Southern Company, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation Award New Conservation Grants

ATLANTA, May 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Southern Company and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation today announced that seven additional grants have been awarded to conservation and natural resource agencies through the Power of Flight and Longleaf Legacy partnership programs.

"The grants will help these respected organizations continue their efforts to restore bird populations and longleaf pine habitats in the Southeast," said Chris Hobson, Southern Company's senior vice president for research and environmental affairs. "Southern Company is pleased to provide these grants through its continued partnership with the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation."

Since 2002, Southern Company and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation have contributed almost $7 million through 76 grants to the Power of Flight and Longleaf Legacy programs. In addition, grant recipients have contributed more than $39 million in matching funds, resulting in an on-the-ground conservation impact of more than $46 million since the program's inception.

"The vision and leadership of Southern Company in initiating and inspiring such a broad and diverse conservation partnership is simply incredible, and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation is proud to have been a part of their success," said Jeff Trandahl, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation's executive director. "The achievements in bird conservation and longleaf pine restoration that have resulted across the Southeastern United States are truly impressive."

Through these two programs, more than 150,000 acres of critical habitat on public and private lands, including 25,000 acres of longleaf pines, will be restored or enhanced to the benefit of bird populations across the Southeast.

Four grants were awarded under the Power of Flight program: -- Milliken Forestry Company - to accelerate translocation efforts for the red-cockaded woodpecker over the next five years. Funds will support a biologist on the Apalachicola National Forest in Florida who will monitor potential donor families, with the goal of increasing from 20 to 40 the number of woodpeckers available for translocation each year. This is a continuation of a grant formerly made to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service over several years. -- Operation Migration USA - to increase the number of whooping cranes led South each year by ultralight aircraft from Necedah National Wildlife Refuge in Wisconsin to the Chassahowitzka National Wildlife Refuge in Florida. This three-year grant will help increase the number of birds released annually to 24, with the goal of helping the flock reach a self-sustaining population level in four to five years. -- Atlanta Audubon Society - to develop a Georgia Important Bird Area conservation program to benefit American oystercatchers, red knots, and loggerhead shrikes. The program will help implement management techniques and involve local volunteers to improve habitat and increase species numbers at Joe Kurz Wildlife Management Area and along the Georgia coast. -- Tall Timbers Research Station - to help develop a spatially explicit conservation plan for northern bobwhite quail and other early successional species for Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, and Florida. Workshops involving key agencies and organizations will be held to identify and prioritize landscapes that can serve as core recovery areas. Outcomes of the workshops will form the basis for revising the Northern Bobwhite Conservation Initiative, a 22-state recovery plan. Three grants were awarded under the Longleaf Legacy Program: -- U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Cahaba River NWR) - to restore longleaf pine on 325 acres and plant 130,000 longleaf seedlings in the Cahaba River National Wildlife Refuge in Alabama. Restored longleaf forests will be connected to two additional refuge restoration areas to the south, including a tract that was replanted through a previous Longleaf Legacy grant in 2004. -- The Nature Conservancy, Florida - to restore 300 acres of longleaf and enhance an additional 260 acres of groundcover habitat along the lower Perdido River. A total of 90,000 longleaf seedlings will be planted over a four-year period. The Perdido River Nature Preserve comprises more than 2,300 acres of land and is part of corridor of protected lands along both sides of the Perdido River. This project builds on a 2004 grant award that restored 168 acres of longleaf on this preserve. -- Georgia Department of Natural Resources - to support conservation and restoration of 8,430 acres of longleaf habitat and the planting of more than 2 million trees in Southwest Georgia. This project will benefit red-cockaded woodpecker and other species dependent on the longleaf ecosystem, as well as numerous isolated wetlands and other forested wetland habitats. The property will be protected in perpetuity as a State Heritage Preserve, and managed as a Wildlife Management Area.

Visit http://www.southerncompany.com/planetpower to view fact sheets on the Power of Flight and Longleaf Legacy programs or to see a complete listing of awards granted.

A nonprofit established by Congress in 1984, The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) sustains, restores and enhances the nation's fish, wildlife, plants and habitats. Through leadership conservation investments with public and private partners, NFWF is dedicated to achieving maximum conservation impact by developing and applying best practices and innovative methods for measurable outcomes. Since its establishment, the Foundation has awarded nearly 9,500 grants to over 3,000 organizations in the United States and abroad and leveraged -- with its partners -- more than $400 million in federal funds, for a total of over $1.3 billion for conservation. NFWF is recognized by Charity Navigator with a 4-star rating for efficiency and effectiveness. Ninety-five cents of every Dollar contributed to NFWF is directed to on-the-ground efforts, with three cents supporting management and administration of the NFWF's multi-million dollar grants program and two cents funding partnership developments and fundraising.

With nearly 4.4 million customers and more than 42,000 megawatts of generating capacity, Atlanta-based Southern Company is the premier energy company serving the Southeast, one of America's fastest-growing regions. A leading U.S. producer of electricity, Southern Company owns electric utilities in four states and a growing competitive generation company, as well as fiber optics and wireless communications. Southern Company brands are known for excellent customer service, high reliability and retail electric prices that are significantly below the national average. Southern Company has been listed the top ranking U.S. electric service provider in customer satisfaction for eight consecutive years by the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI). Visit our Web site at http://www.southerncompany.com/.