OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY |
Contact:Hugh
Vickery
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For Immediate Release: July 11, 2003 |
202-501-4633
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(Washington) - Interior Secretary
Gale Norton will hold a press teleconference on Monday July 14th to
announce $70 million in grants to 29 states to undertake endangered
species conservation projects. The grants will benefit species ranging
from the endangered red-cockaded woodpecker in the Southeast to the
threatened spectacled eider in Alaska.
"If we are going to succeed in conserving and recovering endangered species, we must work hand in hand with our state partners," Norton said. "These grants will empower the states to protect and restore vital habitat, assist landowners in conserving species on their property, and undertake other projects to benefit plants and animals listed under the Endangered Species Act." The grants are being awarded under Section 6 of the Endangered Species Act. The Section 6 grant programs include the $6.6 million Habitat Conservation Planning Assistance Grants Program, the $51.1 million Habitat Conservation Plan Land Acquisition Grants Program, and the $12.7 million 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. Who: Gale Norton, Secretary
of the Interior What: Teleconference announcing grants to states for endangered species conservation When: 1 p.m., Monday July 14, 2003 EDT Call-In: 888-296-1938 (The participants' code is 300928)
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