Western Native Trout Initiative

FishAmerica Foundation Works With NOAA to Fund Coastal Habitat Projects

Alexandria, VA – May 7, 2009 - The FishAmerica Foundation, the conservation and research foundation of the American Sportfishing Association, today announced that grant monies for marine and anadromous sportfish habitat restoration are available for projects in the coastal United States, the Great Lakes region and the U.S. Caribbean territories. These grants will be awarded to community-based, on-the-ground projects to restore marine, estuarine and riparian habitats, including salt marshes, mangrove forests and freshwater habitats important to anadromous fish species such as salmon and striped bass that spawn in freshwater and migrate to the sea. Projects in the Great Lakes must restore habitat for diadromous sportfish such as lake sturgeon, walleye and brook trout in the Great Lakes and applicable tributaries.

The FishAmerica Foundation will accept grant proposals up through June 22, 2009. Grants of up to $50,000 each will be awarded in October 2009. Eligible applicants include community-based nonprofit organizations, such as local sporting clubs and conservation associations, as well as state and local agencies. Applicants are encouraged to partner with NOAA staff in order to strengthen the development and implementation of sound restoration projects. The announcement and full grant package are available at www.fishamerica.org.

In April 2009 FishAmerica and the NOAA Restoration Center announced grants awards totaling nearly $280,000 for fisheries habitat restoration projects in nine communities across seven states. Local communities have leveraged an additional $2.7 million in funds to invest nearly $3 million to restore fisheries habitat that is critical for marine and anadromous sportfish.

The projects range from wetland fisheries habitat restoration in Massachusetts to improving fish habitat along coastal Mississippi to restoring water quality and fish habitat in the Columbia River Basin of Idaho. Over the course of the projects, volunteers will spend nearly 5,000 hours restoring sportfish spawning and rearing habitat, improve water quality and improve fish passage for salmon, striped bass, bluefish, snook, tarpon, redfish, and other sportfish. For complete project information, visit www.fishamerica.org.

The FishAmerica Foundation, the conservation and research foundation of the American Sportfishing Association, is dedicated to keeping our fish and waters healthy. FishAmerica unites the sportfishing industry with conservation groups, government agencies, fishing tournaments, corporations and charitable foundations, investing in fisheries conservation and research across the country. FishAmerica’s matching grants empower citizen conservationists in their own communities. For more than 25 years, FishAmerica has invested more than $10 million in 1,000 fisheries conservation and research projects nationwide.

Contact: Robin Knox
Coordinator, Western Native Trout Initiative
rknox@westernnativetrout.org

The Western Native Trout Initiative(WNTI) announces a call for western native trout habitat and management projects that could be funded in 2010 through the National Fish Habitat Action Plan.

The Western Native Trout Initiative, a venture of the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, and a National Fish Habitat Partnership, is requesting the submittal of project proposals for the 2010 National Fish Habitat Action Plan 2010 funding cycle.

The Initiative, as in past years, requests that native trout conservation and recovery teams, local native trout support groups, and interested parties work with state, US Fish and Wildlife Service, US Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, and National Park Service biologists to review the various species needs, and submit project requests that address habitat or other management needs of the 15 native trout served by WNTI.

The US Fish and Wildlife Service and WNTI maintain a list of projects that is over 4 years old, and is in constant need of revision as projects are completed or revised, and new projects are added. Also, one of the goals of the Initiative is to serve as a clearing house for matching projects to funding sources beyond just what is provided by the National Fish Habitat Board. The list of WNTI projects can also be helpful in seeking Congressional funding is the future.

Other funding opportunites not directly managed by WNTI come from sources such as the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, The FishAmerica Foundation, Trout Unlimited, Patagonia, and others. Information about these funding sources can be found under the "Projects" tab on the WNTI webpage - www.westernnativetrout.org.

The Western Native Trout Initiative works closely with the western states and 5 US Fish and Wildlife Service Regions to prioritize the project requests each year as funding becomes available. Decisions on what projects are moved forward for funding take place in late Fall, in accordance with the guidance provided by the National Fish Habitat Board.

For further information please contact the WNTI Coordinator, your state fish and wildlife management agency, or one of the five US Fish and Wildlife Service offices listed below.

US Fish and Wildlife Service Region 1
Attn: Mark Bagdovitz
Habitat and Science Division
911 NE 11th Avenue
Portland, OR 97232
ph: (503) 872-2763

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Region 2
Attn: Jim Brooks
New Mexico Fishery Resources Office
3800 Commons Avenue NE
Albuquerque, NM 87109
Office: 505/342-9900, ext. 102

US Fish and Wildlife Service Region 6
Attn: Morgan Elmer
Fisheries Program Branch
134 Union Blvd., Suite 665
Lakewood, CO 80228
Ph. 303-236-4512

US Fish and Wildlife Service Region 7
Attn: John DeLapp
1011 East Tudor Road
Anchorage, Alaska 99503
Ph. (907) 271-1799

US Fish and Wildlife Service Region 8
Attn: John Engbring
2800 Cottage Way, Suite W2606
Sacramento, CA 95825-1846
Ph. 916-987-6178

Contact: Robin Knox
Coordinator, Western Native Trout Initiative
rknox@westernnativetrout.org

The Western Native Trout Initiative Announces Funding Approval for 2009 habitat development projects

The Western Native Trout Initiative, a venture of the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, and a National Fish Habitat Partnership, is pleased to announce that it has received approximately $600,000 for nine western native trout projects to be completed in 2009 or 2010. These funds are dedicated to the National Fish Habitat Action Plan by the US Fish and Wildlife Service from their annual Congressional appropriation.

The projects funded are:

The projects sponsors should be communicating with the appropriate US Fish and Wildlife Service Office to complete the necessary paperwork for transfer of the funding from the Service to the project sponsors.

Upon completion of construction, project reports and photos will be posted on the WNTI website.

Be sure to visit westernnativetrout.org for a map showing past project locations and further information about the Western Native Trout Initiative.

www.westernnativetrout.org Has a Brand-New Look

As is the case with many organizations, the web page information provided by the Western Native Trout Initiative needed to be revised and refreshed to reflect the progress that has been made in the effort to conserve and enhance the status of western native trout.

The new WNTI web page has up-to-date information on most of the projects that WNTI has helped to get funded that are completed, in construction, or planned to be constructed by the end of 2009.

There is updated information about future funding opportunities for those who are interested in getting a local project funded and constructed.

A "News" area allows easy access to the latest Initiative press releases, as well as other hot-off-the-press information about both the WNTI and the National Fish Habitat Action Plan.

There is also the opportunity for those of you directly involved in project implementation to add your project update reports and photos to the "Project" area of the web page.

As always you can send an email to the WNTI Coordinator if you have questions or comments.

The Western Native Trout Initiative web page will always be a "work-in-progress" as they say, since new information is always being provided from those who are dedicated to the conservation and protection of our native trout.

Also, please visit our sponsors and partners by simply clicking on their logos at the bottom of the Home Page.

In order to report to WNTI partners on the progress of the Initiative, a 2008 Annual Report has been published.

The WNTI Steering Committee hopes that this report will spur interest in the initiative, and encourage interested groups, private citizens and public agencies to support WNTI through donations and becoming a WNTI Partner.

For more information contact Robin Knox, the Initiative Coordinator at

rknox@westernnativetrout.org