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<P>Does anybody know if this funding will be available in the Trinity River and
South Fork Trinity River watersheds?
<P><A
href="http://www.eurekareporter.com/Stories/fp-03300401.htm">http://www.eurekareporter.com/Stories/fp-03300401.htm</A>
<P>New U.S.D.A. Initiative Will Target Klamath Salmon
<P>U.S. Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman announced on Tuesday a $3.5 million
new initiative to help restore and <BR>conserve salmon habitat as part of the
Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program.
<P>The fiscal year 2004 funds will be used for the new Salmon Habitat
Restoration Initiative, which is available in Alaska, <BR>California, Maine,
Oregon and Washington.
<P>"This initiative supports the administration's commitment to restoring the
health of the Klamath Basin and critical <BR>salmon habitat in other key areas
of the country," Veneman said. "Maintaining healthy watersheds will ensure
long-term <BR>salmon survival."
<P>The new initiative, administered by USDA's Natural Resources Conservation
Service, will help landowners with projects <BR>that restore habitat for Pacific
and Atlantic salmon.
<P>Projects may include providing shade along streams, restoring gravel spawning
beds, removing barriers to fish passages <BR>and reducing agricultural runoff.
<P>WHIP is a voluntary conservation program, reauthorized in the 2002 Farm Bill,
which provides technical and financial <BR>assistance to landowners and others
to develop upland, wetland, riparian and aquatic habitat areas on their
property.
<P>The program provides full flexibility to landowners, offering one-year
agreements, 5- to 10-year agreements and 15-year <BR>or longer agreements.
<P>Since WHIP began in 1998, nearly 14,500 participants have enrolled more than
2.3 million acres into the program.
<P>Additional information on WHIP and the Salmon Habitat Restoration Initiative
is at www.nrcs.usda.gov/programs/whip <BR>or from Martha Joseph, NRCS Watersheds
and Wetlands Division, martha.joseph@usda.gov or phone (202) 720-7157.
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