National Fish and Wildlife Foundation Central Appalachia Habitat Stewardship Program Announces Funding for Projects to Support Hellbender Conservation
An Eastern hellbender
For the past six years, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation has been awarding grants to restore forest and freshwater ecosystems through its Central Appalachia Habitat Stewardship Program. The funding, which supports projects that improve and protect habitat for native birds and freshwater aquatic species, is available for projects in priority areas across Maryland, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia. This year, three of the eleven grants awarded through this program went to projects that will directly benefit Eastern hellbenders.
In Pennsylvania, Trout Unlimited (TU) received a $189,400 planning grant for their project, “A Collaborative and Multi-Species Approach to Conservation Planning in Central Appalachia.” The award, which was matched with $437,700 in funding from TU and its partners, will support a collaborative effort between TU and several other organizations to develop and implement a multi-year conservation plan for aquatic species and habitats in the Tionesta Creek and Clarion River watersheds. Funds will also be used to provide hands-on training to conservation partners on skills and best practices for stream restoration in order to build partners’ capacity to implement conservation projects in these watersheds.
A complimentary grant was awarded to The Western Pennsylvania Conservancy to implement specific conservation projects within the same watersheds. The Conservancy provided $116,300 in matching funds to leverage a $404,800 award from NFWF for their project, “Restoring and Reconnecting Habitat for Brook Trout, Hellbenders and Mussels in the Clarion River and Tionesta Creek Watersheds.” This project will focus on habitat restoration within the Allegheny National Forest and surrounding state-owned lands. Funds will be used to improve connectivity and provide access to new in-stream habitat for multiple aquatic species by removing barriers to passage, including a dam and several failing culverts. It will also enhance 15 miles of in-stream habitat for these species through placement of natural structural elements.
Finally, the West Virginia chapter of Trout Unlimited (TU) was awarded $488,300 for a project titled “Improving Eastern Brook Trout and Eastern Hellbender Strongholds in the Headwaters of the Greenbrier River.” TU and its partners provided $736,800 in matching funds for the project, which will support a collaborative effort between federal, state, and NGO partners to remove two passage barriers and reconnect 28 miles of aquatic habitat in the Greenbriar River. It will also support implementation of conservation practices to improve water quality across 500 acres within the river basin.
All told, this means that over the next two to three years, $2,373,300 will go to support efforts to improve and reconnect freshwater aquatic ecosystems for the Eastern hellbender and the other species that share its habitat. The dedication and continued effort of many federal, state and non-profit organizations across the species range, combined with the ongoing support of NFWF and its funding partners, inspires hope that the dramatic population decline of this ancient and unique species will one day be able to be halted and even reversed.
