Project Grant F23AP01123

The Department of the Interior's Fish and Wildlife Service awarded a $200,000 Project Grant under the North American Wetlands Conservation Fund (CFDA 15.623) to the Western New York Land Conservancy Inc. to permanently protect 223 acres of rare floating bog peatland known as the Demink Forest in Chautauqua County, New York. This land acquisition project will benefit migratory birds and other wildlife by preserving critical stopover habitat for waterfowl species such as the American black duck, mallard, wood duck, and American wigeon. The grant funding will enable the land trust to acquire and permanently protect this ecologically significant wetland property. Western New York Land Conservancy has also received additional federal grants from the Department of the Interior to acquire and protect other forests and wetlands, as well as funding as a sub-awardee for invasive species control and habitat restoration projects along the Niagara River Gorge and at the Margery Gallogly Nature Sanctuary.