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EPA awards Nevada tribe $52,500 for wetlands project

Release Date: 01/05/2006
Contact Information: Wendy L. Chavez, (415) 947-4248

(01/05/06) SAN FRANCISCO -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently awarded the Yerington Paiute Tribe $52,500 for a wetlands development project.

The grants are part of over $1.5 million the EPA’s Pacific Southwest region awarded to nine organizations, tribes and local governments this year to protect wetlands in California, Arizona and Nevada.

“The Yerington Paiute Tribe’s natural wetland resource is vital to the subsistence, cultural and spiritual well being of the tribe and its members,” said Alexis Strauss, the EPA’s Water Division director for the Pacific Southwest region. “The EPA is pleased to support this project to further help protect tribal wetlands.”

The Yerington Paiute Tribe will use the grant, plus $17,500 in tribal matching funds, to assess agricultural and mining impacts on the tribe’s wetlands, and the potential for restoration. The tribe will hire a full-time wetland specialist to assess current risks associated with potential contaminants, and assess potential degradation and loss that may have affected the wetland. The tribe will also complete a habitat, vegetative and soil assessment, and implement a quarterly water-quality monitoring program.

Wetland areas reduce flood risk, recharged water supplies and protect drinking water from pollution, but are vulnerable to environmental changes and the impacts of human activities. More than one third of the nation's threatened and endangered species depend on wetland habitats for survival.

For more information on the EPA’s Wetlands Program, visit: https://www.epa.gov/owow/wetlands. States, tribes, or local governments seeking funding for upcoming wetlands program grants can contact Cheryl McGovern at (415) 972-3415. A request for proposals will be released later this month and will be posted on the EPA Pacific Southwest region’s Web site at https://www.epa.gov/region09, the EPA Headquarters Web site at https://www.epa.gov/owow/wetlands/grantguideline, and the national grant website at http://www.fedgrants.gov.