Today, NOAA announces the award of $6.3 million in funding to states and tribes through its Species Recovery Grant Program. These grants promote the recovery of species listed as endangered or threatened under the Endangered Species Act.
Approximately $1.3 million will support nine new awards to five states, two territories, and one federally recognized tribe. Another $5 million will support the continuation of 19 multi-year projects that were approved in prior grant cycles.
States and tribes play an essential role in conserving and recovering species. Threatened or endangered species under NOAA Fisheries’ jurisdiction may spend all or part of their lifecycle in state waters. Successfully conserving these species depends largely on working cooperatively with states and tribes. This year’s funding support our state and tribal partners in a range of activities, such as:
- Removing human-made barriers to spawning and rearing habitat
- Assessing and monitoring species presence and status, and collecting genetic information to improve understanding of population distribution, habitat use, vital rates, and impacts of human threats
- Developing new aging techniques for use in population models
- Engaging the public in conservation of Endangered Species Act-listed species
- Evaluating the effectiveness of regulations to inform adaptive management of threatened and endangered species
We identified projects that would benefit the species identified in our “Species in the Spotlight” initiative as a priority in our funding decisions. Newly funded and ongoing projects will address four “Species in the Spotlight”:
- Cook Inlet beluga whale distinct population segment (DPS)
- White abalone
- Atlantic salmon Gulf of Maine DPS
- Southern resident killer whale DPS
“Species Recovery Grants are an important mechanism for implementing high-priority recovery actions for threatened and endangered species,” said Catherine Marzin, Acting Director of NOAA Fisheries Office of Protected Resources. “They are part of our long-standing commitment to support the conservation efforts of our partner state and tribal agencies who work with us to restore species that are vital to our nation’s economy, environment and heritage.”
