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Last updated on Tuesday, March 15, 2016
(UNDATED) - The DNR Division of Fish & Wildlife will receive $16.5 million in annual grant money from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Program.
The figure represents an increase over the last five-year annual average received, which has been about $14 million per year during that span.
The total of $16.5 million will be split between wildlife-related projects, which will be allotted $12 million, and sport fish-related projects, which will be allotted $4.5 million. The funding will go to a variety of programs and projects.
The division spends between $7-8 million of the funding annually on traditional services, some of which include species surveys and monitoring, habitat development and public access site maintenance and development.
"We've also done a couple of unique projects, like an archery range at Koteewi, near Noblesville, and we also are working on two shooting ranges," said Julie Kempf, the division's chief fiscal administrator.
The shooting ranges are at Willow Slough Fish & Wildlife Area in Newton County and at Deer Creek Fish & Wildlife Area in Putnam County.
The Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Program is funded by the amount of excise tax money collected from national sales of hunting and fishing equipment in all states. The money is divided among the states based on a formula that compares their land area and their number of hunters and anglers.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service distributed more than $1.1 billion to states this year, with $201 million going to the Service's Midwest Region.
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