Department Of Interior

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OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY
Hugh Vickery
For Immediate Release: May 28, 2003
202-501-4633



NORTON ANNOUNCES GRANT TO HELP FIVE LONG ISLAND TOWNS,
THE NATURE CONSERVANCY PROTECT PIPING PLOVERS ON LONG ISLAND

(SOUTHAMPTON, NY) - Under a new program proposed by President Bush when he was still governor of Texas, Secretary of the Interior Gale A. Norton today announced an $82,500 grant to The Nature Conservancy's Long Island Chapter and the eastern Long Island towns of East Hampton, Riverhead, Shelter Island, Southampton and Southold to protect piping plover nesting areas on private lands within these communities.

The grant to the group, known as "F.E.E.T. (Five East End Towns) on the Ground," is one of 113 grants totaling more than $9.4 million awarded by the Interior Department's U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to individuals and groups nationwide under President's Bush's new Private Stewardship Grant Program. The grants will be used to undertake conservation projects on private lands in 43 states for endangered, threatened and other at-risk species.

"This is exactly the kind of project that President Bush had in mind when he proposed the creation of the Private Stewardship Grant Program when he was still governor of Texas in June, 2000," Norton said. "It is the kind of partnership between the federal government and the American people that is the heart of a new environmentalism for the 21st century."

"By making these grants, we are empowering citizens to restore habitat on their land and take other steps to protect and recover endangered, threatened and at-risk species," she said.

The Nature Conservancy and town representatives will use the funds to monitor and protect 55 beach-nesting bird sites and rare coastal plant communities throughout the five communities. Specific management activities will include fencing historic piping plover nesting areas, restricting predators such as fox, gulls and crows from these areas, monitoring off-road vehicle activity to prevent disturbance to the nests, and increasing public awareness about these species.

"Long Island supports the second largest breeding population of piping plovers on the Atlantic Coast," said Dr. Rick O. Bennett, the Service's Acting Northeast Regional Director. "This partnership among the Service, The Nature Conservancy, and town governments will assist in protecting important habitat on private beaches for the threatened piping plover, as well as other species that depend on these environmentally fragile areas."

The Private Stewardship Grants Program provides federal grants on a competitive basis to individuals and groups engaged in voluntary conservation efforts on private lands that benefit federally listed endangered or threatened species, candidate species or other at-risk species. Under this program, private landowners as well as groups working with private landowners are able to submit proposals directly to the Service for funding to support these efforts. Each grant must be matched by at least 10 percent of the total project cost either in non-federal dollars or in-kind contributions.

President Bush originally proposed the creation of the Private Stewardship Grant program during a speech in Lake Tahoe, Nev., in June 2000. The grants announced today, the first ever awarded under the program, will benefit species ranging from the whooping crane in Nebraska to the bald eagle in Washington

A complete list of Private Partnership Stewardship grant awards can be found at http://endangered.fws.gov/grants/private_stewardship.html.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the principal Federal agency responsible for conserving, protecting and enhancing fish, wildlife and plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. The Service manages the 95-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge System, which encompasses 540 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small wetlands and other special management areas. It also operates 69 national fish hatcheries, 64 fishery resources offices and 81 ecological services field stations. The agency enforces federal wildlife laws, administers the Endangered Species Act, manages migratory bird populations, restores nationally significant fisheries, conserves and restores wildlife habitat such as wetlands, and helps foreign governments with their conservation efforts. It also oversees the Federal Aid program, which distributes hundreds of millions of dollars in excise taxes on fishing and hunting equipment to state fish and wildlife agencies.
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(SOUTHAMPTON, NY) - Under a new program proposed by President Bush when he was still governor of Texas, Secretary of the Interior Gale A. Norton today announced an $82,500 grant to The Nature Conservancy's Long Island Chapter and the eastern Long Island towns of East Hampton, Riverhead, Shelter Island, Southampton and Southold to protect piping plover nesting areas on private lands within these communities.

The grant to the group, known as "F.E.E.T. (Five East End Towns) on the Ground," is one of 113 grants totaling more than $9.4 million awarded by the Interior Department's U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to individuals and groups nationwide under President's Bush's new Private Stewardship Grant Program. The grants will be used to undertake conservation projects on private lands in 43 states for endangered, threatened and other at-risk species.

"This is exactly the kind of project that President Bush had in mind when he proposed the creation of the Private Stewardship Grant Program when he was still governor of Texas in June, 2000," Norton said. "It is the kind of partnership between the federal government and the American people that is the heart of a new environmentalism for the 21st century."

"By making these grants, we are empowering citizens to restore habitat on their land and take other steps to protect and recover endangered, threatened and at-risk species," she said.
The Nature Conservancy and town representatives will use the funds to monitor and protect 55 beach-nesting bird sites and rare coastal plant communities throughout the five communities. Specific management activities will include fencing historic piping plover nesting areas, restricting predators such as fox, gulls and crows from these areas, monitoring off-road vehicle activity to prevent disturbance to the nests, and increasing public awareness about these species.

"Long Island supports the second largest breeding population of piping plovers on the Atlantic Coast," said Dr. Rick O. Bennett, the Service's Acting Northeast Regional Director. "This partnership among the Service, The Nature Conservancy, and town governments will assist in protecting important habitat on private beaches for the threatened piping plover, as well as other species that depend on these environmentally fragile areas."

The Private Stewardship Grants Program provides federal grants on a competitive basis to individuals and groups engaged in voluntary conservation efforts on private lands that benefit federally listed endangered or threatened species, candidate species or other at-risk species. Under this program, private landowners as well as groups working with private landowners are able to submit proposals directly to the Service for funding to support these efforts. Each grant must be matched by at least 10 percent of the total project cost either in non-federal dollars or in-kind contributions.

President Bush originally proposed the creation of the Private Stewardship Grant program during a speech in Lake Tahoe, Nev., in June 2000. The grants announced today, the first ever awarded under the program, will benefit species ranging from the whooping crane in Nebraska to the bald eagle in Washington

A complete list of Private Partnership Stewardship grant awards can be found at http://endangered.fws.gov/grants/private_stewardship.html.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the principal Federal agency responsible for conserving, protecting and enhancing fish, wildlife and plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. The Service manages the 95-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge System, which encompasses 540 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small wetlands and other special management areas. It also operates 69 national fish hatcheries, 64 fishery resources offices and 81 ecological services field stations. The agency enforces federal wildlife laws, administers the Endangered Species Act, manages migratory bird populations, restores nationally significant fisheries, conserves and restores wildlife habitat such as wetlands, and helps foreign governments with their conservation efforts. It also oversees the Federal Aid program, which distributes hundreds of millions of dollars in excise taxes on fishing and hunting equipment to state fish and wildlife agencies.
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