King County offering wildlife monitoring grants
2005 Archived News
King
County is offering a one-time grant of up to $20,000 to develop
and initiate a volunteer wildlife-monitoring program for wild lands
along streams, rivers, lakes, wetlands and Puget Sound.
The winning pilot program will identify the presence of common
and indicator wildlife species and begin tracking the population
trends to gain a better understanding of King County's biodiversity.
"The community continues to be one of our greatest resources
in identifying and tracking the wildlife that are part of the biodiversity
and quality of life in King County," said King County Executive
Ron Sims. "Understanding wildlife population trends can help
us make the right decisions to help important species survive and
thrive."
"It is always refreshing to see all the new ideas that spawn
from this grant program," said Ken Pritchard, King County Water
and Land Resources Division (WLRD) Grant Exchange Coordinator.
The pilot program will be carried out in select habitats and ecosystems
on mostly public lands throughout King County. Monitoring will focus
on both common species and "indicator" species, which
are unique environmental indicators that offer a signal of the biological
condition of an ecosystem.
The grant amount will be for up to $20,000 for a period of up to
18 months starting in January. Activities covered by the grant include
selection of monitoring protocols, promotion of the program, recruitment,
training and deployment of volunteer monitors, ensuring data quality
and other components.
Applications must be received no later than 5 p.m. on Dec. 12.
For more information and application directions, contact Pritchard
at ken.pritchard@kingcounty.gov
or 206-296-8265.
Over the past 10 years, WLRD’s Grant Exchange Program has
funded more than 300 community-based stewardship projects.
