WASHINGTON, D.C. -- (ArriveNet - Sep 23, 2004) -- Regional Director Dave Allen today announced more than $43 million in grants to support conservation planning efforts and habitat acquisition for threatened and endangered fish, wildlife, and plant species in the Pacific Region. A total of thirty-six grants were awarded in Idaho, Washington, Oregon, California, Nevada and Hawai'i. These grants will benefit species ranging from the California gnatcatcher and Snake River summer Chinook salmon to northern spotted owls and endangered plants in Hawai'i.
The Pacific Region grants are among more than $70 million in grants nationally announced today by Interior Secretary Gale Norton. The grants will benefit projects in 28 states.
"The strength of our partnership with the states is clearly one of the keys to the Administration's success in conserving and recovering threatened and endangered species throughout this country," Secretary Norton said. "Today's grant awards support state efforts to build and strengthen important cost-effective conservation partnerships with local groups and private landowners to benefit wildlife."
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Among today's Habitat Conservation Land Acquisition grant recipients are Washington state's Jefferson, King and Yakima Counties, which were awarded more than $10 million (total for three projects) to acquire over 3,000 acres of old growth forest in eastern and western Washington. These individual projects -- the Tieton River project, the Hoh River Conservation Corridor project and the Cugini High Cascade Timberlands project -- will benefit species such as the northern spotted owls and marbled murrelets in western Washington and rare pine forests and diverse canyon habitats in eastern Washington.
Funded through the Cooperative Endangered Species Conservation Fund and authorized by Section 6 of the Endangered Species Act, the grants will enable states to work with private landowners, conservation groups and other agencies to initiate conservation planning efforts and acquire and protect habitat to support the conservation of threatened and endangered species.
Nationally, the cooperative endangered species fund this year provides $8.6 million through the Habitat Conservation Planning Assistance Grants Program, $49 million through the Habitat Conservation Plan Land Acquisition Grants Program, and $13.5 million through the Recovery Land Acquisition Grants Program. The three programs were established to help reduce potential conflicts between the conservation of threatened and endangered species and land development and use.
"These grant programs are some of the many tools we have to help landowners conserve valuable wildlife habitats in the day-to-day management of their lands," Regional Director Allen said. "They help landowners finance the creative solutions to land use and conservation issues that ultimately lead to the recovery of endangered and threatened species."
Under the Habitat Conservation Plan Land Acquisition Program, the Service provides grants to States or Territories for land acquisitions associated with approved Habitat Conservation Plans (HCPs). Grants do not fund any mitigation required of an HCP permittee, but are instead intended to support acquisitions by the State or local governments that complement actions associated with the HCP.
A Habitat Conservation Plan is an agreement between a landowner and the Service that allows the landowner to incidentally take a threatened or endangered species in the course of otherwise lawful activities when the landowner agrees to conservation measures to minimize and mitigate the impact of the taking. A Habitat Conservation Plan may also be developed by a county or state to cover certain activities of all landowners within their jurisdiction and may address multiple species. There are more than 357 Habitat Conservation Plans currently in effect covering 458 separate species on approximately 39 million acres, with some 407 additional plans under development covering approximately 100 million acres.
Other recipients of today's Habitat Conservation Land Acquisition grants are Riverside and San Bernardino Counties, California, with a $1.5 million grant to support the purchase of habitat within the Colton Dune ecosystem. The acquisitions are intended to protect portions of the Colton Dune ecosystem, unique to this region of Riverside and San Bernardino counties. Approximately two percent of the Colton Dune ecosystem still exists. The acquisitions will permanently conserve habitat occupied by a suite of federally and State listed species endemic to this area including the endangered Delhi Sands flower-loving fly, threatened coastal California gnatcatcher, Los Angeles pocket mouse and western burrowing owl. These lands are critical for the survival and recovery of the Delhi Sand flower-loving fly and many other species that occur within this ecosystem. Conservation of these areas will be protected in perpetuity and allow for appropriate recreation.
The Habitat Conservation Planning Assistance Program provides grants to states and territories to support the development of Habitat Conservation Plans, through funding of baseline surveys and inventories, document preparation, outreach, and similar planning activities.
In Washington, for example, a $1,057,100 Aquatic Lands HCP Grant will cover over 2.4 million acres of submerged land in marine, estuarine, and freshwater habitats managed by Washington Department of Natural Resources. The HCP will ensure that covered activities promote sustainable ecosystems, minimize cumulative impacts and increase protection, conservation and recovery efforts for up to 75 proposed species.
The Recovery Land Acquisition Grants Program provides funds to states and territories to acquire habitat for endangered and threatened species in approved recovery plans. Acquisition of habitat to secure long term protection is often an essential element of a comprehensive recovery effort for a listed species.
One of this year's grants will provide $900,000 to acquire property that includes five distinct forest types, including wet and mesic forests and four miles of stream adjacent to a state forest reserve in Honolulu County, Hawaii. This conservation effort will include critical habitat for 15 listed plants as well as vital habitat for the Oahu tree snail.
Grants awarded in the Pacific Region are listed below. For more information on the 2004 grant awards for these programs see the Service's Endangered Species home page at http://endangered.fws.gov/grants/section6/index.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 544 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small wetlands and other special management areas. It also operates 69 national fish hatcheries, 64 fishery resource 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 that distributes hundreds of millions of dollars in excise taxes on fishing and hunting equipment to state fish and wildlife agencies.
Habitat Conservation Plan Land Acquisition Grants by State:
California
Assessment District 161 HCP (Riverside County, CA) $4,545,000. The grant will support the purchase of habitat within the Wilson/Cactus Valley area. The acquisition of properties in Wilson/Cactus Valley will benefit wildlife populations by conserving occupied habitat in large, interconnected blocks, ensuring that the ecosystem processes are maintained. In addition to providing core habitat areas for the Western Riverside Multiple Species Habitat Conservation Program (MSHCP), both of these areas support a suite of Federal and State listed species covered under the MSHCP. These species include the threatened coastal California gnatcatcher, endangered least Bell's vireo, Quino checkerspot butterfly and Stephen's kangaroo rat. The plant communities found in the area, such as Riversidean sage scrub and riparian habitat, are representative of the native habitats of the region. The public benefits of maintaining these areas as open space include the use for various recreational purposes such as hiking, mountain biking and other appropriate activities.
City of San Diego and County of San Diego Multiple Species Conservation Program NCCP/HCP (San Diego County, CA) $4,402,238. The grant will be used to acquire parcels of land on Otay Mesa that make up a large part of the southern portion of lands within the Multi-Habitat Planning Area (MHPA), the City of San Diego's targeted preserve area under the Multiple Species Conservation Program (MSCP). Because of their size and location, the parcels are crucial for protecting the integrity of the MHPA along the U.S./Mexico border and for connecting the southern portion to other MHPA areas to the north. The parcels support a number of listed and rare habitats and species, including the threatened coastal California gnatcatcher, burrowing owl, cactus wren, and species unique to the San Diego region, such as San Diego barrel cactus and snake chollas. There are several vernal pools on the parcels, some of which support the endangered San Diego fairy shrimp, California orcutt grass and San Diego button celery. Acquisition of the Crest Tract is a high priority for San Diego County's MSCP. The Crest Tract supports the threatened California gnatcatcher and San Diego thornmint, and provides upland habitat for the endangered arroyo toad. In addition, numerous other MSCP covered species are known in the area. The Crest tract provides a key linkage between the San Diego National Wildlife Refuge to the south and the State-owned Crestridge Preserve. This approximately 1,400-acre tract includes numerous parcels, which if allowed to develop would result in a fragmented landscape that would preclude connectivity between two large conserved areas.
Colton Transmission Line HCP (San Bernardino and Riverside Counties, CA) $1,500,000. This grant will support the purchase of habitat within the Colton Dune ecosystem. The proposed acquisitions are intended to protect portions of the Colton Dune ecosystem, unique to this region of Riverside and San Bernardino counties. Approximately two percent of the Colton Dune ecosystem still exists. The proposed acquisitions will permanently conserve habitat occupied by a suite of federally and state-listed species native to this area, including the endangered Delhi Sands flower-loving fly, the threatened coastal California gnatcatcher, the Los Angeles pocket mouse and the western burrowing owl. These lands are critical to the survival and recovery of the Delhi Sands flower-loving fly and many other species that occur within this ecosystem. The Delhi Sands flower-loving fly and its habitat are addressed in the Western Riverside MSHCP and possibly in the regional multiple species habitat conservation plan in San Bernardino County. Conservation of these areas will be protected in perpetuity allowing for appropriate recreation.
El Sobrante Landfill HCP (Riverside County, CA) $5,180,000. This grant will support the purchase of habitat within the Alberhill area. The acquisition of properties in the Alberhill area is expected to benefit wildlife populations by conserving occupied habitat in large interconnected blocks. In addition to providing core habitat areas for the Western Riverside MSHCP, both of these areas support a suite of federal- and state-listed species covered under the MSHCP. These species include the threatened coastal California gnatcatcher, the endangered least Bell's vireo and Stephen's kangaroo rat. The plant communities found in the area, such as Riversidean sage scrub and riparian habitat, are representative of the region's native habitats. The Alberhill area has one of the densest populations of the coastal California gnatcatcher in the western Riverside County. The public benefits of maintaining these areas as open space include the use for various recreational purposes such as hiking, mountain biking and other appropriate activities.
Fieldstone NCCP/HCP (San Diego County, CA) $1,512,900. This grant will help acquire the Batiquitos Bluffs parcel. The tract is central to a large expanse of wildlife habitat that includes the Batiquitos Lagoon and habitat to be preserved in the Multiple Habitat Conservation Program (MHCP) to the north and the only contiguous corridor between the lagoon and habitat conserved through the Fieldstone Habitat Conservation Plan to the south and east. The property is within the proposed MHCP preserve. It supports the threatened gnatcatcher and is within its designated critical habitat. A variety of native vegetation communities occur on the parcel including coastal sage scrub, wetlands, and one of the largest remaining expanses of southern maritime chaparral, which is a rare and declining vegetation type that likely supports the endangered Del Mar manzanita and the threatened Encinitas baccharis and possibly the endangered Orcutt's spineflower.
Orange County Central/Coastal NCCP/HCP (Orange County, CA) $3,000,000. This grant will support the acquisition of Saddle Creek. The acquisition of Saddle Creek will reduce habitat fragmentation and provide critical habitat and a movement corridor for the threatened coastal California gnatcatcher, large mammals and other wildlife within this region of Orange County. Saddle Creek straddles the Central/Coastal and Southern Subregion NCCP/HCP and is significant as the only existing low-elevation wildlife connection between the Subregions of Orange County. The property is designated as critical habitat for the coastal California gnatcatcher. In addition to the coastal California gnatcatcher, about 17 other listed or sensitive species occur or potentially occur within this area. Conservation of these parcels will ensure that the rural character of the area is maintained which will benefit adjacent residents.
Washington
Cedar River Watershed HCP (King County, WA) $1,000,000. The land acquisition will result in securing the best of the remaining habitats in the lower third of the Cedar River Watershed, as the upper two-thirds of the watershed is already protected under the City of Seattle's HCP. Acquisition will extend habitats for both listed and unlisted species, improve connectivity, particularly along the riparian corridor, and protect habitats under immediate threat of development.
Tieton River Project, Cugini High Cascade Timberlands and Hoh River Conservation Corridor (Jefferson, King, and Yakima Counties, WA) $10,050,710 (total for three projects). The grant will be used to acquire approximately 3,000 acres of fish and wildlife habitat in eastern and western Washington State. Conservation benefits will be secured by the purchase of old-growth timber occupied by northern spotted owls and marbled murrelets in the west and the protection of rare pine forests and diverse canyon habitats in the east. The Tieton River Project is awarded $631,350 to protect 640 acres of mature ponderosa pine, Douglas fir and riparian habitats in the Tieton River Canyon (Yakima County). The Hoh River Conservation Corridor project is awarded $3,703,217 to conserve approximately 1,755 acres of Hoh River lands between the interior and coastal portions of Olympic National Park (Jefferson County). The Cugini High Cascade Timberlands project is awarded $5,716,143 to acquire approximately 560 acres of old growth forest in the northern Washington Cascade mountains (King County).
Yakima River Wildlife Corridor Phase III, Washington (Kittitas County, WA) $1,763,795. The funding will allow The Cascades Conservation Partnership to complete the third and final phase of acquisition of the Yakima River Wildlife Corridor. The corridor connects essential wildlife habitat across Interstate 90 through a low-elevation passage in one of the narrowest sections of the Central Cascades. This conservation project provides habitat and a travel route for five federally listed land species, and protects bull trout and steelhead habitat in and along the Yakima River.
Habitat Conservation Planning Assistance Grants by State:
California
East Contra Costa County HCP (Contra Costa County, CA) $358,000. The endangered San Joaquin fox, the threatened California red-legged frog and many other declining species are found in this area and their ability to persist in this rapidly developing location depends upon the protection of large blocks of contiguous habitat. This is an opportunity to plan urban development in such a manner that will provide habitat for sensitive species and open space for residents. In addition, the HCP/Natural Community Conservation Plan (NCCP) will allow Contra Costa Water District to utilize its full contractual allotment of federal water (Bureau of Reclamation) from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta by addressing the indirect effects resulting from water deliveries.
Mendocino Redwood Company HCP/NCCP (Mendocino and Sonoma Counties) $258,000. Funds are being awarded to finalize the development of a combined federal Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) and a California state Natural Community Conservation Plan (NCCP) covering approximately 232,000 acres of the Mendocino Redwood Company's forest lands in Mendocino and Sonoma Counties, California. This HCP/NCCP will benefit more than 11 species, including 19 federally listed species including the marbled murrelet and northern spotted owl, several California state listed species and numerous species of concern.
Placer County Phase 2 Area HCP/NCCP (Placer County, CA) $349,000. In partnership with other local agencies and state government, Placer County's open space and agricultural conservation effort known as Placer Legacy is currently developing a comprehensive, multi-species HCP and NCCP that will address listed and non-listed species, including Lahontan cutthroat trout and the mountain yellow-legged frog. The plan is to be developed in three phases. This 2004 grant will allow Placer County to begin developing an Adaptive Management/Monitoring program through the purchase of the HabiTrak system, development of the Phase 2 Land Cover and Habitat Inventory, allow for the funding of the Phase 2 Science Advisors for two years, and allow for half-time participation of a Department of Fish and Game environmental scientist. These project tasks are fundamental to further implementing a successful Phase 1 and initiating Phase 2 of the HCP/NCCP. The Phase 2 area, particularly the Martis Valley, is currently experiencing intense development pressure, which makes the timing of this project crucial to the preparation of the HCP/NCCP.
San Bruno Mountain HCP Reassessment Project (San Mateo County, CA) $118,560. The project is for an amendment to the existing HCP. At a minimum, the proposed HCP amendment will consider: (1) the extent that non-native species invasion on San Bruno Mountain is affecting the callippe silverspot, mission blue, and San Bruno elfin butterflies on San Bruno Mountain in a manner not previously considered; (2) whether management and restoration of conserved habitat on San Bruno Mountain is not occurring consistent with the San Bruno Mountain HCP; (3) the extent callippe silverspot and designated bay checkerspot critical habitat will be affected by full implementation of the HCP's incidental take permit; (4) the adequacy of the HCP's funding; and (5) the adequacy of the HCP's avoidance and minimization measures.
Santa Clara County HCP/NCCP (Santa Clara County, CA) $300,000. Santa Clara County has initiated a county-wide HCP/NCCP program which proposes to cover most of the 841,000-acre county. The project is being undertaken in partnership with the City of San Jose, Santa Clara Valley Transportation Agency, and the Santa Clara Valley Water District, with potential involvement from other cities in the southern portion of the county. Santa Clara County has experienced enormous amounts of population growth over the past 50 years and is continuing to experience growth pressures which pose a threat to more than 100 endangered, threatened, and other rare species. This HCP/NCCP will provide a comprehensive approach to conservation and management of multiple species countywide, including preservation of much of the remaining habitat for several federally listed species, establishment of habitat preserves, habitat restoration, and streamlined regulatory permitting processes.
South Sacramento HCP (Sacramento County, CA) $308,000. The grant will help local officials in South Sacramento continue the planning phase of a regional HCP. This HCP is expected to cover 45 species, including seven federally threatened and endangered species, within a planning area of approximately 490 square miles. This HCP proposes to cover two species of Orcutt grass that are restricted to Sacramento County or for which this is the southernmost extent of its range. The development community is actively involved in this HCP because of their desire to streamline the regulatory process in an area that has intense development pressure. Environmental groups are also actively involved due to the wide variety of biological resources in the planning area and because this is an opportunity to preserve large, contiguous areas of habitat on a landscape level.
Western Stanislaus County HCP/NCCP (Stanislaus County, CA) $285,000. The grant, combined with local funding, will enable local officials to initiate an HCP/NCCP process to develop a regional plan for 388,000 acres in western Stanislaus County. Currently, the Interstate 5 corridor and the cities of Patterson and Newman are experiencing significant growth. Adequate and appropriate resolutions to endangered species issues are key to successful implementation of economic development and public works projects in these areas. Central to the plan will be a conservation strategy developed by the County, California Department of Fish and Game, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for the San Joaquin kit fox. The conservation strategy, currently in draft form but yet to be implemented, will identify and protect a regional movement corridor for the kit fox. Ecologically valuable grassland, riparian woodland, and foothill habitats will also be conserved within the corridor, providing for other covered species and maintaining connectivity and ecosystem function in several watersheds. Stanislaus County will partner with other local agencies, as well as federal and state agencies, to develop this HCP/NCCP.
Yuba and Sutter Counties HCP/NCCP (Yuba and Sutter Counties, CA) $178,000. The grant will help local officials in portions of Yuba and Sutter Counties initiate the planning phase of a regional HCP/NCCP. Since many land use plans within the HCP/NCCP planning area are still being developed by the local jurisdictions, there are significant opportunities to provide for natural resource conservation at this time. There is an opportunity, through this HCP/NCCP effort to promote the development of a comprehensive, multi-species conservation plan that will address both listed and non-listed species including: California tiger salamander, Swainson's hawk, giant garter snake, steelhead, and tricolored blackbird. The Counties will partner with other local agencies, as well as federal and state agencies, to develop this HCP/NCCP.
Nevada
Southern Nye County Multiple Species Habitat Conservation Plan (Nye County, NV) $175,000. Nye County, Nevada, will initiate the development of a MSHCP within the Mojave Desert portion of southern Nye County. This portion of the county lies within the range of the desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii), a species listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. To provide conservation for the tortoise and five additional species of concern while allowing economic growth and urban development plans to move forward, Nye County will develop a draft MSHCP and related Environmental Impact Statement and Implementing Agreement within one year of the grant award. The MSHCP will include conservation actions for six federally-listed and sensitive species that occur within the planning area. These species occur in Mojave Desert scrub, mesquite woodland, and desert riparian habitats. Development of the MSHCP will complement the existing Clark County MSHCP and the draft Southeastern Lincoln County MSHCP currently under development. Once the Lincoln and Nye County MSHCPs are complete, almost all of the desert tortoise habitat that occurs in Nevada will be included under habitat conservation plans, with the exception of tribal and military lands.
Washington
Dungeness Comprehensive Irrigation District Management Plan/HCP (Clallam County, WA) $79,500. The HCP covers the lower 11 miles of the Dungeness River, addresses long-term irrigation needs and improves in-stream habitat. The HCP will provide for the implementation of 24 specific conservation measures with direct measurable benefits for listed and unlisted species as a result of addressing water quantity, fish passage, and water quality issues.
Family Forest HCP (Lewis County, WA) $469,150. The HCP will cover over 100,000 acres of small family forestlands managed by private landowners. The HCP will provide an alternative to riparian harvest restrictions required under state forest practices rules. Family forest landowners seek this HCP as an incentive to keep family forests on the landscape.
Foster Creek HCP (Douglas County, WA) $518,605. The HCP will cover over one million acres of agricultural land in Douglas County. The HCP will provide a tool for agricultural landowners, operators, and managers to meet their land management objectives while protecting and enhancing shrub-steppe, riparian, and aquatic habitats for up to 63 proposed covered species.
Teanaway Conservation Plan (Kittitas County, WA) $312,700. The HCP will cover 55,800 acres of forest lands owned and managed by American Forest Resources. The HCP would result from an innovative pilot effort between the landowner and the state to develop a Landowner Option Plan for threatened northern spotted owls, as a precursor to receiving a federal incidental take permit.
Washington DNR Aquatic Lands HCP (Statewide, WA) $1,057,100. This HCP will cover over 2.4 million acres of submerged land managed by Washington State's Department of Natural Resources in marine, estuarine, and freshwater habitats. The HCP will ensure that covered activities promote sustainable ecosystems, minimize cumulative impacts, and increase protection, conservation, and recovery efforts for up to 75 proposed covered species.
Recovery Land Acquisition Grants by State:
California
Dirty Socks Spring (Inyo County, California) $92,500. This acquisition will protect property that contains a natural spring, one-acre pond, outflow streams, alkali wetlands, and salt grass marsh. Aquatic habitats on the property will be used to establish new populations of Owens tui chub and Owens pupfish, completing an activity identified in the Owens Basin Wetland and Aquatic species Recovery Plan for Inyo and Mono Counties, California.
Gabbro soil plant habitat 2004 (El Dorado County, California) $450,000. This acquisition will purchase essential habitat of an extremely rare natural community comprising approximately 10 percent of California's native plant species, including the six Gabbro plants. This grant will add 227 acres to the existing Pine Hill Ecological Preserve.
Morro Bay shoreline (San Luis Obispo County, California) $500,000. This acquisition will conserve approximately 21 shoreline acres, connecting other State and privately owned conservation areas. The wetland and dune habitats provide habitat for several State and federally listed species and other species of concern, including California sea-blite, salt-marsh bird's-beak, western snowy plover, marsh sandwort, and Morro shoulderband snail.
Peninsular bighorn sheep (Highway 74) (Riverside County, California) $75,000. Acquisition of these parcels will contribute to the conservation goals outlined in the recovery plan for bighorn sheep in the Peninsular Ranges by ensuring that this area remains intact, preventing further fragmentation.
Ramona Grasslands (San Diego County, California) $500,000. This acquisition will protect intact and undisturbed grassland in Santa Maria Valley, benefiting Stephen's kangaroo rat, arroyo toad, San Diego fairy shrimp, and coastal California gnatcatcher. The grasslands contain numerous vernal pools and will link adjacent parcels into a contiguous preserve of nearly 2,000 acres.
Soledad Canyon riparian properties (Los Angeles County, California) $185,000. This acquisition will help achieve recovery goals for Arroyo southwestern toad, unarmored threespine stickleback, least Bell's vireo, southwestern willow flycatcher, and slenderhorned spineflower by securing habitat and habitat connectivity within the upper Santa Clara River watershed. The Santa Clara River is one of the last undammed wild rivers in southern California and subject to natural hydrologic flow events which are crucial for target species.
Vernal pool species recovery, Millville Plains (Shasta County, California) $317,716. This grant will be used to purchase a conservation easement on approximately 250 acres of land containing vernal pool complexes within Millville Plains, benefiting vernal pool fairy shrimp and slender Orcutt grass. This conservation easement is adjacent to approximately 600 acres of vernal pool habitat already protected.
Hawaii
Manana Valley watershed protection & habitat restoration project (Honolulu County, Hawaii) $900,000. This acquisition and restoration is a multi-species conservation effort that includes critical habitat for 15 listed plants and the Oahu elepaio, as well as essential habitat for the Oahu tree snail. This parcel contains five distinct forest types including wet and mesic forest types and four miles of stream. This parcel is also adjacent to a State forest reserve.
Idaho
Moen Ranch property Pahsimeroi River (Lemhi and Custer Counties, Idaho) $640,000. This grant to the state of Idaho will help purchase approximately 208 acres of riparian lands along the Pahsimeroi River that runs through the Moen Ranch. This acquisition would protect habitat critical to listed bull trout, salmon, and steelhead. The purchase will be accomplished through a collaborative partnership with the Idaho's Office of Species Conservation, The Nature Conservancy (TNC), the Soil and Water Conservation District and Idaho Department of Fish and Game. The collaborative effort coincides with the property owner's desire to avoid subdivision and to continue agricultural production along with habitat conservation. Therefore, TNC will purchase the entire property and sell the riparian section to IDFG for perpetual conservation management, along with undertaking other transactions to protect habitat while keeping cultivated areas in production. The Pahsimeroi River is one of three key tributaries to the Upper Salmon River subbasin which provides more anadromous fish spawning areas (redds) than any other subbasin in the Columbia River Basin. The subbasin produces 39% of the spring chinook salmon, 45% of the summer chinook salmon and 25% of the summer steelhead returning to the mouth of the Columbia River. In 2002 the Moen Ranch accounted for 63 of the total 125 chinook redds on the Pahsimeroi River.
Nevada
Dave's Island tract (Elko County, Nevada) $1,000,000. This acquisition will benefit the Jarbidge River population of bull trout, a threatened species. The draft recovery plan identified acquisition as the most important recovery action for the Dave Creek population. This acquisition will also benefit sage grouse and redband trout and eliminate grazing impacts.
Oregon
Elk River Spit conservation easement for snowy plover (Curry County, Oregon) $307,000. This grant will acquire a conservation easement for up to 80 acres of beach foredune behind the mean high-tide line at the Elk River Spit in Oregon. The purpose of the project is to manage the land for the threatened western snowy plover, the state- listed pink sand-verbena and migrating shorebirds. The recovery plan for the plover identified the Elk River Spit as one of 19 areas in Oregon important to the western snowy plover's future recovery. The spit's landowners are cooperating in the project by donating 25% of the value of the conservation easement.
Jacksonville Woods fritillaria gentneri (Jackson County, Oregon) $358,000. The acquisition will benefit a very narrowly distributed plant found in oak/madrone habitat. This species only occurs in two counties in Oregon. More than 1,000 individuals occur on the two parcels addressed in the proposal.
Washington
Golden paintbrush recovery at Ebey's Reserve (Island County, Washington) $187,300. This acquisition is will benefit a narrowly distributed plant species and is vital for species recovery because it is one of only 11 remaining sites and one of the three largest sites on which this plant is found. Acquisition will make a major contribution toward recovery.
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