Water Quality Improvements at the Aquatic Wildlife Conservation Center

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THERE IS NO "FULL ANNOUNCEMENT" ASSOCIATED WITH THIS NOTICE. This is a NOTICE OF INTENT to award a Grant Agreement between the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries (DGIF), for the purpose of improving water quality and quantity at the Aquatic Wildlife Conservation Center (AWCC), a hatchery facility dedicated to the propagation and culture of imperiled native freshwater mussels. The specific objective of this agreement is to renovate an existing impoundment and water supply to provide a dependable source of water suitable for freshwater mussel propagation and culture. This improvement will ultimately result in higher growth rates and survival rates of animals cultured in the facility. Propagated animals produced by the AWCC have been and will continue to be used to reestablish and augment freshwater mussel populations, particularly federally listed species of the Upper Tennessee River Basin. The AWCC is uniquely qualified to conduct this work because: (a) The AWCC is owned and operated by the DGIF, the primary State conservation agency responsible for the conservation of threatened and endangered animals; (b) the DGIF has dedicated in-kind services and funding for this project and for propagation activities associated with Federal trust resources; (c) the Staff at AWCC are intimately involved with recovery efforts related to the federally endangered freshwater mussels, particularly the tan riffleshell (Epioblasma florentina walkeri), a “brink of extinction species”; (d) the facility has demonstrated the ability to conduct effective quarantining, husbandry, and propagation of federally listed freshwater mussels; and (d) the DGIF is interested in a cooperative approach to accomplish the restoration activities resulting in a more cost effective outcome.

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