SOCIAL CIRCLE — Georgia’s state reptile is in line for some much needed help from a federal Farm Bill program. But interested landowners have only until April 30 to apply for financial assistance through the new Working Lands for Wildlife partnership.
Working Lands for Wildlife teams the U.S. Agricultural Department’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in an effort to conserve wildlife by restoring populations of declining species and strengthening rural economies through productive working lands. Outreach to Georgia landowners will involve using innovative approaches to restore and protect gopher tortoise habitat in the southern half of the state, and to a lesser extent — because habitat is limited on private land — the golden-winged warbler in north Georgia.
Landowners can apply by April 30 through the NRCS’ Wildlife Habitat Incentive Program (www.ga.nrcs.usda.gov). The cost of conservation practices will be shared for qualifying sites.
Found below the Fall Line, gopher tortoises are called a keystone species primarily because the burrows they dig in sandhill habitats are used by hundreds of other species. Yet, threatened by habitat loss, these large land turtles are state-listed as threatened and a candidate for federal protection in Georgia and the rest of their eastern range.
For more information about the Wildlife Habitat Incentive Program, go to www.ga.nrcs.usda.gov or contact a local NRCS office.
For details about the Nongame Conservation Section, part of DNR’s Wildlife Resources Division, go to www.georgiawildlife.org or call 770-761-3035, 478-994-1438 or (912) 264-7218.