By Dan Modlin
Washington, DC – 615 thousand dollars in grants will be used to support four
cooperative conservation efforts in Kentucky. Interior Secretary
Gail Norton says the projects which will benefit range from
protecting bat habitats in Mammoth Cave to restoring
endangered mussels in the Green River.
The grant funding comes through the Bush Administration's
Cooperative Conservation Initiative, which is providing funding
to projects in 43 states.Partners are expected to contribute
more than one million dollars in matching contributions for
the four Kentucky projects.
The National Park Service will award a grant of 305 thousand
dollars for the endangered mussels project in the Green River.
Western Kentucky University, Tennessee Tech, the Sierra Club,
and the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife are contributing
367 thousand dollars to the project.