SALT LAKE CITY — As part of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, the Bureau of Land Management will invest $19.3 million from the Inflation Reduction Act to protect native vegetation and riparian species on public lands in Utah.
This funding will be focused in two landscape areas called the Color Country Converging and Upper Bear River Restoration Landscapes.
According to a news release, this funding is part of the BLM’s announcement to invest $161 million in ecosystem restoration and resilience on the nation’s public lands. The work will focus on 21 “Restoration Landscapes” across 11 western states, restoring wildlife habitat and clean water on public lands and strengthening communities and local economies.
These investments follow the release of the Department’s restoration and resilience framework to leverage historic investments in climate and conservation to achieve landscape-level outcomes across the nation. The department is implementing more than $2 billion in investments to restore our nation’s lands and waters, which in turn is helping to meet the conservation goals set through the America the Beautiful initiative.
“The funding provided through the Inflation Reduction Act will provide unprecedented opportunities to restore two of Utah’s most important landscapes,” BLM Utah State Director Greg Sheehan said in a news release. “We look forward to working with local communities to collaborate and partner in our restoration efforts.”
Stretches of the Mojave Desert, Central Basin and Range, and the Colorado Plateau – each immense ecoregions that help define the West – converge in the Color Country Converging Restoration Landscape, with many plants and wildlife at the edges of their ranges.
Plants exist here that are found nowhere else on Earth. The scenery and experience invite outdoor adventures, and communities in this part of the state have grown significantly.
The BLM, in turn, is investing in recreational services and restoration projects that increase water availability, address habitat fragmentation and restore riparian systems, the news release said. In addition, work will restore greater sage grouse habitat at the most southern edge of its range.
The waters within the Upper Bear River Landscape Restoration Area are the primary input for the Great Salt Lake, which is drying and shrinking at an alarming rate. Uplands are key habitat for big game and the largest, most contiguous intact sagebrush/sage-grouse habitat in Utah.
Riparian restoration and maintenance, planting and managing diverse native vegetation, improving stream crossings and restoring habitat for greater sage-grouse, migratory birds and big game will contribute to resilience across northern Utah, according to the news release.
Innovative and collaborative systems for managing grazing in the Three Creeks area have laid the groundwork for ongoing conservation collaboration.
Efforts in these restoration landscapes will improve the health of public lands that are being significantly degraded by invasive species, unprecedented wildfire events, unregulated use and climate change.
With these investments, landscapes will be better able to provide clean water, habitat for fish and wildlife, opportunities for recreation and will be more resilient to wildfire and drought.
According to the news release, resilient public lands are critical to the BLM’s ability to manage for multiple use and sustained yield.
Once-in-a-generation funding from the Inflation Reduction Act will be directed to landscapes where concentrated, strategic investment through partnership can make the most difference for communities and public resources under the BLM’s management.
Click here to learn more about the BLM’s restoration landscapes.