Of the more than $122 million in grants announced last week by the Biden-Harris administration as it joined the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, are several million for conservation efforts involving the state of Oklahoma involving wetlands, protection of the Illinois River and bison herd growth.
Sixty-one new grants were announced in support of landscape-scale conservation projects across 42 states, 19 tribal nations and 3 U.S. territories. According to the announcement, the grants will generate at least $8.7 million in matching contributions for a total conservation impact of $131.1 million. The program, called America the Beautiful and launched by President Biden in 2021, set the nation’s first-ever goal to conserve at least 30 percent of U.S. lands and waters by 2030.
The Oklahoma Conservation Commission is set to receive $4 million with $444,800 in matching funds for the Southern Great Plains Wetlands and Prairie Collaborative in Oklahoma and Kansas.
The funds are to be used to create create ecologically functional grassland, wetland and riparian ecosystems in the Southern Great Plains of Oklahoma and Kansas through 10,000 acres of invasive-species removal, 30,000 acres of prescribed burning and restoring 1,000 acres of wetlands to benefit whooping cranes. The project will work collaboratively to restore wildlife habitat, decrease wildfire risks, increase water availability and improve livestock production.
The Cherokee Nation will receive $772,900 for the Cherokee Nation Illinois River Watershed Conservation and Restoration Partnership involving Oklahoma and Arkansas. The project’s goal is to achieve conservation, restoration and improved recreational access within the Illinois River watershed. It will will protect
culturally significant species and habitats, creating four
strategic plans and 17 engineering and design plans for
riparian restoration, unpaved roads, habitat and wetlands
restoration, public access improvement, and community
education and outreach programming.
A grant of $3,425,900 went to the University of Alabama where $381,000 in matching funds will help the Developing Giant Rivercane Restoration for the Southeastern United States. Oklahoma is one of 12 states where the development of giant rivercane seed stock will be used to help Tribal Nations in implementing rivercane habitat restoration projects across the Southeast. The rivercane is considered a “cultural keystone species” and part of many Southeastern Indigenous communities’ culture, heritage and lifeways.
A grant of $1,110,700 with $277,700 in matching funds went to the New Mexico group called Trees, Water & People for a program called Restoring Lands, Restoring Trust: Tribally-Led Conservation in Santa Fe National Forest. The program’s goal is to improve upland forest systems, canyon bottom and streams of the Jemez mountains in north central New Mexico after decades of drought and megafires.
Another native led program called the Native-Led Restoration and Stewardship of Bison-grazed Land in Oklahoma, Kansas, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and Texas received $498,000 grant and will require $164,300 in matching funds.
The program will conduct outreach and provide technical assistance to Native buffalo producers on bison-grazed lands across Indian Country. Project will utilize Working Lands for Wildlife frameworks and Traditional Ecological Knowledge to
develop preparedness and conservation plans for 34 native
buffalo producers, increasing access to farm bill programs
and climate-smart practices, strengthening resilience and
enhancing biodiversity on Native-managed grasslands,
prairies and savannas.
A grant of $499,200 with $164,700 in matching funds went to the development of Monarch butterfly conservation in Texas. The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation received the funding for its Expanding Technical Assistance on Texas Working Lands for Monarch Conservation.
Its goal is to develop monarch butterfly conservation capacity across Texas, specifically within south Texas and Texas Hill Country, by supporting a monarch butterfly habitat conservation
specialist to facilitate and aid private landowner conservation
actions. Project will develop conservation planning tools,
train NRCS staff, lead habitat demonstration projects, increase
landowner knowledge through 12 outreach events and
contribute to the development of at least 24 projects.
