Delegate James Moylan recently announced that the Guam Department of Agriculture's Division of Aquatic and Wildlife Resources was awarded $494,277 as part of the Fish and Wildlife Service Competitive State Wildfire Grants program. 

This cycle, the FWS is awarding more than $7.4 million in grants to 15 selected proposals from a larger national pool of applications.

The funding would be utilized to increase detection probability, resiliency, and expanding occupancy of Guam's endangered Slevin's skink through habitat enhancement on Coco's Island. 

The Slevin skink is federally listed as endangered and identified in Guam's Wildlife Action Plan as a Species of Greatest Conservation.

“I would like to commend the Department of Agriculture's Director Chelsa Muna and her team for submitting a well written grant proposal, which resulted in this award. The project doesn't just address the issues concerning the Slevin skink being an endangered species, but allows both the Department, and Guam in general to enhance our ability of being a hub for research and other data collection. Which in turn would create additional funding and other opportunities for Guam and our residents," said Moylan. 

“I am also happy to share that this grant does not require a federal match, as an exemption was provided,” he added.

This project implements recovery actions for the skink and includes an evaluation of the effectiveness of management methods and habitat improvement. 

On Cocos Island, the partners will create habitat structures designed to increase the total area occupied by the skink. Data collected through this project will be shared with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and other conservation partners and used in ongoing joint recovery efforts.