$1.2 million in Wild Resource Conservation Fund grants were announced this week to study and conserve Pennsylvania's native plants and animals.

The Department of Conservation and Natural Resources administers the Wild Resource Conservation Program, working with the Pennsylvania Game Commission and Fish and Boat Commission to operate the program.

The grant award includes—

Plant-Related Projects

· Albright College: $6,500 to print a guide on mosses and liverworts in the commonwealth.

· Carnegie Museum of Natural History: $19,000 to conduct field surveys and plant collection to augment the list of special-concern plant species.

· The Cleveland Museum: $15,000 to conduct a rare plant inventory in northwestern Pennsylvania to assess impacts from invasive species and changes in the levels of Lake Erie.

· Natural Lands Trust: $24,449 to identify promising grasslands in the state and plan for their restoration.

· Penn State University: $23,725 to assess wild and cultivated ginseng in the state and make recommendations to ensure its preservation.

· Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania: $40,632 to prepare an illustrated manual to help with the management and protection of aquatic plants and lake ecosystems statewide.

· Western Pennsylvania Conservancy: $61,000 to update and augment the 1979 list of rare plant species statewide.

Birds and Mammal-Related Projects

· Carnegie Museum of Natural History: $16,667 to expand an interactive web site and newsletter circulation to generate more volunteers for the Pennsylvania Breeding Bird Atlas study; and $42,096 to support seven biologists collecting bird census and habitat data for the Pennsylvania Breeding Bird Atlas study.

· East Stroudsburg University: $38,523 to determine the impact of double-crested cormorants on egret and heron populations on the Wade Island rookery in the Susquehanna River near Harrisburg.

· Penn State University: $45,302 to assess the impacts of acidic deposition on forest birds.

· University of Scranton: $23,450 to study the use of forested and upland shrub/scrub habitats by spring migrating birds in Lackawanna County.

· Wilkes University: $41,416 to monitor small mammals at Hawk Mountain to determine their relationship with the fungi critical to healthy forests, and acorn dispersal for forest regeneration.

Fish, Reptile, Amphibian and Aquatic Inverterbrae-Related Projects

· Drexel University: $30,034 to assess distribution and abundance of threatened red-bellied turtles and introduce red-eared turtles to determine impacts from competition.

· Duquesne University: $47,864 to do genetic analysis of three threatened darter species newly discovered in the lower Allegheny River near Pittsburgh and develop management and protection recommendations.

· Penn State University: $45,302 to conduct fish surveys on the deep-pool habitats of the Allegheny, Ohio and Monongahela rivers; $16,777 for the final year of a three year study on the effects of nonnative trout on Pennsylvania non-game fishes and headwater-stream food webs; and $26,112 to determine the statewide distribution of a crayfish species newly discovered this year at Valley Creek in southeastern Pennsylvania and develop conservation recommendations.

· Western Pennsylvania Conservancy: $51,794 to fund a non-game biologist to help review permit applications for impacts to non-game fish, reptiles, amphibians and aquatic invertebrates and to help regulate timber rattlesnake collection and hunts.

Insect-Related Projects

· Carnegie Museum of Natural History: $14,641 to expand the database and Web site on ground beetles; $16,833 to study crane flies in the commonwealth; and $18,527 to study Pennsylvania long-horned beetles.

Multi-Purpose Projects

· Carnegie Museum of Natural History: $2,000 to fund the participation of visiting scientists at the fifth annual Bioforay collection of data on natural resources at Powdermill Nature Reserve in the Laurel Highlands.

· City of Pittsburgh: $30,975 to assess four major urban parks in Pittsburgh, focuse on urban impacts to natural areas, develop management plans for each park and do outreach to share information.

· Hawk Mountain Sanctuary Association: $14,900 to print 6,000 copies of "The Return of Magic," an illustrated book on American kestrels designed for 4-7 year olds.

· Penn State University: $28,009 to coordinate data efforts among federal, state and private groups in the commonwealth doing conservation planning to better protect biodiversity.

· Slippery Rock University: $37,717 to create a Web-based, Pennsylvania specific natural history information and education database.

· Tinicum Conservancy: $25,000 to do a biological diversity inventory of the Roaring Rocks/Swamp Creek region of Tinicum Township in Bucks County to provide for better resource protection.

· Western Pennsylvania Conservancy: $375,000 natural heritage inventories for four new counties (Armstrong, Cameron, Indiana and Philadelphia) and completion of five others (Fulton, Jefferson, McKean, Potter and Warren counties).

· Wildlands Conservancy: $10,000 to create a training program for state and county park managers and others to eradicate or control invasive exotic plant species.

· Wildlife Information Center: $31,000 to do an ecological inventory of plant and wildlife communities at Lehigh Gap Wildlife Refuge as part of the larger effort to protect natural communities along the Kittatinny Ridge and the Lehigh River corridor.

Launched in 1983, WRCP primarily finances research and protection efforts for native, non-game and wild plant species. Funds from the program have supported the reintroduction of otters, osprey, peregrine falcons and fishers to Pennsylvania; identified new plant and animal species; located rare plant species within the state; researched habitat for migrating birds; and provided educational materials to schools.

In addition to Growing Greener funds, the WRCP relies on state income tax refund donations, license plate proceeds and donations to support its work to protect and identify species of special concern.

For more information, visit Wild Resource Conservation Fund webpage.

12/16/2005