BROOMFIELD, Colo. — The Colorado Department of Agriculture was the only Colorado project selected to receive one of 55 grants awarded in the America the Beautiful Challenge. CDA will receive $4 million for this project, which will support dozens of agricultural and conservation partnerships and prioritize five major watershed areas of Colorado. The goals of these grants will be to strengthen ecosystem and community resilience through habitat and ecosystem restoration, enhanced habitat connectivity, increased recreational access, and local community and workforce engagement.
“This grant is a stakeholder-led effort, with more than 35 local governments, conservation districts, grazing boards, and nonprofits, along with landowners, working together to improve the health of our watersheds by focusing on restoring riparian zones, urban-wildland interfaces, and habitat connectivity,” said Les Owen, Director of CDA’s Conservation Division. “The work will take place across 39 Colorado counties and five major watershed areas and will help us combine efforts from multiple programs within the Conservation Division and administer them at strategically selected sites for the benefit of Coloradans and our natural resources.”
CDA’s projects will focus on restoring habitats and improving ecosystem and community resiliency across Colorado. The grant will fund multiple projects, in five main watershed areas of Colorado, with some larger projects crossing multiple watershed boundaries and touching all of Colorado’s major watersheds (the Arkansas, Colorado, Gunnison, San Juan/Dolores, North Platte, South Platte, Rio Grande, and the Yampa/White/Green). While goals and strategies will vary depending on the project, many will focus on land improvement assistance programs. This includes strategies such as reducing invasive plant species, creating wildfire resilient wildland-urban interfaces, and improving habitat for priority and imperiled species through restoration and vegetation monitoring.
On working lands, the project funds will help farmers and ranchers incorporate livestock modernization techniques such as virtual fencing and targeted grazing to increase habitat connectivity for wildlife and reduce invasive plant species. Additionally, the project will create new jobs and opportunities for community members to participate in collective projects by hiring local, seasonal crews for restoration activities and hosting volunteer outreach field days.
These stakeholder-led projects are helping enhance climate resilience and promote stewardship of our land and water resources across Colorado. By incorporating a wide range of partners, the project will help build participation in voluntary conservation programs on public and private lands across the state.
America the Beautiful Challenge grants support projects that conserve, restore and connect habitats for wildlife while improving community resilience and access to nature. The 55 new grants announced by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) will support landscape-scale conservation projects in 42 states and three U.S. territories, leveraging $50.7 million in matching contributions to generate a total conservation impact of about $141.7 million. CDA and partners will contribute $1,112,600 in matching funds to the $4 million awarded by the NFWF. This is the first grant program of its kind to consolidate funding from multiple federal agencies and private foundations.
–Colorado Department of Agriculture