NRCS Announces FY 2015 Funding for New England Cottontail Rabbit

NRCS Announces Funding Available for the Working Lands for Wildlife Initiative to Conserve Habitat for Wildlife Species Including New England Cottontail Rabbit ~ May 1, 2015 Application Deadline

Press Release from Natural Resources Conservation Service

WARWICK, RI  (March 12, 2015)  –NRCS announced that funding is available for the Working Lands for Wildlife Initiative to conserve habitat for wildlife species including the New England cottontail rabbit.  Applications are accepted on a continuous basis throughout the year although May 1, 2015 is the application ranking period deadline for FY 2015 funds.

For FY 2015, NRCS continues an innovative Working Lands for Wildlife partnership to preserve working lands and conserve habitat for wildlife species including the New England cottontail rabbit. In 2012, NRCS and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reached an historic agreement to extend wildlife conservation efforts on working agricultural lands that will provide long-term regulatory predictability for up to 30 years to RI farmers and forest landowners participating in the initiative. Participants voluntarily implement proven conservation practices designed to protect wildlife habitat such as the New England cottontail rabbit on private lands.

To learn more about the biology and habitat of the New England cottontail, please visit:

http://www.newenglandcottontail.org/

Working Lands for Wildlife is a national effort with funding nationwide from the NRCS Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP). The partnership will demonstrate that productive working rural lands are compatible with the needs of sensitive wildlife species. Nationally, other at risk species include the bog turtle, golden-winged warbler, gopher tortoise, greater sage-grouse, lesser prairie-chicken, and Southwestern willow flycatcher.

The primary threat to the New England cottontail is the loss of habitat through forest succession over time. As forests mature, the understory thins to such an extent that the habitat is no longer suitable for the New England cottontail. Fragmentation serves to further degrade habitat on a larger scale. Infestation of invasive plants and alterations of hydrology are additional common resource concerns affecting the New England cottontail.

Technical and financial assistance is provided under the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) to develop and improve habitat within designated high-priority habitat areas. Specific practices for habitat improvement include brush management and weed control to manage invasive plants, reestablishment of native woody vegetation, and cutting trees and shrubs to encourage dense forest understory regeneration. The habitat management practices will assist with conservation of the New England cottontail through creation of additional scrub/shrub habitat. The increase in shrub thicket and early successional habitat will greatly benefit an additional 59 species of wildlife in New England such as wild turkeys, woodcock, migratory song birds, and ruffed grouse.

For more information about NRCS technical and financial assistance for New England cottontail conservation, please contact the NRCS Rhode Island Biologist, Gary Casabona, at gary.casabona@ri.usda.gov, or call (401) 822-8837.