Wildlife Conservation in Wyoming Gets Big Boost

Grant Helps Implement State Wildlife Action Plans

Cheyenne, WY — April 3, 2008— Wyoming’s efforts to catalyze its State Wildlife Action Plan received a large boost through a $13 million grant that will help implement on-the-ground wildlife conservation projects in Wyoming and four other western states. The grant, given to The Nature Conservancy from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation (DDCF), is designed to accelerate wildlife plans developed in Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, Wyoming and Montana.

To create the Wyoming plan, also known as the Comprehensive Wildlife Conservation Strategy (CWCS), the state of Wyoming brought multiple stakeholders to the table—academics and landowners, scientists and sportsmen, along with other interested members of the local public—to establish a common conservation agenda. The Conservancy worked with partners to identify and implement four Wyoming projects that support the CWCS plan.

“The powerful thing about these projects is that we aren’t going it alone,” said Andrea Erickson Quiroz, the Conservancy’s state director in Wyoming. “We’ve gotten together with conservation partners throughout the state and decided on the best projects that move our state’s CWCS forward.”

Wyoming’s CWCS and other state plans are strategies that allow states to work pro-actively to keep species off the endangered species list by protecting important habitat identified in the plans while it’s still cost effective.

“This funding is great news," Governor Dave Freudenthal said. “It will build on the state's already strong commitment to fund sensitive species research and to support projects that help protect and restore wildlife habitat. The Legislature made a clear statement this year with its support of funding for wildlife and I think this grant funding will help us build on that and continue to steer us on exactly the right course.”

Bob Budd, executive director of Wyoming’s Wildlife and Natural Resource Trust, says he’s excited to see the DDCF support in Wyoming. “Perhaps the most rewarding aspect of the projects we have participated in is the fact that we are recognizing and advancing the relationship between long-time Wyoming ranch families and the wildlife habitats they provide,” says Budd. “These are investments in Wyoming that will continue for generations.”

As population pressures mount in the West, and large tracts of land are sold overnight, working in a pro-active, coordinated fashion has become paramount. Wyoming’s wildlife plan and other western state plans are one way to proactively address these challenges.

"The wildlife action plans are an important resource, both in the way they identify the habitats in greatest need of conservation and the way they bring together diverse partnerships to conserve these sensitive landscapes," said Shaun McGrath, Program Director for the Western Governors' Association's (WGA) Wildlife Corridors Initiative. "The Western Governors' Association acknowledges and commends the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation for their important investment in making these plans a reality."

Of the $13 million grant, approximately $11 million will go directly to habitat protection in the West. The Nature Conservancy has committed to matching these capital funds on a five-to-one basis, resulting in the dedication of more than $55 million for wildlife habitat conservation over the next three years.

“The Doris Duke Charitable Foundation is pleased to put its support behind these pro-active plans and this collaborative approach in Wyoming” said. Dr. Mark Shaffer, director of DDCF’s Environment Program.

The mission of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation (www.ddcf.org) is to improve the quality of people’s lives through grants supporting the performing arts, environmental conservation, medical research and the prevention of child maltreatment, and through preservation of the cultural and environmental legacy of Doris Duke’s properties.

State wildlife action plans were first conceived in 2000, when Congress mandated that each state develop a comprehensive strategy for conserving its wildlife in order to receive federal funds. The states submitted their plans to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in the fall of 2005, and they were all approved by Congress in February of 2007. In developing these plans, the state wildlife agencies were careful to consider the broad range of wildlife, including game and non-game species, common species as well as endangered ones. They identified and prioritized key wildlife habitat, in many cases using the latest technology to map these lands.

The Nature Conservancy is a leading conservation organization working around the world to protect ecologically important lands and waters for nature and people. To date, the Conservancy and its more than one million members have been responsible for the protection of more than 15 million acres in the United States and have helped preserve more than 102 million acres in Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia and the Pacific. Visit The Nature Conservancy on the Web at www.nature.org.