New Illinois Wildlife Grant program aids endangered species, habitats    

[FEB. 12, 2005]  SPRINGFIELD -- The Illinois Department of Natural Resources announced on Thursday the availability of State Wildlife Grant funds provided by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The program provides funding to every U.S. state and territory to support cost-effective conservation aimed at keeping wildlife from becoming endangered and is administered in Illinois by the Illinois Department of Resources, Office of Resource Conservation 

Illinois' allocation of these funds for fiscal 2005 is approximately $2 million. Projects funded as part of the competitive grant program will address wildlife species and habitat needs identified in the new Illinois Comprehensive Wildlife Conservation Plan.

“These federal funds are critical for protecting wildlife and habitat in Illinois,” said Joel Brunsvold, director of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. “The projects we hope to fund through this program will be linked directly to the goals being outlined by our biologists, other state and federal agencies, conservation organizations, scientists, and citizens as part of our comprehensive plan to protect and enhance wildlife in the state.”

The State Wildlife Grant program provides funds to be distributed specifically for the protection and management of non-game species in the greatest need of conservation, as identified in the Comprehensive Wildlife Conservation Plan. Other federal funds, under separate granting authorities, are targeted specifically for the protection and management of game species. Annual State Wildlife Grant allocations to each state and territory are apportioned according to the states' population and land area and are contingent upon annual appropriations by Congress.

The grant program will fund projects that help implement the Comprehensive Wildlife Conservation Plan, such as wildlife protection and stewardship projects; those that improve land and water resources; and planning projects, such as applied wildlife research, monitoring, evaluation and data management.

“This new grant program will help us put more federal dollars to work on behalf of wildlife in Illinois,” Brunsvold added. “Using the foundation of our new Comprehensive Wildlife Conservation Plan, we'll invest our people and resources in ways that can achieve our goals of improving wildlife and wildlife habitat in the state.”

A preliminary draft of the Illinois Comprehensive Wildlife Conservation Plan, which is scheduled to be completed later this year, is available for public review and comment. While the plan is being finalized, the Department of Natural Resources will begin accepting pre-applications for State Wildlife Grant projects.

The preliminary draft of the Comprehensive Wildlife Conservation Plan and details on pre-application for the State Wildlife Grant program are available at http://dnr.state.il.us/orc/wildliferesources/
theplan/swgGrant/ or by contacting the IDNR Watershed Protection Section, One Natural Resources Way, Springfield, IL 62702-1271; phone [phone]; e-mail [e-mail].

[Illinois Department of Natural Resources news release]