U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Ecological Services Field Office

Represented by the following Members of Congress: Senator Senator Shelly Moore Capito Rep. David McKinley (1st) Rep. (2nd) Rep. Carol Miller (3rd)

Contact Barb Douglas, Acting Project Leader West Virginia Field Office 694 Beverly Pike Elkins, West Virginia 26241 Removing Highland Dam, West Fork River, Harrison County

Phone: 304/636 6586 x 16 USFWS Fax: 304/636 7824 Highlights Working collaboratively with others TDD: 800/877 8339 The office has developed highly our office has helped to preserve iconic E-mail: [email protected] successful partnerships with theWest places such as Cheat Canyon and Virginia Division of Highways and the Thunderstruck Rock, improved native Profile WV Oil and Natural Gas Association trout fishing opportunities while also Established: 1975 to streamline project reviews. We also protecting endangered species and Staff: 10.0 coordinate closely with the Federal ensuring important infrastructure projects moved forward in an FY 2019 budget: $727,031 Energy Regulatory Commission and energy companies on oil and natural environmentally sensitive manner. Purpose gas pipelines. n Provide technical and/or financial Working with AmeriCorps and other assistance to private landowners The office’s Endangered Species and partners, we provide education interested in the conservation of Partners for Fish and Wildlife and outreach to local citizens on aquatic habitats, migratory fish and programs have been instrumental in endangered and non-native invasive birds, and federally listed species. working with state, federal and species in West Virginia, while also private partners to protect and providing job training for talented n Provide accurate and meaningful restore high elevation forests of the youth. assistance to help other federal central Appalachians for the benefit and state agencies and local of listed and rare species. These Issues governments fulfill their programs also work collaboratively to Wind power, oil and gas development, responsibilities toward federally- protect and restore habitat of native logging and mountaintop removal mining present many resource impact listed species, federal mandates, freshwater mussels and fishes in the challenges. We continue to develop and fish and wildlife conservation. Ohio, Kanawha and Elk River landscape level or programmatic watersheds, and recover bat species Management Activities approaches that will provide greater affected by the disease called white- n Protect and recover federally listed regulatory certainty and increase nose syndrome. threatened and endangered conservation benefits. species Since 1993, the West Virginia n Protect wetlands, streams, and U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service other sensitive habitats Field Office’s Partners Program has restored 17,620 acres of habitat and 1 800/344 WILD n Serve as the federal government’s http://www.fws.gov expert on fish and wildlife for 214 miles of streambank on private land by working with hundreds of federally funded land and water July 2019 development projects landowners and numerous partners. n Develop partnerships for In 2016 we completed the state's first landscape-level habitat three dam removal projects protection and restoration reconnecting 40 miles of the West Fork River for fish passage, water quality enhancement, and recreation. Services Provided To The effort removed a threat to human n Private citizens/companies health, improved outdoor recreation n State and local agencies opportunities, and contributed to the n Federal agencies recovery of endangered species.