Colorado

Aridlands
Refining Aerial Surveys of Population and Habitat Data for Two Endangered Plant Species (CO)
Use drones and very high resolution sensors to trial and refine methods for aerial surveys of populations and habitats of two federally listed rare plant species (Parachute penstemon and Debeque phacelia) located on fragile and inaccessible substrates in western Colorado. Project will provide management agencies with quantitative and actionable information on surveying technology for endangered plants whose populations are dispersed over large areas on fragile or difficult to access terrain.
$179,784

Chaffee County
Restoring Forest Habitat in Chaffee County to Reduce Risk of Catastrophic Wildfire (CO)
Strategically assess the forests at the headwaters of the Arkansas River in Chaffee County, Colorado to identify the 5-10 percent of the landscape where treatment will decrease the risk severe wildfire poses to community assets by 50-70 percent. Project will employ forest thinning and seeding to restore more than 400 acres of habitat once forests are assessed.
$366,310

Colorado Department of Transportation
Improving Wildlife Connectivity and Motorist Safety Across U.S. Highway 24 (CO)
Restore a safe migration corridor for the Mosquito Range, Buffalo Peaks and South Park mule deer and elk herds across U.S. Highway 24 in Colorado. Project will improve motorist safety and decrease wildlife-vehicle collisions by 90 percent by installing 4 miles of fencing to direct elk, deer and other wildlife to an existing wildlife bridge.
$267,853

Colorado Department of Transportation
Reducing Wildlife-Vehicle Collisions along State Highway 13 by Installing Underpass Fencing (CO)
Install fencing to guide wildlife to an arch underpass being constructed under State Highway 13 North of Craig, Colorado. Project will reduce wildlife-vehicle collisions and maintain connectivity within a priority migratory corridor for mule deer and elk herds.
$480,400

Colorado Rio Grande Restoration Foundation
Rio Grande National Forest Beaver Characterization, Restoration, and Reintroduction (CO)
Improve the condition of the Rio Grande headwaters in Colorado by characterizing North American beaver populations and habitat in priority watersheds within the Rio Grande National Forest, restoring 5 miles of stream channel and 200 acres of riparian wetland habitat through the construction of beaver dam analogs, and reintroduce 50 beavers to key locations on the forest. Project will increase North American beaver populations to benefit watershed health, riparian habitat, and native aquatic species like the Rio Grande chub, Rio Grande sucker, and Rio Grande cutthroat trout.
$39,840

Colorado Rio Grande Restoration Foundation
Removing Fish Barriers and Restoring the Conejos River Floodplain (CO)
Improve aquatic and riparian habitat on the South Branch of the Conejos River in Colorado by replacing three irrigation diversions currently acting as fish barriers. Project will re-open more than 9 miles of stream and restore nearly 24 acres of floodplain and streambanks.
$350,000

Dolores Public Lands Office
Improving Big Game Winter Habitat on the San Juan National Forest (CO)
Improve and enhance habitat conditions for big game transitional and winter ranges on the San Juan National Forest, Dolores Ranger District in Colorado. Project will improve 400 acres of ponderosa pine habitat by using thinning, prescribed fire.
$150,000

Ducks Unlimited
Restore Platte River Wetlands Habitat to Benefit Ducks, Geese and Waterbirds (CO)
Enhance habitat for ducks, geese and other waterbirds that depend upon high-quality wetland habitats being available during critical periods of their life cycles in Colorado. Project will restore 830 acres of floodplain wetlands and 1,878 acres of mesic habitat, and improve management on 2,791 acres.
$272,954

Mountain Island Ranch
Restoring Wet Meadow Habitat on Mountain Island Ranch along the Little Dolores River (CO, UT)
Improve wet meadow habitat and forage along the Little Dolores River in Western Colorado to benefit Gunnison sage-grouse, elk, mule deer, wild turkeys and waterfowl; restore stream flows and improve water quality; improve soil health; and increase drought resilience. Project will install 170 beaver dam analogues and Zeedyk structures, remove invasive vegetation and alter grazing patterns to restore 240 acres of wet meadow habitat.
$175,500

National Audubon Society
Increase Collaboration of Sagebrush Conservation (multiple states)
Strategically coordinate internal and external communication between a wide range of stakeholders committed to improving communications about the sagebrush ecosystem to elevate not only individual efforts but also the larger dialog about the value and need for sagebrush conservation. Project will bring 100 acres of sagebrush habitat under improved management, develop media resources for community stake holders and host field tour events that elevate on-the-ground conservation.
$29,636

Pheasants Forever
Coordinating Range Wildlife Conservation in the Lesser Prairie Chicken Range (CO, KS, NM, OK, TX)
Work with private landowners and other partners to implement on-the-ground riparian habitat restoration across the lesser prairie chicken range. Project will enroll landowners into voluntary contracts that will restore or improve management on 30,000 acres of southwestern grassland habitat.
$101,436

Rocky Mountain Bird Observatory
Combating Habitat Fragmentation and Loss in Grassland Ecosystems (CO)
Help reverse the decline of grassland obligate bird species by combating habitat fragmentation and loss through collaborative efforts in Colorado. Project will work with landowners and other resource professionals to conserve 40,000 grassland acres on private working lands.
$378,465

Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation
Conserving Ungulate Wintering Habitat on Buffalo Horn Ranch (CO)
Permanently protect more than 12,000 acres of ungulate winter range habitat on the Buffalo Horn Ranch in northwestern Colorado. Project will secure habitat connectivity across public and private lands for wildlife movement and migration.
$100,000

Rocky Mountain Field Institute
Engaging Community Volunteers in the Stewardship of Public Lands in Southern Colorado (CO)
Engage community volunteers in habitat protection, riparian restoration, post-wildfire restoration, trail construction and maintenance, the removal of invasive species, erosion control and environmental education. Project will engage 2,300 volunteers and 800 students to restore 100 acres through various habitat restoration activities, remove a mile of invasive species and complete a mile of riparian restoration.
$30,000

Rocky Mountain Bird Observatory
Implement a Radio Telemetry Network in the Great Plains and Chihuahuan Desert to Monitor Grassland Birds (multiple states)
Implement a collaborative network of automated radio telemetry stations throughout the Great Plains and Chihuahuan Desert to monitor the annual cycle of grassland birds, including Baird’s sparrow, Sprague’s pipit and chestnut-collared longspur. Project will initiate this effort by holding webinars to recruit and train partners and develop a plan to track grassland birds across the region, install telemetry stations to track focal species, and deploy tags on focal species.
$250,000

Rocky Mountain Bird Observatory
Increase Landowner Enrollment in Farm Bill and Sage-grouse Initiative Conservation Programs (CO)
Launch a widespread, collaborative network of partners to deliver sagebrush conservation outreach resulting in increased enrollment in Farm Bill and Sage-grouse Initiative conservation programs. Project will bring 10,100 acres under improved management, enrolling 10 landowners in Farm Bill programs using existing best management practices to advance conservation and management plans for each ranch.
$200,554

Southern Plains Land Trust
Modifying Fences on Private Ranches to Improve Wildlife Connectivity through Grassland Habitat (CO)
Improve habitat connectivity for pronghorn, elk, mule deer and other grassland obligates in shortgrass prairie in southeastern Colorado. Project will remove, replace, or modify 50 miles of fencing to increase wildlife access across the landscape and to improve livestock management.
$216,002

State of Colorado Department of Natural Resources
Improving Big Game Winter Range and Restoring Sagebrush Habitat (CO)
Expand capacity related to planned and ongoing landscape scale habitat management activities in the Bears Ears and White River priority big game herd management units in Colorado. Project will remove 40 miles of fencing and restore 680 acres of sagebrush habitat by removing invasive trees.
$250,000

State of Colorado Department of Natural Resources
Fish Barrier Construction in North Elk Creek (CO)
Construct a fish barrier to facilitate a Colorado Parks and Wildlife chemical reclamation to remove nonnative fishes and to eradicate whirling disease from the upper watershed of North Elk Creek, a tributary to the White River, near Meeker, Colorado.  Project will increase the likelihood that the North Elk Creek Colorado River Cutthroat Trout population can persist indefinitely.
$50,000

Tamarisk Coalition
Removing Invasive Tamarisk and Russian Olive to Restore Habitat for Endangered Fish and Birds (CO)
Systematically remove invasive tamarisk and Russian olive and revegetate floodplains in the Grand Valley in Mesa County, Colorado to open up backwater habitat for endangered fish. Project will enhance habitat for native and migratory birds and the endangered razorback sucker along a 25-mile stretch of the Colorado River.
$128,018

The Trust for Public Land
Fishers Peak Conservation (CO)
Collaborate with local, state and national partners to permanently conserve the 19,200-acre Fishers Peak property, located just south of Trinidad, Colorado. Project will achieve landscape-level conservation by protecting an entire mountain that serves as a critical link of intact habitat between the Eastern Plains of Colorado and the Western Slopes of Colorado and the Rocky Mountains, while also providing a significantly improved level of public recreational access.
$650,000

Trout Unlimited
Rio Grande Cutthroat Trout Habitat Restoration (CO)
Recover and conserve the Rio Grande cutthroat trout in Colorado. Project will bolster and maintain an existing riparian fence, construct a key half-mile section of additional fencing, and restore another one mile of habitat on State Land Board lands.
$152,416

Trout Unlimited
San Juan Cutthroat Trout Watershed Restoration Assessment (CO)
Conduct a landscape-scale watershed assessment to examine the potential for flow improvement and landscape-based water storage projects in the upper San Juan River basin in southwest Colorado in the Wolf Creek and Navajo River watersheds, for the benefit of San Juan cutthroat trout. Project will outline an appropriate monitoring protocol to verify the expected impact of treatments in terms of water quantity, timing of delivery, and water quality parameters.
$77,498

University of Oklahoma
Developing Tools to Advance Grassland Bird Wintering Habitat Management Practices (CO, NM, OK, TX)
Expand on an existing framework studying the wintering ecology of longspurs and other grassland birds in the Great Plains using species distribution modeling, automated radio telemetry biologging, and weather radar analysis. Project will develop tools to improve field grassland bird surveys to more accurately estimate abundance and habitat usage, and to improve grazing management regimes to best advance bird conservation.
$138,145

Upper Gunnison River Water Conservancy District
Enhancing Sagebrush Resiliency by Restoring Mesic Habitat Hydrology (CO)
Restore healthy and productive sagebrush ecosystems at a landscape scale through enhanced coordination and collaborative implementation throughout western Colorado. Project will install more than 200 Zeedyk and beaver dam analog structures to restore hydrology on 14 acres of mesic habitat.
$139,447

U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Colorado Partners for Fish and Wildlife
Removing Invasive Conifer to Restore Sagebrush Habitat (CO)
Enhance sagebrush habitats in priority Colorado Partners for Fish and Wildlife focal areas to benefit primarily Gunnison sage-grouse. Project will remove invasive conifer trees to improve 500 acres and implement wet meadow restoration projects on 50 acres of privately owned working lands.
$100,000

Walking Mountains Science Center
Eagle River Preserve Riparian Restoration and Environmental Stewardship Program (CO)
Restore and protect the riparian habitat of the half-mile stretch of the Eagle River running through the Eagle River Preserve and train high school interns living in affordable housing communities to work with volunteers. Project will hire eight interns who will engage 30 volunteers to restore half-mile of riparian habitat through planting and seeding native vegetation, establishing formal fishing access points and implementing erosion control methods to protect new vegetation.
$27,147

Wildlands Restoration Volunteers
Restoring Mesic Meadow and Sagebrush Habitat for Greater Sage-Grouse and Big Game Species (CO)
Restore sagebrush shrublands, mesic wet meadows and big game winter range habitat to benefit greater sage-grouse in Northwest Colorado. Project will restore hydrology on 40 acres of private lands by installing 400 mesic meadow restoration structures and remove 20 miles of fencing to restore state-identified priority big game migration routes.
$238,658