FIRM CLIENTS AWARDED $1,500,000
 IN USFWS GRANTS

On September 27, 2005, the United States Fish & Wildlife Service announced the award of almost $1,500,000 in federal Endangered Species Act grants to firm clients.

The Service awarded a grant, in the amount of $753,750, to Hays County for the development of a Regional Habitat Conservation Plan. This grant was the second-largest grant of its kind in the nation out of a grant pool of only $8.5 million. The grant, together with local matching funds, will enable the County and its partners to prepare and process an RHCP, Environmental Impact Statement, and section 10(a) permit. The RHCP will offer long-term conservation for the endangered golden-cheeked warbler and black-capped vireo and other terrestrial species dependent on their habitat, while balancing the needs of economic growth and development faced by Hays County as one of the fastest-growing counties in the nation.

The Service awarded a second grant of $725,000 to the Williamson County Conservation Foundation for the acquisition and conservation of the 64-acre Cobb Preserve containing the Coffin Cave mold beetle and Bone Cave harvestman, and benefiting the Georgetown salamander. This tract contains the most ecologically valuable portion of Cobb Cave. Cobb Cave is one of the longest caves in Texas, encompassing more than 4,500 feet of passage and containing a rich diversity of rare species.

The Williamson County Conservation Foundation, Inc., is a non-profit organization formed in December 2002 for the purposes of providing for the conservation and perhaps eventual recovery of endangered species in Williamson County, also one of the fastest growing counties in the nation.

For more information, please contact Alan Glen, David Hartman, or Melinda Taylor.