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A total of $323,425 in federal grants has been dedicated through the program for projects <br /> in Washington state. That amount will be matched with $482,625 from state, federal, tribal <br /> and local entities. <br /> A BLM-led project to develop fishery rearing habitat by constructing side channels along <br /> Yakima canyon for chinook salmon and steelhead trout will cost $32, 000 with $10, 000 coming <br /> via the federal grant and the remainder provided by the state Department of Fish and <br /> Wildlife, the Yakama Nation, the Nature Conservancy and Trout Unlimited. <br /> More than $150,000 will be spend to restore shrub-steppe, riparian and wetland habitat in <br /> the BLM's Spokane District with nearly two-thirds of that amount provided by local <br /> matches. In all, 14 grants were awarded in Washington. <br /> The state of Montana won $187,500 in federal grant money to go with $224,500 in matching <br /> funds. The largest grant, $60,000, goes to a cooperative grizzly bear recovery effort at <br /> Glacier National Park. Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks and the Montana Fish and Wildlife <br /> Foundation will provide matching funds of $20,000 and $43,000 respectively. <br /> Idaho won $69, 150 in grant funds through the Department of Interior program to combine <br /> with $135,605 in matching funds. The lead entity for each of the five Idaho projects is <br /> the Interior's Bureau of Land management. <br /> The largest is a $98,175 effort to restore 245 acres of habitat by biologically and <br /> mechanically removing weeds near Shoshone. The federal grant program will provide nearly <br /> $21,000 while eight other entities, including two conservation groups, two state agencies, <br /> the U.S. Forest Service, and three county and local governments will provide the remaining <br /> $77,000. <br /> Three other Idaho projects involve culvert replacement and/or streambed and riparian <br /> restoration work in the BLM's Coeur d'Alene district and another project involves the <br /> restoration of 16 acres of wetlands near Cottonwood. Matching funds and in-kind work for <br /> those projects will be provided by private landowners, Shoshone County, the Eastside <br /> LHighway District, the Idaho Department of Fish and Game and volunteers. <br /> The CCI challenge cost-share grants are part of an overall commitment by the Bush <br /> Administration to support cooperative conservation efforts. The administration is <br /> proposing more than half a billion dollars to support Interior's cooperative programs in <br /> Fiscal Year 2004 (as well as almost $4 billion in the Department of Agriculture's budget <br /> for farm conservation programs) . <br /> "The most effective conservation projects are the ones that are conceived and carried out <br /> at the local level, by the people who live and work on the land, " Norton said. "While the <br /> nation's banner environmental regulations have helped protect endangered species and move <br /> us toward cleaner air and healthier landscapes, frequently the biggest building blocks for <br /> sustainable conservation have come from citizens, working alone and in partnerships. Our <br /> goal is to empower the American people to become citizen-conservationists, working <br /> together to achieve what the government alone cannot achieve. " <br /> Link information: <br /> Department of Interior: http://www.doi.gov/ <br /> L <br /> 2 <br />