BLOG SPOTLIGHT:  State Wildlife Grant Program

Grant Program Helps Wood Bison Return to Wilds of Alaska  
Source:  U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service   

 

More than 4000 wood bison roam in Canada.  Photo: Laura Whitehouse/US
  
Earlier this month, the State Wildlife Grant (SWG) Program provided more than $45 million in funding for state efforts to protect species and habitats in greatest need of conservation.  More than $2.0 million went to Alaska, including more than $680,000 for work to reintroduce the threatened wood bison to Alaska.
  
The work, ongoing for more than 10 years, is at a key stage.  The Alaska Department of Fish and Game has started flying wood bison from the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center to Anchorage to the village of Shageluk in the Lower Innoko/Yukon Rivers area.
  
Wood bison are the largest native land mammal in North America, with males weighing 2,000 pounds.  They historically ranged through northwestern Canada and into interior Alaska, but were last seen roaming free in Alaska in the early 1900s.
  
  

 

 

Clean Boating made easier in Pasco  
New pumpout service at Columbia Marine Center protects people, water and wildlife 
 
Source:  WSFR Program, USFWS Pacific Region
  

 

New pumpout station. Photo: WSFR Program, Pacific Region, USFWS

Boating just got cleaner and easier for the growing fleet of fishermen, duck hunters, and pleasure boaters on the Columbia, Snake and Yakima Rivers in Eastern Washington.

With grants provided by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the State of Washington is improving water quality at the Columbia Marine Center by installing its first-ever pump-out station in Pasco's Slagel Park to remove sewage from on board holding tanks for proper treatment and disposal.

The new system is a boon for customers and other boaters, Columbia Marine Center proprietor Jim Toroni explained. "Before, they had to run way up-river to do any kind of pumping."  Free, convenient pumpout service makes it easy for boaters to follow state and federal law, which forbids dumping raw sewage in nearshore waters where it can infect humans and aquatic organisms and promote algal growth. 

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State Wildlife Action Plan:  A Decade Brings Dramatic Change to Connecticut Wildlife 
Source:  Jan Ellen Spiegel,  Environmental Reporter, Connecticut Mirror

   

Patrick Comins, the director of bird conservation for Audubon Connecticut, stands along the perimeter of Guilford's Leetes Island Marsh and surveys the serene scene: a few stray birds and ducks on a cold, clear morning.  But the scene masks the marsh's true natural state. 

"That's an example of a drowned marsh.  This is really what all of our marshes are at risk of becoming," Comins says.  He points  to the roads and railroad tracks that tightly ring the
Black Bear sitting on a rock. Photo: Mike Bender
marsh, preventing it from draining.

"Flooding will be coming more often and marshes will start to convert from high marsh that floods once a month to low marsh that floods every day, to this, which is a drowned marsh." 

Situations like the one at Leetes Island, and the climate change that arguably caused it, are among many contingencies the state is evaluating as part of the first 10-year update of its Wildlife Action Plan. 

    

 

 

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FEATURE VIDEO
  
Women Hunting and Fishing- Camp Wilderness
Women Hunting and Fishing- Camp Wilderness
 
  

Industry News

WSFR Exhibit Main Attraction at 2015 SHOT Show

By: Kim Betton, Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Program, HQ  

  

The Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Program (WSFR) of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) served as one of hundreds exhibitors at the 37th annual Shooting, Hunting, and Outdoor Trade Show (SHOT Show), hosted by the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF). The world's largest gun show opened in January with 60 thousand industry professionals at the Sands Expo Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.

 

Nevada Dept. of Wildlife employee talks with WSFR booth visitor at 2015 SHOT Show
With a beautiful banner display of wildlife and wilderness, the WSFR exhibit engaged a steady flow of convention goers eager to learn more about the 78 year old program. WSFR staffers and volunteers from partnering agency Nevada Department of Wildlife shared key information about the Pittman Robertson Act of 1937 and its cycle of success utilizing excise taxes on the sales of firearms and ammunition to support wildlife and their habitats.

 

 

"It's great to be here and talk about the excise tax to manufactures, and help them understand that without them we wouldn't have great conservation programs," said Ivy Santee, who served as a WSFR exhibit volunteer from the Nevada Department of Wildlife. "Partnerships are so valuable. Being able to work with the Fish and Wildlife Service is so important for many conservation programs and services," she said.


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Cabela's Pledges Support for New Organization  

Source: Council to Advance Hunting and the Shooting Sports 

  

Newark, NY - The most important names in the hunting industry are lining up to support the National Deer Alliance (NDA).   
The most recent addition is Cabela's, the World's Foremost Outfitter of hunting, fishing
and outdoor gear. Cabela's clearly sees the connection between the future of hunting and the importance of having deer to hunt.  
 
"The National Deer Alliance is committed to being the voice of the deer hunter and ensuring that there will always be deer to hunt. Last year's Deer Summit identified some serious threats to the future of deer hunting. Without deer our hunting heritage is in serious trouble," stated Craig Dougherty, Executive Director of the NDA
  

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Feature Photo

Family enjoys a day at Bachman Lake in Dallas, Texas.
 Photo by:  Kim Betton, Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Program, USFWS

WSFR Congratulations and Honors!

Region 6 WSFR Chief Retires, 40 Years Federal Service

 

 

Long time WSFR employee David McGillivary has retired after four decades of federal service.  David served as the WSFR Chief in the Denver regional office since August of 2001.  

David McGillivary

 

He came to the WSFR program after being stationed in three different regions throughout his career. David's background includes serving as a Fish and Wildlife Biologist, assistant field supervisor, field supervisor, regional chief of Endangered Species, chief of Marine Mammals Management (polar bear, sea otter and walrus) and SCUBA-certified unit dive officer.

 

David also served in other capacities over his illustrious career, including working at the Wetlands and Waterfowl Headquarters, and working on the Environmental Impact Statement Team for Artic National Wildlife Refuge oil and gas exploration.  David also worked on the Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska, Hurricane Katrina Relief Effort, and the Service's response to the Deep Water Horizon spill in the Gulf.

 

David says WSFR is a great program, made up of good people working towards the same goals. He is now spending more time with his wife and four grown children.  David is also going to do more running, hunting, fishing, and snorkeling.  Thank you, David for the dedicated years of service and support!  

 

 

WSFR Headquarters Branch Chief Honored for 10 years in Federal Service 

  

Congratulations to Debbie Unbehagen for 10 years of federal service! WSFR Assistant Director Hannibal Bolton presented Debbie with an award during a winter staff meeting at the National Conservation Training Center in Shephardstown, WV. 

Debbie Unbehagen receives award from WSFR Asst.Dir. Hannibal Bolton

 

Debbie began her federal career at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service with the WSFR program in 2004.  She worked as a grants management  specialist instructor in the  WSFR Training Program. Debbie also worked for the program at the southeast regional office as grants fiscal officer.  

 

Prior to working  at the Fish and Wildlife Service, Debbie worked for the State of Louisiana as a systems analyst providing support and training for the State's integrated information system.  She also worked as a budget analyst for Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries.  Thank you Debbie for your dedication to the WSFR program! 

Issue Highlights
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The Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Program (WSFR) is treasured in so many ways.   We appreciate all the support and dedication from our partners and we need to continue to help share the vision of this great program - the cornerstone of fish and wildlife conservation in North America.
 
In 2014 WSFR  provided $1.1 Billion through the sale of hunting and fishing equipment to support habitat conservation and outdoor recreation.
 
All Americans, whether they hunt, fish, spend a day boating, or wildlife watching, benefit from this program. There's a good chance that the trail they hike, the park where they watch birds, and the wildlife they see every day wouldn't exist without the funding provided by hunters and anglers. In addition to providing conservation benefits, WSFR funds - along with revenue from state fishing hunting licenses support local economies and generate thousands of jobs.
   

We are grateful for you helping us to share the successes of this WSFR program.  Let's keep the momentum going strong for the wildlife and the people of this great nation.  
 

 - Hannibal

WSFR 75th Anniversary and Beyond Publication Highlights
2011 National Survey of Fishing Hunting and Wildlife Associated-Recreation
TRACS

Click here to view WILDLIFE TRACS 

 

 

WSFR IN THE NEWS

  
Click below to review national news coverage on WSFR.
UPCOMING EVENTS
ICAST
July 15-17,  2015
  
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Contact:
Kim Betton
Editorial Director
Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Program, Headquarters
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,
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