December 2016 Edition | Volume 70, Issue 12
Published since 1946
NRCS Expands Working Lands for Wildlife
The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) recently announced that it is adding 11 new Working Lands for Wildlife (WLFW) projects, according to the Wildlife Management Institute. The WLFW was established to provide incentives for farmers and ranchers to conserve habitat for declining wildlife species on lands under production for other purposes.
?Working Lands for Wildlife has delivered many unprecedented successes over the years. We?re proud of our collective past achievements and look forward to continuing our work with America?s producers.? - Jason Weller, chief of the NRCS
The WLFW program was established in 2012 with seven target species: greater sage grouse, lesser prairie chicken, gopher tortoise, New England cottontail, golden-winged warbler, Southwestern willow flycatcher and bog turtle. So far, 6.7 million acres of habitat has been improved for these species under the program.
The NRCS attempts to focus WLFW projects on declining species that have needs compatible with agricultural and forestry management practices. Through the WLFW program, the NRCS provides technical and financial assistance to producers that agree to apply conservation practices for these targeted species on their working private lands.
The new projects focus on species and groups of species that will respond to habitat improvements on working lands in targeted parts of the country. They are:
- Northern Bobwhite in Grasslands - Virginia, Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, North Carolina, Ohio, Missouri, and Kentucky;
- Northern Bobwhite in Pine Savannas - Georgia, New Jersey, North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, and Alabama;
- Northeast Turtles - New Hampshire, Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, and Vermont;
- American Black Duck - Delaware, Maryland, Vermont and New Jersey;
- Yazoo Darter, Mississippi;
- Conasauga River Aquatic Species - Georgia and Tennessee;
- Colorado River Aquatic Species - Texas;
- Shorebirds of Louisiana Wetlands - Louisiana;
- Cutthroat Trout - Colorado;
- Sandhills Grasslands - Nebraska; and
- Kenai Peninsula Salmon - Alaska.
View additional details on the Working Lands for Wildlife program.