News Release

Wildlife Foundation of Florida awards grants to FWC

April 8, 2008
Contact: Bill Bibby, 850-487-0853

The Wildlife Foundation of Florida has awarded $414,034 in grants to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) to support the agency’s research, management and promotion of Florida’s natural resources.

A total of $358,034 came from funds raised by sales of the Conserve Wildlife specialty license plate, and an additional $56,000 came from sales of the Discover Florida’s Oceans specialty license plate and a donation from the William Howard Flowers Jr. Foundation.

Grants, approved by the foundation’s board of directors, include $30,000 to support the FWC’s Florida Fish and Wildlife Research Institute to support marine fisheries enhancement. The institute also received a $5,000 grant to produce a boating and angling guide to St. Johns and Flagler counties and an $8,500 grant to study of reef fish in the Dry Tortugas.

Another grant concerning the Florida Keys will fund $7,500 to bring the FWC mission to the Florida Keys classroom.

In addition, the foundation granted $5,000 to fund photo-identification of North Atlantic right whales in Northeast Florida. Funding for that project was courtesy of a donation from the Flowers foundation.

The foundation also funded a $47,834, one-year continuation of two nongame wildlife program grants and $50,000 to partner with private landowners to bring back the red-cockaded woodpecker through the FWC’s Safe Harbor Program. Nongame wildlife conservation throughout Florida got another shot in the arm with a $160,000 grant.

A $37,500 grant will help the FWC examine Internet traffic in regulated fish and wildlife.

Two grants revolve around Florida’s black bears -- $45,000 for a community-based approach to human-bear coexistence and $5,000 to help fund a northwest coastal bear festival.

In addition, the foundation awarded researchers $12,700 to study genetic variations in Panhandle gopher tortoise populations.

The foundation exists to support the FWC. Interested persons and businesses can make tax-deductible contributions by sending them to the Wildlife Foundation of Florida, P.O. Box 11010, Tallahassee, FL 32302 or get more information at http://wildlifefoundationofflorida.com/.