A nearly $3 million grant the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources that was awarded in March is being used to expand public access and create 16 wildlife viewing locations on some privately owned lands in the southwest corner of the commonwealth, the area commonly referred to as the “coalfields region.”
The funding, made available in the 2018 federal farm bill and administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resource Conservation Service, drives the Voluntary Public Access and Habitat Incentive Program and is used to lease private lands for wildlife-dependent recreation. Twenty-seven grants were awarded this year. At $2,998,250, Virginia received the third-largest grant total. The maximum amount for a single award is $3 million.
The program, a one-time opportunity until a next Farm Bill, spans three years. Besides being used to improve hunting, trapping, fishing, boating and watching wildlife access, up to 25 percent of the funding can be used for habitat improvement projects on selected properties, according to NCRS.
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The DWR grant application lists expected outcomes in each year of the program. Overall, at least 20 new landowners with properties that “provide unique wildlife-dependent recreation or are in areas with limited public access” are expected to enroll. “Other outcomes,” according to the application, “include securing six new public viewing sites for elk, three properties for future public access elk hunting, 10 new viewing sites on the Virginia Birding and Wildlife Trail, and eight hand-launch boating access sites.”
Enhanced wildlife habitat work is anticipated on about 290 acres of reclaimed mined land and is expected to benefit species of “greatest conservation need and priority species of the Appalachian Mountain Joint Venture,” a large collection of conservation nonprofit corporations.
The grant application stated the Virginia program would begin in April 2020, but the DWR public announcement related to the work was just announced this week.
The program is available solely for lands owned by individuals or corporations. In its announcement, DWR expressed interest in leasing both large and small parcels of land. The larger parcels would provide general access for a variety of wildlife-dependent recreation. Smaller parcels might include uses such as boating access, a dove hunting field, or bird or elk watching.
Landowners are paid cash incentives for signing an agreement and enrolling in the program. Compensation is typically on a per-acre basis. Larger tracts used for broader public access typically fetch less per acre than smaller parcels, according to Tom Hampton, DWR’s lands and access manager in Region 3. Each location will be evaluated based on the value of potential recreational opportunities.
“For general access to large parcels of land, we expect to pay between $2 and $3 per acre,” Hampton said, noting that amount is derived from what corporate landowners charge for hunting leases in this area.
“We are hopeful that most parcels will be suitable for general public access,” Hampton said. “However, we are willing to consider quota-only access or seasonal access when unrestricted participation might present safety concerns or for properties that provide really unique and high-quality recreational opportunities. It is not easy to establish a value for some of the opportunities that may be available. We will do our very best to negotiate an agreement that is fair to the landowner and is also fiscally responsible for our agency and constituents.”
While the full area noted in the grant application totals 18 counties, Hampton said the focus will be in Lee, Scott, Wise, Dickenson, Buchanan, Russell and Tazewell counties.
“Public access for hunting is very limited in some of these counties,” he explained. “For example, Buchanan County has no public land open for hunting. Lee County has very limited public access.”
Bang for the Buck?
It is wonderful that Virginia is getting this money, but the emphasis on the far southwest corner is a bit confounding, given that the challenge of recruiting and retaining hunters is supposedly the front-burner issue.
Some may wonder about spending this big bite at a one-shot grant apple in a sparsely populated area. The total amount equals about 10 percent equivalent of the agency’s full funding for a year. Plus, the designated counties have a substantial section of national forest as well as some large wildlife management areas nearby.
Access to hunting land is often cited as the main reason why hunters choose not to buy another license or why wanna-be hunters never take up the pursuit. And hunters and anglers fund the large majority of DWR operations, buying both licenses and expensive gear that generates federal excise taxes returned to the states for conservation programs. The last time I checked, elk and bird watchers aren’t paying any such freight.
It appears public comments were not sought before seeking grant funding for the coalfields region.
Said Hampton: “We wanted to initiate this program in a defined area before expanding to a statewide approach. Several DWR employees in Region 3 were enthusiastic about the concept and willing to take on the additional assignments.”
Hampton said there was little time to assemble a detailed proposal–two months, to be precise, from the time the opportunity was announced to the deadline for applications.
Hampton also said elk restoration efforts are already providing excellent opportunities for wildlife watching and that elk hunting should be a reality in a few years. He also cited rivers, such as the Powell, with “very limited public access,” noting, “We hope to open several boating access sites on small and medium size rivers.”
Still, some DWR constituents might see this focus on spending in the area where elk restoration is in vogue as less rewarding than using some or all of the $3 million in grant money in areas where it might have resulted in more access for more hunters.
Rebecca Gwynn, an assistant chief in the agency’s Wildlife Division, said, “From our perspective, it’s ideally serving as a pilot for how we might implement it elsewhere. We will learn and adapt, which should make us highly competitive in future applications to USDA.”
Note: At deadline, the DWR had not responded to several questions. For more information, including enrollment application forms, visit virginiawildlife.gov/powrr of contact Hampton at 276/783-4860 or tom.hampton@dwr.virginia.gov.
For more outdoors coverage, videos, wild game cooking recipes and information about this grant, including the copy of the grant proposal, go to Ken Perrotte’s weblog at outdoorsrambler.com.
