MassWildlife Offering Grants for Habitat Management

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WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Division of Fisheries and Wildlife is offering incentives for landowners who want to help wildlife thrive on their properties.

Property owners who want to actively manage their property can apply for a Landowner Incentive Program grant. The program is designed to reimburse private landowners up to 75 percent of the total project cost of managing lands to improve habitat for declining wildlife species.

Individuals, sportsmen's clubs, land trusts, and other conservation organizations are encouraged to apply. Federal, state and municipal agencies are not eligible.

"Due to the extremely limited funding available, it is important for potential applicants to review the new, updated criteria for this funding cycle," said Mike Sawyers, program coordinator.


Visit the website for details and the Request for Response posting. The grant application period opened Jan. 9 and will close on March 5. All application materials must be submitted to the Division of Fisheries and Wildlife Field Headquarters by 4 p.m. on March 5. Faxed or electronic applications will be not accepted.

Since the first funding cycle in 2005, the program has funded 157 projects and provided technical assistance to private landowners from Cape Cod to the Berkshires. Past projects have benefited a wide array of species-at-risk, from enhancing beaches for shorebird breeding habitat to rare turtle habitat maintenance. Through this program, DFW has contributed close to $3.5 million over the program's six-year history.

Tags: MassWildlife,   wild animals,   

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Williamstown Elementary Principal Making Plans to Use New Math Position

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — Williamstown Elementary School's principal last week told the Mount Greylock Regional School Committee that the best use of an additional $120,000 in the fiscal year 2027 budget is to hire a math interventionist for the school.
 
Benjamin Torres on Wednesday gave the board an update on the school with a focus on the need to address instruction in mathematics.
 
Those concerns prompted a request from the WES School Council to include the full-time math interventionist position in the FY27 budget.
 
School councils are committees of staff and community members in each building of a regional school district that are charged with assessing and advocating for the needs of individual schools.
 
Although funding for the position was not included in what district administrators characterized as a "level services" budget that it sent to both member towns, some Williamstown parents took their case directly to town meeting, which voted to amend the town's assessment to the district, adding the additional $120,000 to cover salary and benefits for new position.
 
Torres last week reminded the School Committee of the arguments he made for an interventionist when he presented the School Council's report back in February.
 
"My goal is to highlight the amazing growth we've seen with our students and the amazing work being done by our teachers, but also highlight there's a small group of students who are not closing the gaps quickly enough to be prepared to be successful at the upcoming grade level," Torres said. "This is why the School Council has been advocating not just for an interventionist but for a more systematic approach when it comes to interventions."
 
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