USFWS to Fund Species-Recovery Projects on Refuges

From the Friends NewsWire

To speed wildlife recovery and perhaps avert extinctions, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will award $5.8 million to 17 projects to recover threatened or endangered species on or near national wildlife refuges. Target species include whooping crane, Karner blue butterfly and Attwater’s prairie chicken.

The efforts are part of the Service’s Cooperative Recovery Initiative, begun in 2013 with $4.3 million in funding to 10 projects.

One beneficiary of 2013 funding – the Oregon chub – has recovered so well that in February the Service proposed removing the small fish from the list of endangered and threatened wildlife under the Endangered Species Act. If the action is finalized, the chub would be the first fish delisted with the help of this initiative.

As in 2013, funding will draw from several Service programs, including the Refuge System; Endangered Species; Partners for Fish and Wildlife; Fish and Aquatic Conservation; and the Science program. Projects include:

• Alaska: Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge. 1) Expand nest surveys for the spectacled eider, an endangered sea duck, to more reliably gauge population size. 2) Prepare to reintroduce Steller’s eider to the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta to establish a viable breeding population.
• Arizona and New Mexico: San Bernardino and Leslie Canyon Refuges – Improve habitat for five fish (Yaqui chub, Yaqui top minnow, Huachuca water umbel, beautiful shiner and Yaqui catfish), one amphibian (Chiricahua leopard frog) and one invertebrate (San Bernardino springtail).
• Colorado: Arapaho Refuge – Improve the status of the Wyoming toad, one of North America’s four most endangered amphibian species. Tactics include treating a chytrid fungus known as Bd that is killing wild toads.
• Florida: Everglades Headwaters Refuge and Conservation Area – Encourage ranchers to manage lands to prevent extinction of the endangered Florida grasshopper sparrow.
• Guam: Guam Refuge – Collect, propagate and plant seeds of the rare native tree Serianthes nelsonii. Only one adult tree survives in Guam; fewer than 50 survive on nearby Rota Island.
• Iowa: Driftless Area Refuge and nearby sites – Establish and document six new colonies of endangered red Iowa Pleistocene snail.
• Montana and Colorado: UL Bend and Rocky Mountain Arsenal Refuges – Reintroduce endangered black-footed ferrets to Rocky Mountain Arsenal Refuge and control outbreaks of plague in its primary prey, the prairie dog. 
• Nevada: Ash Meadows Refuge – 1) Establish and manage two populations of endangered Devil’s pupfish at the Ash Meadows Fish Conservation Facility. 2) Remove barriers facing Moapa dace.
• New Hampshire: Great Bay Refuge – Restore early successional habitat to benefit the rare Karner blue butterfly. The New England cottontail may also benefit.
• Oregon: Baskett Slough, William L. Finley and Ankeny Refuges – Recover golden paintbrush, a rare flowering plant.
• Puerto Rico: Cabo Rojo and Laguna Cartagena Refuges – Recover six endangered plant species, including Woodbury’s stopper and Cobana negra.  
• Texas: Attwater Prairie Chicken Refuge – Step up control of invasive fire ants to improve survival of endangered Attwater’s prairie chicken hatchlings; Houston toad may also benefit.
• Utah:  Ouray Refuge – Improve and expand habitat for an endangered razorback sucker.
• Washington: Willapa Refuge – Establish two new populations of Columbian white-tailed deer.
• Wisconsin: Necedah Refuge – Boost the hatching and fledgling rates of endangered whooping cranes by encouraging the birds to re-nest at a time when black flies won’t prompt nest abandonment.

Among the 17 projects funded in 2014 under the Cooperative Recovery Initiative is one in which U.L. Bend National Wildlife Refuge in Montana and Rocky Mountain Arsenal Refuge in Colorado will join forces for the benefit of the endangered black-footed ferret (shown above). (Ryan Hagerty/USFWS)

FOH Receives First Southwest Region Friends Award

The Friends of Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge have received the U. S. Fish and Wildlife's first Southwest Region's Friends Award.  Dr. Benjamin Tuggle, Regional Director for the Southwest Region, recognized the Friends for their significant contribution to environmental education and outreach benefiting Hagerman NWR, and said "At a time when partnerships are paramount, organizations like the Friends of Hagerman are one of the most important allies in the National Wildlife Refuge System's conservation effort."

The all-volunteer organization was recognized for significant accomplishments in the past year including:

• Providing environmental education programs for more that 1000 children and 400 adults. 
• Conducting free tram tours at the Refuge giving visitors an opportunity to see and identify wildlife.
• Aiding in the establishment of  Bluestem Chapter of Texas Master Naturalists. 
• Managing the Nature Nook book and gift shop in the Visitor Center, with proceeds going to refuge activities and projects.
• Staffing the Visitor Center year around with volunteers.
• Hosting a Nature Photography Club which offers numerous programs and opportunities for photographers.
• Creating BirdFest Texoma, set for May 3 -5, 2013.

The Friends of Hagerman are just one of several Friends organizations established to support the 22 national wildlife refuges of the Southwest Region, which includes Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico and Arizona.

All Friends members and those interested in membership are invited to celebrate these achievements and to learn more about the Friends of Hagerman at the Annual Meeting set for 10 am, Saturday,March 23, in the Audio/Visual Classroom, FOH Center, at the Refuge.  

Federal Duck Stamps

What are Duck Stamps? The US Fish and Wildlife Service Duck Stamp website says that Federal Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Stamps, commonly known as “Duck Stamps,” are pictorial stamps produced by the U.S. Postal Service for the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. They are not valid for postage. Originally created in 1934 as the federal licenses required for hunting migratory waterfowl, Federal Duck Stamps have a much larger purpose today.

According to the National Wildlife Refuge Association, “Ever since the first Duck Stamp was issued, the annual Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Stamp has been a popular collector’s item for hunters and non-hunters alike. You can read a brief history of the Federal Duck Stamp at http://www.fws.gov/duckstamps/federal/pdf/DuckStampStory702.pdf.

Federal Duck Stamps are a vital tool for wetland conservation. Ninety-eight cents out of every dollar generated by the sales of Federal Duck Stamps goes directly to purchase or lease wetland habitat for protection in the National Wildlife Refuge System. Understandably, the Federal Duck Stamp Program has been called one of the most successful conservation programs ever initiated and is a highly effective way to conserve America’s natural resources.

Each year a national competition is held for the stamp design. The 2011 - 2012 Duck Stamp was painted by wildlife artist James Hautman of Minnesota

In 1989, the first Junior Duck Stamp was introduced, along with an environmental education program for youth. A nationwide competition is held also, through the schools, for art for the Junior Duck Stamp.

The US FWS lists five reasons to purchase a Federal Duck Stamp:

1. Hunters over the age of 16 must purchase a Federal Duck Stamp each year if they want to hunt migratory waterfowl.
2. Birders and other frequenters of National Wildlife Refuges purchase a $15 Federal Duck Stamp each year in order to gain free admission to refuges.
3. Conservationists buy Federal Duck Stamps because they know that the stamps are, dollar for dollar, one of the best investments one can make in the future of America’s wetlands.
4. Collectors buy both the Federal and Junior Duck Stamps because the beautiful stamps can gain value over the years and are an important part of America’s outdoor culture.
5. Finally, educators, conservationists, hunters, parents, and students alike buy $5 Junior Duck Stamps in order to support conservation education programs in the U.S.

Where to purchase a Federal Duck Stamp:

· Many United State Post Offices

· Major sporting goods and outdoor stores that sell hunting licenses

· On the web at http://www.duckstamp.com/mm5/.

Information in this post is from the US Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Wildlife Refuge Association. Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge is one of over 550 refuges across the U.S. The Friends of Hagerman support conservation and educational programs and activities at the Refuge.