Full story link: http://www.usda.gov/Newsroom/0321.04.html Release No. 0321.04 Alisa Harrison (202) 720-4623 Mary Cressel (202) 690-0547 USDA PROVIDES $350,000 FOR SAGE GROUSE HABITAT IN UTAH WASHINGTON, Aug. 4, 2004-Agriculture Secretary Ann M. Veneman today announced $350,000 in Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program (WHIP) funds to protect habitat of sage grouse at Parker Mountain, Utah. "This Administration is committed to providing quality habitat for fish and wildlife," said Veneman. "Landowners will use the funds for brush management, reseeding, water development and wildlife habitat management on approximately 104,000 acres." The sage grouse, a bird native to the Great Plains and western United States, has seen a dramatic 90 percent decline in population over the past two decades (records have been kept since 1985). Due to this decline, the Natural Resources Conservation Service and other federal agencies are supporting voluntary habitat enhancements to reverse the decline. WHIP, a voluntary conservation program administered by the Natural Resources Conservation Service, provides technical and financial assistance to landowners and others to develop upland, wetland, riparian and aquatic habitat areas on their property. The program provides full flexibility to landowners, offering one-year agreements, 5- to 10-year agreements and 15-year or longer agreements. USDA announced earlier this year that $27.2 million in fiscal year 2004 funding was available for WHIP projects nationwide. Previously, Utah landowners provided 1,600 acres of habitat management for the sage grouse using $25,000 in WHIP funding. Additional information on WHIP is online at http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/programs/whip. # USDA News oc.news@xxxxxxxx 202 720-4623 ---------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, send email to oc.news@xxxxxxxx and reference your email address.
