The Rome Sand Plains Resource Management Team, a multi- party organization of public and private landowners and other individuals with an interest in conservation in the Sand Plains, has been awarded a grant from the National Wildlife Federation's (NWF) Species Recovery Fund. The coordinating units of Hamilton College, SUNY Morrisville, The Nature Conservancy, and New York Department of Environmental Conservation will use this grant to begin the restoration of wild blue lupine populations for the endangered Karner Blue Butterfly. The Species Recovery Fund provides grants to organizations working with local communities to provide a direct, on-the-ground benefit to imperiled species.
"Long-term, this project will start restoring four five-acre wild blue lupine populations to help support the reintroduction of the Karner Blue Butterfly and will also improve habitat for the existing population of Frosted Elfin butterflies," said Dr. Ernest H. Williams, a butterfly population ecologist at Hamilton College in Clinton, New York.
Rome Sand Plains Resource Management Team is one of 12 Species Recovery Fund grant recipients that were selected from applications submitted by conservation organizations throughout the country. The Species Recovery Fund is an integral part of NWF's national effort that seeks to raise awareness of and improve conditions for endangered species.
"A critical component of conservation involves people taking action on a local level to protect the wildlife and wild places they know and love," said Ron Ohrel, NWF's Species Recovery Fund manager. "These grants provide the means for local organizations to implement innovative, community-based wildlife conservation efforts that will provide a direct benefit for wildlife."
