America the Beautiful Grant Award.pr
Office of the Commissioner CONTACT: Jamal Nielsen, Media Relations Coordinator jamal.nielsen@dpnr.vi.gov Friday, November 17, 2023 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE DPNR RECEIVES $2.1 MILLION AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL CHALLENGE GRANT Commissioner Jean-Pierre L. Oriol of the Department of Planning & Natural Resources (DPNR) announces the receipt of a $2.1 million AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL CHALLENGE 2023 grant to create St. Croix’s first conservation corridor which will include new hiking trails and wildlife habitat. The project, “Human and Nature Connections: U.S. Virgin Islands Territorial Parks, Waters, Trails, and Work Program,” includes collaboration with The Nature Conservancy, Crucian Heritage and Nature Tourism, and the Virgin Islands Trail Alliance, runs until 2027, intending to employ a youth conservation corps to restore more than a quarter of wetlands on the island, establishing habitat corridors between Altona Lagoon and Great Pond, from the north to the south shores. …
Download the original document · Plain text (TXT) · Browse the archive · How this archive works
Original source: https://dpnr.vi.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/America-the-Beautiful-Grant-Award.pr_.pdf
SHA-256 075d48023f4487a0c395e9385cf6a346ef802b67d56dd762bdef83788caa6c78
Re-using this document
A public record of the Government of the Virgin Islands, published by the agency itself. No copyright is asserted on it and 17 U.S.C. § 105 does not reach territorial government, so it publishes as a territorial public record.
Our description, tagging, arrangement, extracted text and machine transcripts are released under CC0 1.0. We assert nothing about the document itself.
Archive identifier LF-075d48023f44
Document text
Office of the Commissioner CONTACT: Jamal Nielsen, Media Relations Coordinator jamal.nielsen@dpnr.vi.gov Friday, November 17, 2023 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE DPNR RECEIVES $2.1 MILLION AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL CHALLENGE GRANT Commissioner Jean-Pierre L. Oriol of the Department of Planning & Natural Resources (DPNR) announces the receipt of a $2.1 million AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL CHALLENGE 2023 grant to create St. Croix’s first conservation corridor which will include new hiking trails and wildlife habitat. The project, “Human and Nature Connections: U.S. Virgin Islands Territorial Parks, Waters, Trails, and Work Program,” includes collaboration with The Nature Conservancy, Crucian Heritage and Nature Tourism, and the Virgin Islands Trail Alliance, runs until 2027, intending to employ a youth conservation corps to restore more than a quarter of wetlands on the island, establishing habitat corridors between Altona Lagoon and Great Pond, from the north to the south shores. “We’re honored to receive this major national award that will benefit our natural ecosystems through public-private partnerships,” Nicole Angeli, Ph.D., Director of the Division of Fish & Wildlife, said. “The project will expand public access to natural areas while stemming erosion along 2.11 miles of beach and will use environmental engineering interventions and reforestation to restore a total of 260 acres or 27% of wetlands on St. Croix,” Angeli concluded. The initiative, managed by the new Territorial Parks System, is slated to increase public land protection from 5 to 12 percent, increasing opportunities for the public to connect with nature through activities such as hiking, biking, birding, fishing, and other wildlife experiences. The six- mile-long corridor will connect two critical coastal wetlands of rocky grasslands across public and private property. The project includes restoration of beach habitat at Altona Lagoon and Great Pond with access points; solar charging stations; a youth corps program, and public planning workshops. The Divisions of Fish & Wildlife, Territorial Parks & Protected Areas, Coastal Zone Management, and State Historic Preservation Office are all partners on the grant. The award is funded by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation through money to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services from the White House’s Investing in America agenda. For more information, call 340-773-1082. ### GOVERNMENT OF THE VIRGIN ISLANDS OF THE UNITED STATES --------0-------- DEPARTMENT OF PLANNING AND NATURAL RESOURCES 4611 Tutu Park Mall 45 Mars Hill, Frederiksted Suite 300 St. Croix, VI 00840 St. Thomas, VI 00802 (340) 773-1082 (340) 774-3320 dpnr.vi.gov