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WNTI Happenings-July 2009
Submitted by Robin Knox on July 24, 2009 - 11:41amYesterday you may have received a WNTI Newsletter notification that was difficult to read due to some formatting difficulties we experienced.
My apologies for that.
You can view the WNTI Happenings-July 2009 Newsletter on the WNTI web page - www.westernnativetrout.org
Click on the News tab.
WNTI Happenings - JULY 2009
Submitted by Robin Knox on July 23, 2009 - 1:00pmContact: Robin Knox
Coordinator, Western Native Trout Initiative
rknox@westernnativetrout.org
22 July 2009 Denver Colorado
WNTI GAINS NEW PARTNER
TRIBAL REPRESENTATIVE ADDED TO WNTI STEERING COMMITTEE
NATIONAL FISH HABITAT CONSERVATION ACT SUPPORT NEEDED
NOAA ANNOUCES COASTAL HABITAT GRANT PROGRAM
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The Western Native Trout Initiative welcomes the Montana Water Trust as the latest WNTI Partner.
The Montana Water Trust (MWT) is a private, non-profit 501(c)(3) organization located in Missoula, Montana. Its mission is to partner with landowners to keep Montana's celebrated streams alive and flowing for future generations. MWT is the first and only water trust in Montana and the only organization dedicated to instream flow restoration for the benefit of native trout species in the state. MWT works collaboratively with farmers, ranchers and other water right holders to transfer consumptive use water rights to instream flow in streams that have been designated as dewatered by the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks. The Trust also partners with state and federal agencies, other NGOs, and watershed groups to prioritize and develop instream flow projects. The MWT priority basins include the Bitterroot, Blackfoot, Big Hole, Upper and Middle Clark Fork, and Upper Missouri basins.
The Partnership with WNTI will bring added emphasis to the important and vital function that adequate perennial in-stream flows have in the conservation of western native trout. WNTI is glad to have the Montana Water Trust as our latest partner.
Please browse our web page tabs, and sign on as a WNTI Partner to help conserve these beautiful fish of the West.
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WNTI Welcomes Native American Tribal Representative to the WNTI Operational Steering Committee.
The operations of the Western Native Trout Initiative are guided by a Steerin Committee that is comprised of State, Canadian Provencial, Federal Agency, Tribal and non-governmental Conservation Organization representatives. For the first several years of the Initiative, the Steering Committee was lacking a Tribal representative. In July, Dan Fairbanks, the Executive Director of the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe Fisheries Program was nominated to be the official Tribal representative. Mr. Fairbanks had previously served on the WNTI Strategic Planning work group, and is very familiar with the work of WNTI. Native American Tribes are key players in the conservation of native trout habitat, especially in the Southwest, the Great Basin, the Pacific Northwest and Alaska. The Initiative is pleased to have Dan as a member of the WNTI Steering Committee.
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The Effort to Secure Permanent Habitat Funding Rests With the National Fish Habitat Conservation Act.
The
National Fish Habitat Conservation Act (NFHCA)
was recently introduced in both the U.S. House and Senate. The NFHCA legislative team is currently working to garner congressional support for the bills, and while the Senate bill already has strong bi-partisan cosponsorship (and hopefully continues to accumulate more), we are focusing now on gathering cosponsors for the House bill, introduced by Ron Kind (D-WI).
The NFHCA is a national, bipartisan effort to protect, restore, and enhance the nation’s fish and aquatic communities through partnerships that foster fish habitat conservation and improve the quality of life for the American people.
Healthy waterways and robust fish populations are vital to the well-being of our society. They provide clean water and sustainable fisheries. They also are vital for less tangible reasons, as anyone who has fished wild waters or canoed a tranquil stream can attest. Unfortunately, in many waters around the country, aquatic habitats and the fish they support have been degraded. This is of huge concern to the 44 million anglers who pursue fish recreationally and countless others who depend on them for subsistence and commerce. The economic contribution of recreational fisheries alone surpassed $125 billion in 2006.
Research has determined that many fish populations are in decline and half of our waters are impaired. As fish habitats come under increasing pressure, the current efforts to address habitat and population declines are not reversing these trends. The goal of the NFHCA is to foster landscape-scale, regional fish habitat conservation efforts, such as the Western Native Trout Initiative.
The NFHCA will authorize $75 million for fishery and habitat improvement, maximizing the return-on-investment by targeting much needed funding to priority on-the-ground projects. Based upon the highly successful North American Wetlands Conservation Act, the NFHCA will leverage state, local and privately raised funds to build regional partnerships aimed at fixing the nation’s biggest fisheries problems. Funding will be awarded based on habitat need, strength of local and regional partnerships, and the likelihood of success. The NFHCA will put into statute the most comprehensive effort ever attempted to treat the causes of fish habitat decline, not just the symptoms.
WNTI encourages you to contact your local Congressionl Delegation and ask for their support for the National Fish Habitat Conservation Act and request their cosponsorship of this landmark legislation.
For more information, please visit www.fishhabitat.org
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The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has Announced an Expanded Marine and Coastal Habitat Grant Program.
On July 16, the NOAA Restoration Center announced the following funding opportunities:
The NOAA Coastal and Marine Habitat Restoration National and Regional Partnership solicitation will fund new three-year national and regional Partnerships to invest funding in the restoration of coastal and marine habitat nationwide, from 2010-2012.
The NOAA Community-based Restoration Program (CRP) is a financial and technical assistance program authorized under the Magnuson-Stevens Reauthorization Act of 2006, which helps communities implement sound habitat restoration projects. The CRP awards millions of dollars to national and regional partners and local grassroots organizations every year. Under a competitive review process, projects are selected for funding based on ecological benefits, technical merit, level of community involvement, and cost-effectiveness. Although the CRP program encourages meeting a minimum one-to-one match, projects have typically leveraged $3 to $5 non-federal dollars for every NOAA dollar invested.
The NOAA Restoration Center is currently soliciting applications for new three-year national and regional Partnerships to invest funding in the restoration of coastal and marine habitat nationwide, from 2010-2012. Through this solicitation, the NOAA Restoration Center seeks to openly compete funding available for multi-year national and regional habitat restoration Partnerships that will result in implementation of a wide-range of habitat restoration projects -- from locally-driven, hands-on projects that emphasize stewardship, to mid-scale, watershed-scale projects that yield significant ecological and socioeconomic benefits.
NOAA envisions working jointly on such Partnerships through its Community-based Restoration Program (CRP) to identify, evaluate, fund, and administer projects that offer a broad range of ecological, socio-economic and stewardship benefits to coastal communities. Partnership applications selected through this announcement will be implemented through multi-year cooperative agreements, and will ultimately involve joint selection of community-based habitat restoration projects funded as sub-awards made through the partner organization. Funding of approximately $10 million is expected to be available for cooperative restoration Partnerships in 2010, with annual funding anticipated to maintain these for up to three years. Typical Partnership awards will range from $500,000 to $1,000,000 per year.
For more information regarding these opportunities, please visit:
http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/habitat/
FishAmerica Announces Funding Available for Habitat Restoration
Submitted by Robin Knox on May 14, 2009 - 3:55pmFishAmerica Foundation Works With NOAA to Fund Coastal Habitat Projects
Alexandria, VA – May 7, 2009 - The FishAmerica Foundation, the conservation and research foundation of the American Sportfishing Association, today announced that grant monies for marine and anadromous sportfish habitat restoration are available for projects in the coastal United States, the Great Lakes region and the U.S. Caribbean territories. These grants will be awarded to community-based, on-the-ground projects to restore marine, estuarine and riparian habitats, including salt marshes, mangrove forests and freshwater habitats important to anadromous fish species such as salmon and striped bass that spawn in freshwater and migrate to the sea. Projects in the Great Lakes must restore habitat for diadromous sportfish such as lake sturgeon, walleye and brook trout in the Great Lakes and applicable tributaries.
The FishAmerica Foundation will accept grant proposals up through June 22, 2009. Grants of up to $50,000 each will be awarded in October 2009. Eligible applicants include community-based nonprofit organizations, such as local sporting clubs and conservation associations, as well as state and local agencies. Applicants are encouraged to partner with NOAA staff in order to strengthen the development and implementation of sound restoration projects. The announcement and full grant package are available at www.fishamerica.org.
In April 2009 FishAmerica and the NOAA Restoration Center announced grants awards totaling nearly $280,000 for fisheries habitat restoration projects in nine communities across seven states. Local communities have leveraged an additional $2.7 million in funds to invest nearly $3 million to restore fisheries habitat that is critical for marine and anadromous sportfish.
The projects range from wetland fisheries habitat restoration in Massachusetts to improving fish habitat along coastal Mississippi to restoring water quality and fish habitat in the Columbia River Basin of Idaho. Over the course of the projects, volunteers will spend nearly 5,000 hours restoring sportfish spawning and rearing habitat, improve water quality and improve fish passage for salmon, striped bass, bluefish, snook, tarpon, redfish, and other sportfish. For complete project information, visit www.fishamerica.org.
The FishAmerica Foundation, the conservation and research foundation of the American Sportfishing Association, is dedicated to keeping our fish and waters healthy. FishAmerica unites the sportfishing industry with conservation groups, government agencies, fishing tournaments, corporations and charitable foundations, investing in fisheries conservation and research across the country. FishAmerica’s matching grants empower citizen conservationists in their own communities. For more than 25 years, FishAmerica has invested more than $10 million in 1,000 fisheries conservation and research projects nationwide.
Western Native Trout Initiative Seeks Proposals for 2010 NFHAP Funding Cycle
Submitted by Robin Knox on May 14, 2009 - 3:17pmContact: Robin Knox
Coordinator, Western Native Trout Initiative
rknox@westernnativetrout.org
The Western Native Trout Initiative(WNTI) announces a call for western native trout habitat and management projects that could be funded in 2010 through the National Fish Habitat Action Plan.
The Western Native Trout Initiative, a venture of the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, and a National Fish Habitat Partnership, is requesting the submittal of project proposals for the 2010 National Fish Habitat Action Plan 2010 funding cycle.
The Initiative, as in past years, requests that native trout conservation and recovery teams, local native trout support groups, and interested parties work with state, US Fish and Wildlife Service, US Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, and National Park Service biologists to review the various species needs, and submit project requests that address habitat or other management needs of the 15 native trout served by WNTI.
The US Fish and Wildlife Service and WNTI maintain a list of projects that is over 4 years old, and is in constant need of revision as projects are completed or revised, and new projects are added. Also, one of the goals of the Initiative is to serve as a clearing house for matching projects to funding sources beyond just what is provided by the National Fish Habitat Board. The list of WNTI projects can also be helpful in seeking Congressional funding is the future.
Other funding opportunites not directly managed by WNTI come from sources such as the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, The FishAmerica Foundation, Trout Unlimited, Patagonia, and others. Information about these funding sources can be found under the "Projects" tab on the WNTI webpage - www.westernnativetrout.org.
The Western Native Trout Initiative works closely with the western states and 5 US Fish and Wildlife Service Regions to prioritize the project requests each year as funding becomes available. Decisions on what projects are moved forward for funding take place in late Fall, in accordance with the guidance provided by the National Fish Habitat Board.
For further information please contact the WNTI Coordinator, your state fish and wildlife management agency, or one of the five US Fish and Wildlife Service offices listed below.
US Fish and Wildlife Service Region 1
Attn: Mark Bagdovitz
Habitat and Science Division
911 NE 11th Avenue
Portland, OR 97232
ph: (503) 872-2763
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Region 2
Attn: Jim Brooks
New Mexico Fishery Resources Office
3800 Commons Avenue NE
Albuquerque, NM 87109
Office: 505/342-9900, ext. 102
US Fish and Wildlife Service Region 6
Attn: Morgan Elmer
Fisheries Program Branch
134 Union Blvd., Suite 665
Lakewood, CO 80228
Ph. 303-236-4512
US Fish and Wildlife Service Region 7
Attn: John DeLapp
1011 East Tudor Road
Anchorage, Alaska 99503
Ph. (907) 271-1799
US Fish and Wildlife Service Region 8
Attn: John Engbring
2800 Cottage Way, Suite W2606
Sacramento, CA 95825-1846
Ph. 916-987-6178
WNTI 2009 NFHAP Projects Receive Funding
Submitted by Robin Knox on May 14, 2009 - 1:36pmContact: Robin Knox
Coordinator, Western Native Trout Initiative
rknox@westernnativetrout.org
The Western Native Trout Initiative Announces Funding Approval for 2009 habitat development projects
The Western Native Trout Initiative, a venture of the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, and a National Fish Habitat Partnership, is pleased to announce that it has received approximately $600,000 for nine western native trout projects to be completed in 2009 or 2010. These funds are dedicated to the National Fish Habitat Action Plan by the US Fish and Wildlife Service from their annual Congressional appropriation.
The projects funded are:
• Georgetown Road Relocation Project, Bear River Basin, ID for Bonneville cutthroat trout
• Honey Creek Diversion #2 removal in Oregon for Redband trout restoration
• Panther Creek fish passage barrier removal in Washington for Westslope cutthroat trout
• Fish and habitat restoration in Santa Clara Creek in New Mexico for Rio Grande cutthroat trout
• East Fork Bear River Canal fish screen placement in Utah for Bonneville cutthroat trout
• Remove 2 fish barriers in Stony Creek in Montana for Westslope cutthroat trout
• Lower Deer Creek protective fish barrier in Montana for Yellowstone cutthroat trout
• Restore fish passage in Eccles Creek in Alaska for coastal cutthroat trout
• Place protective fish barrier in McDermott Creek in Nevada for Lahontan cutthroat trout
The projects sponsors should be communicating with the appropriate US Fish and Wildlife Service Office to complete the necessary paperwork for transfer of the funding from the Service to the project sponsors.
Upon completion of construction, project reports and photos will be posted on the WNTI website.
Be sure to visit westernnativetrout.org for a map showing past project locations and further information about the Western Native Trout Initiative.
