, for projects west of the Pee Dee River. Or call the regional coordinator for general information about the Private Stewardship Grant Program at 919-856-4627.


“State agencies such as the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission cannot apply for these funds because they use the Landowner Incentive Program, but this is a wonderful opportunity for private landowners in North Carolina,” said Mike Gantt, a grants and partnership coordinator for the Fish and Wildlife Service. “North Carolinians can use this federal grant money to complement the Wildlife Commission’s conservation efforts very nicely.”


Project proposals must include 10 percent cost-sharing from a non-federal partner. Additional information about this fish and wildlife grant program can be found on the Wildlife Commission’s Web site at www.ncwildlife.org or on the Fish and Wildlife Service’s Web site at http://endangered.fws.gov/grants/pri...ewardship.html. Application forms can be downloaded at: http://southeast.fws.gov/grants/other_forms.html.