On March 4, Department of Conservation and Natural Resources Secretary Cindy Adams Dunn announced $357,211 Wild Resource Conservation Program grants to support 12 projects to protect the state’s native biodiversity.

Overseen by DCNR, the program safeguards Pennsylvania’s non-game animals, native plants and their habitat. Grants normally address species surveys, conservation and management.

“These grants help support field research and on-the-ground conservation projects that protect some of our most vulnerable species,” Dunn said. “Essential to the biodiversity of our state’s woodlands and waters, these recipients help preserve and protect rare plant species, and bridge the gap between scientific discovery and good conservation policy.”

Receiving 2020 Wild Resource Conservation Program grants are:

-- Rachel Goad, Western Pennsylvania Conservancy, Allegheny County; Implementation of Recovery Plan for Endangered Plant, Canby’s Mountain Lover, $9,468.

-- Anna Johnson, Western Pennsylvania Conservancy, Allegheny County; Assessment of Pollination Services to Endangered Plant, White Monkshood, Populations, $7,905;

-- Sarah Kuebbing, University of Pittsburgh, Allegheny County; Assessment of Yellow Oak-Redbud Woodlands in the Allegheny Plateau, $23,876;

-- Betsy Leppo, Western Pennsylvania Conservancy, Allegheny County; Digitizing a Legacy Slide Collection of Dragonflies and Damselflies of Pennsylvania, $15,000;

-- Scott Schuette, Western Pennsylvania Conservancy, Allegheny County; Development of a Comprehensive Checklist for Ferns and Mosses in Pennsylvania, $28,432;

-- Charles Eichelberger, Western Pennsylvania Conservancy/Shaver’s Creek Environmental Center; Allegheny, Huntingdon counties; Surveys for Pennsylvania's Cave-dwelling Crustaceans, $36,415;

-- Jean-Francois Therrien, Hawk Mountain Sanctuary Association, Berks County; Save the American Kestrel, $40,560;

-- Brandon Ruhe, The Mid-Atlantic Center for Herpetology and Conservation, Berks County; Assessing Fire Management Impacts of Rare Reptile Species in Pennsylvania Barren Communities, $48,317;

-- Sarah Nilsson, Eric Burkhart, Penn State University, Centre County; How "wild" is Pennsylvania wild ginseng, $45,419;

-- Jay Stauffer, Penn State University, Centre County; Assessment of Rare Fish, Chesapeake Logperch, Movements, $45,000;

-- Julie Ellis, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia; Effects of Rodenticides on Carnivores in Pennsylvania, $26,416; and

-- Zachary Loughman, West Liberty University, West Virginia; Distribution and conservation assessment of the Devil Crayfish in Pennsylvania, $30,403.

Much of DCNR's work focuses on the conservation of Pennsylvania’s biodiversity through program and land management goals. It is a key element in maintaining ecosystem integrity, viability and resilience across all the Commonwealth’s ecological communities.

Launched in 1982, Wild Resource Conservation Program encourages and supports research and protection efforts to conserve Pennsylvania’s diverse native wildlife resources, including bird and mammal species, amphibians and reptiles, insects and wild plants.

Learn more, by visiting DCNR’s Biodiversity Conservation and Wild Resource Conservation Program webpages.

For more information on state parks and forests and recreation in Pennsylvania, visit DCNR’s website, Click Here to sign up for the Resource newsletter, Visit the Good Natured DCNR Blog,  Click Here for upcoming events, Click Here to hook up with DCNR on other social media-- Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Flickr.

(Photo: Chesapeake Logperch.)

Related Articles:

-- DCNR Blog: How You Can Help Protect The Diversity Of Plants And Animals In Pennsylvania

-- DCNR Good Natured Pennsylvanians: In Memoriam John Eastlake, Conservationist, Outdoorsman, Fmr DCNR Forester

-- March 3 DCNR Resource Newsletter

[Posted: March 4, 2021]

3/8/2021