Colorado

Backcountry Hunters and Anglers
Removing Derelict Fencing to Increase Habitat Connectivity for Big Game (CO)
Remove derelict fencing that currently serve as a barrier for elk, mule deer and pronghorn migration and dispersal across northwest Colorado. Project will mobilize volunteers to remove 40 miles of fence to improve habitat connectivity.
$101,148

Colorado Cattlemen’s Agricultural Land Trust
Ranchland Conservation in Southern Great Plains (CO)
Deliver technical assistance, develop and implement conservation projects, and support restoration, mitigation, or ecosystem services opportunities. Project will conserve 50,000 acres with grassland easements and improve critical working lands and habitat in the Southern Great Plains region of Colorado.
$200,000

Colorado Cattlemen’s Association
Increasing Grassland Resilience through Improved Grazing Management (CO)
Convene a multi-disciplinary team of scientists and livestock producers to work together to study and identify a new set of core grazing management principles on working lands in the eastern Colorado grasslands to systematically improve resiliency and habitat quality. Project will improve management on 20,000 acres of working rangeland to improve grassland health, support biodiversity and increase carbon sequestration to improve climate resilience.
$413,112

Colorado Department of Transportation
Increasing Habitat Connectivity and Driver Safety with Wildlife Underpasses (CO)
Construct up to three wildlife underpass structures and install wildlife exclusionary fencing, escape ramps and deer guards along U.S. Highway 160, east of Fort Garland, Colorado to reduce wildlife vehicle collisions and connect critical habitats for both mule deer and elk. Project will significantly improve wildlife movement across the highway and increase driver safety.
$337,500

Colorado Rio Grande Restoration Foundation
Restoring Riparian Habitat along Rio Grande in Alamosa National Wildlife Refuge (CO)
Improve the health and resilience of the Rio Grande in the Alamosa National Wildlife Refuge by restoring riparian areas to benefit target species, including Rio Grande chub, Southwestern willow flycatcher and Northern leopard frog. Project will improve aquatic habitat complexity and connectivity, enhance native fisheries, restore native vegetation, reconnect floodplains, reduce streambank erosion and improve water quality.
$258,050

Costilla County
Restoring Riparian and Upland Habitat in the Rio Grande Natural Area (CO)
Restore riparian and upland habitat in the Rio Grande Natural Area to address grazing issues through strategic fencing infrastructure and new wells, and achieve improved riparian and upland vegetation and reduction of soil erosion. Project will promote river corridor connectivity, enhance water quality, provide shade for fisheries, and increase the quality of wildlife habitat.
$350,000

Ducks Unlimited
Improving Habitat and Public Access to the Grand Valley Wetland (CO)
Restore wetland habitat to benefit wildlife and the local community by increasing the number and diversity of wetland dependent species using the wetland and riparian forest habitat in Mesa County, Colorado. Project will restore 343 acres of wetland habitat and provide recreational opportunities for local community members.
$200,000

Jefferson Conservation District
Restoring Forest Habitat to Benefit Big Game Species on Private, Working Lands (CO)
Develop and manage an ecology-based forest habitat restoration project on private lands in northeastern Park County, Colorado through mechanical forest thinning methods. Project will increase structural habitat heterogeneity and improve grass, forb, and shrub quantity and quality, for the benefit of upland wildlife species.
$100,000

Larimer County Natural Resources
Improve Elk and Mule Deer Winter Range (CO)
Restore winter range habitat needed for mule deer and elk in Larimer, Boulder, and Jefferson counties, Colorado by controlling and eradicating invasive, annual grasses (cheatgrass and feral rye). Project will restore more than 4,300 acres through invasive grass treatments, making the landscape more resistant and resilient to future disturbances (such as wildfire) and provide critical food resources for mule deer and elk.
$328,875

Mountain Studies Institute
Restoring Riparian and Instream Habitat on Mancos River to Improve Connectivity for Native Fish (CO)
Restore riparian habitat and revegetate degraded floodplains, in-stream habitat and improve hydrology to benefit imperiled warm water native fish including the Roundtail Chub, Bluehead Sucker and Flannelmouth Sucker. Project will rectify two barriers for fish passage, open access to 16 miles of stream for fish refugia, restore 1.34 miles of stream geomorphology and aquatic habitat, restore 11.32 acres of floodplain, and treat 40 acres for invasive tamarisk.
$587,388

Mule Deer Foundation
Restoring Sagebrush Rangeland Habitat through a Conservation Partnership Coordinator (CO)
Restore habitat for mule deer, sage-grouse, and other wildlife in cross-jurisdictional sagebrush rangelands in northwest Colorado by removing invasive conifer and cheatgrass, restoring wet meadow hydrology, reintroducing native fire regimes, improving grazing management and modifying fencing to wildlife-friendly specifications. Project will increase capacity for a Northwest Colorado Sagebrush Conservation Partnership Coordinator to identify and prioritize habitat and range improvement projects on 20,000 acres.
$383,358

National Forest Foundation
Increasing Biodiversity and Reducing Fire Risk with Cross-Jurisdictional Forestland Restoration (CO)
Increase quality and quantity of elk and mule deer forage, reduce risk of catastrophic fire, improve forest resilience, and enhance hydrologic function in riverside upland forest habitat on public and private lands in Chaffee County, Colorado. Project will restore 425 acres of ponderosa pine woodlands, dry mixed conifer forests, aspen stands, lodgepole pine forests, and sagebrush shrublands over a three-year period.
$305,725

Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District
Restoring Riparian and Mesic Habitat (CO)
Identify, prioritize, and implement activities that aim to restore habitat, stream reaches and mesic areas within affected areas of the East Troublesome Fire in Grand County, Colorado via restoration practices such as low-tech process-based restoration techniques, aerial mulching, channel stabilization, sediment basin treatments, floodplain roughening and debris removal. Project will regenerate 3 miles of stream reach habitat and mesic area ecology.
$300,000

Pheasants Forever
Eradicating Annual Invasives to Restore Native Grassland on Private Working Rangelands (CO)
Treat invasive annual grasses on native mixed grass and sand sagebrush habitats in targeted sections of working rangelands in Yuma County, Colorado using indaziflam herbicide, proven to be highly effective at controlling cheatgrass. Project will restore 2,500 acres of native grassland habitat to increase forage for cattle and wildlife.
$103,393

Rio Grande Headwaters Land Trust
Permanently Protecting Migratory Bird Wetland Habitat on Chokurei Ranch (CO)
Permanently protect Chokurei Ranch in Saguache County, Colorado through a voluntary conservation easement to conserve wetland habitats that provide important landscape linkage and breeding and stopover sites for a diversity of bird species. Project will place 2,000 acres under conservation easement to ensure the ecological integrity of the Ranch remains intact.
$100,000

Rocky Mountain Field Institute
Addressing Public Land Stewardship Needs in the Pikes Peak Region of Southern Colorado (CO)
Construct and maintain trails, mitigate forest fire risk, provide environmental education and restore riparian areas on public lands in southern Colorado. Project will engage 1,000 community volunteers, support 100 acres of forest mitigation and restoration and support monitoring of 22 project locations.
$30,000

Rocky Mountain Bird Observatory
Expanding Motus Network to Inform Migratory Bird Conservation (multiple states)
Expand efforts to build a network of automated radio telemetry stations (Motus) throughout the Great Plains and Chihuahuan Desert that will help fill demographic knowledge gaps, characterize stop-over and migratory connectivity, and strategically inform full annual cycle habitat conservation for steeply declining grassland birds. Project will install 10 new Motus stations and deploy bird tags to inform conservation of grassland birds.
$250,000

Rocky Mountain Bird Observatory
Improve Grassland Habitat for Migratory Birds (CO, NM)
Help reverse the decline of grassland bird populations and improve grassland ecosystem health and resilience to climate change through prescribed grazing, drought management plans, maintaining grass cover, reducing woody invasion, and delivering workshops in the eastern plains of Colorado and New Mexico. Project will provide focused technical and financial support to improve 75,000 acres of private working lands.
$315,615

Sand Creek Regional Greenway Partnership
Urban Greenway Wildlife Habitat and Water Quality Community Stewardship (CO)
Monitor 13 miles of an urban creek and greenway to obtain baseline water quality and wildlife habitat data to be better able to conserve the habitat and engage the community of the Sand Creek Regional Greenway. Project will engage 40 local high school students, 250 volunteers, 1 graduate fellow and 75 undergraduate students.
$37,080

Southern Plains Land Trust
Advancing Shortgrass Prairie Conservation at Heartland Ranch Nature Preserve (CO)
Promote conservation of bison, black-footed ferret, grassland birds, and species of concern on Heartland Ranch Nature Preserve in southeastern Colorado. Project will improve grassland health, support biodiversity and increase carbon sequestration on more than 40,000 acres by improving water infrastructure, removing internal fence, and protecting ferrets and the prairie dog ecosystem from disease.
$183,480

Southern Plains Land Trust
Permanently Protecting Grassland and Migratory Bird Habitat (CO)
Protect shortgrass prairie adjacent to Heartland Ranch Nature Preserve in Bent County, Colorado to enhance habitat connectivity and quality for many grassland species. Project will place 8,720 acres under voluntary easement to permanently protect critical nesting habitat for grassland bird species, including mountain plovers, burrowing owls and golden eagles.
$250,000

The Corps Network
Engaging Young People in Conservation and Natural Resource Implementation
Advance both Climate Conservation Corps development and implementation Project will advance two essential priorities: climate and engaging diverse citizens in conservation action.
$75,100

Weld County Weed Division
Eradicating Annual Invasives to Restore Native Grassland in Weld County (CO)
Restore grassland habitat on private, state and federal lands in Northern Weld County, Colorado by controlling and eradicating invasive, annual grasses with Indaziflam, a scientifically proven and widely accepted herbicide. Project will restore 4,000 acres of habitat and implement a robust educational campaign to inform stakeholders and community members of project successes.
$174,750

White River Conservation District
Improving Big Game Winter Range and Migration Routes (CO)
Improve winter range habitat and migration routes for elk and mule deer through the management of woody species encroachment on private and public lands which are part of the Stewart Gulch Coordinated Resources Management Plan for the Oldland Ranch located southwest of Meeker, Colorado. Project will treat woody invasives on 974 acres of land, opening up areas for wildlife movement and improving the quality of both wildlife and livestock forage.
$238,905