2006 Waterfowl Survey Shows Duck Population Gains

Northern Pintail, credit Dave Menke/USFWS

The preliminary 2006 Waterfowl Breeding Ground Population and Habitat Survey estimates a total duck population of more than 36 million -- a 14 percent increase from last year’s estimate and 9 percent above the 1955-2005 average. The abundance of northern pintails at 3.4 million was 18 percent below the 1955-2005 average, although this year’s estimate was 32 percent greater than that of last year.
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Director Opens Plover Exhibit

	Oregon Coast Aquarium President Dale Schmidt (left) and USFWS Director Dale Hall cut the ribbon to a new Western Snowy Plover exhibit. Credit USFWS

Oregon Coast Aquarium President Dale Schmidt (left) and USFWS Director Dale Hall cut the ribbon to a new Western Snowy Plover exhibit. This Oregon Coast Aquarium exhibit features seven snowy plover in an environment designed to rehabilitate rescued plovers for release into their natural habitat and to educate the public about how to share the beaches with this threatened native shore bird. This exhibit was designed and constructed in partnership with the Western Snowy Plover Working Team, Oregon Coast Aquarium and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
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Montana Partners for Fish and Wildlife Receives National Award for Innovative Conservation Efforts in Blackfoot River Watershed

R to L : Lynn Scarlett, Deputy Secretary of the Interior; Jim Stone, Rancher and Chairman of the Blackfoot Challenge; and Greg Neudecker, Private Lands Biologist with FWS' Montana Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program; accept a 2006 Innovations in American Government Award from Harvard University and the Council for Excellence in Government. Credit USFWS

Harvard University has awarded its prestigious "Innovations in American Government Award" to Montana Partners for Fish and Wildlife, a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service program, for its community-based cooperative conservation efforts to restore the state's Blackfoot River Watershed. The award, presented by the Ash Institute for Democratic Governance and Innovation at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government and the Council for Excellence in Government, recognizes the program for working with a variety of state, local and community partners to restore the watershed.The region, located in northwestern Montana, is home to an agricultural economy and a diverse array of fish and wildlife including protected species such as grizzly bear and bull trout.
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$12 Million in Grants Keeps Waters Healthy, Boaters Happy

Director H. Dale Hall announced $12.26 million in grants to 32 states for their efforts to provide recreational boaters with additional sewage pumpout facilities. The grants assist state programs for both inland and coastal waters and are awarded through the Service's Clean Vessel Act grant program. The Sport Fish Restoration and Boating Trust Fund - supported by excise taxes paid on certain fishing equipment and boat fuels taxes - funds the program.
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First Wild Whooping Crane Chicks Hatch in the Midwest in Over 100 Years

Adult whooping cranes with chicks. Photo by Richard Urbanek/USFWS

On June 22, two whooping crane chicks hatched at the Necedah National Wildlife Refuge in Wisconsin. This historic event marks the first time in more than 100 years that a whooping crane has hatched in the wild in the Midwest.

The event marks a milestone in the efforts of the Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership to reintroduce a wild whooping crane flock in eastern North America.

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New Refuge System Policies Define Mission

	Bird watching at Bosque del Apache NWR, credit John and Karen Hollingsworth/USFWS

Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne has announced new policies to define the unique wildlife conservation mission of the National Wildlife Refuge System and wildlife-oriented forms of outdoor recreation.

The full text of the policies were published in a special section of the Federal Register Monday, June 26, 2007 and become effective 30 days later.
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