$28 million directed to West-wide land projects to help wildlife, fish
Mule deer populations that meander between the Utah and Idaho border and the north flowing Willow Creek that begins in Grand County will be among the beneficiaries of $28 million in restoration funding announced Tuesday by the Bureau of Land Management.
The federal agency will use the money with partners for projects in 10 states in the West via six national agreements that include Trout Unlimited, the Mule Deer Foundation and The Nature Conservancy.
“These projects and the projects they are going to deliver are made possible by once in a generation funding that will help the BLM restore and protect our shared public lands, wildlife habitat and clean water for future generations,” said national BLM Director Tracey Stone-Manning in a press call.
“This will benefit Americans that recreate on our public lands, local communities, tribes and of course, the natural resources we rely on.”
Stone-Manning emphasized the nexus between thriving ecosystems and quality of life for people.
“These projects will restore and conserve aquatic ecosystems that provide clean, reliable drinking water for millions of Americans.”
As a previous example, Trout Unlimited has worked to enhance and restore trout habitat at Strawberry Creek, which is part of the watershed of Strawberry Reservoir — the top Blue Ribbon Fishery in Utah and among the best in the West. Strawberry is also a critical player in drinking water supplies in eastern and northern Utah.
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By teaming up with nonprofit organizations, Stone-Manning said the BLM more effectively accomplishes its mission to manage 245 million acres of public land.
“It’s difficult to overstate the importance of partnerships to our efforts to restore our nation’s public lands,” she said. “We would accomplish little without the passion, expertise and commitment of our partners and (Tuesday’s) announcement underscores the extent to which that is true.”
Chris Wood, president and chief executive officer of Trout Unlimited, said one area of focus for the money will be the Upper Colorado River Basin, such as the Green River in Wyoming that eventually winds its way south into Utah to meet up with the Colorado River.
He described one tool as “low tech” restoration projects of which there are 25, using wood, augmenting beaver dams and doing riparian plantings.
“All of (these) have the effect of raising the water table and creating natural fire breaks and to make sure we have late season flows downstream,” he said, adding, “It is important to know these are remarkably resilient systems and if we give them half a chance, they will respond.”
Like Stone-Manning, Wood said not only do these efforts improve the environment for fish and wildlife, they help people.
“Because the fact is, when you protect the headwater’s system, it is not only good for native trout, it also helps reduce the downstream filtration costs.”
The investments will help a vast array of wildlife that rely on healthy landscapes, such as mule deer and sage grouse, said Steve Belinda, chief conservation officer with the Mule Deer Foundation.
Money for deer, money for birds
“The mule deer is the icon of the West and these landscapes they live in are in dire need of attention. Therefore, this effort with the BLM is going to increase the Mule Deer Foundation’s capacity to work on these landscapes. And all these tens of thousands of acres of habitat work will improve conditions for all species that depend on them and provide clean air, clean water, and a healthy environment.”
He noted in particular the foundation emphasizes what is good for the deer is good for birds, particularly the imperiled greater western sage grouse, which has seen its habitat greatly diminished throughout the Western United States due to wildfires, urban encroachment and industry activities.
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Sage brush is key to how sage grouse survive and it gets eviscerated in wildfires, with invasive species like cheat grass taking its place.
Belinda said the foundation worked in the Twin Falls, Idaho, area and planted more than 1 million sagebrush plants on 40,000 acres to restore that landscape.
Additionally, Belinda said his foundation is looking at specific herd areas in southern Utah to enhance habitat.
Stone-Manning said The Nature Conservancy is collaborating with the BLM and the Navajo Nation in the Bears Ears National Monument area to facilitate more native plants.
As part of the funding, Utah, Arizona and New Mexico are participating in the Navajo Nation’s Diné Native Plants Program, a native plant seed banking and ecological restoration effort of $1.2 million.
Both the BLM and Navajo Nation will collaborate to establish a seed certification program and ways to market and sell native plant materials to federal and nonfederal agencies.
