Millions coming to the region to restore lands and waters

WASHINGTON –The Lower Brule Sioux Tribe is among 74 grant recipients announced today by the Biden-Harris Administration and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation to receive money for high-priority, locally-led conservation projects across the United States, as part of the America The Beautiful Challenge launched by the Administration in 2021.

The news release from the Department of Interior said the Tribe is set to receive a grant amount of $2.3 million dollars for shoreline stabilization and ecosystem recovery of Lake Sharpe. This includes establishing trees, shrubs, vines and other culturally important riparian plants. The project includes building an island and peninsula, restoring wetland habitats, establishing a walking trail and cultural interpretive natural area and protect two cultural sites. DOI said this will benefit riparian and wetland dependent wildlife, and key habitats created are 60 acres of cottonwood-dominated forest and 17 acres of back channel and side channel wetlands in a 3-mile riparian zone.

First Nations Development Institute is set to receive more than $1.3 million dollars, with a matching amount of $344,300, to promote tribal co-stewardship for the health of the grasslands of South Dakota, North Dakota, Nebraska, Colorado and Kansas. The estimated total project cost is more than $1.7 million dollars.

The project will provide technical assistance, training and networking to Tribal Nations for the purpose of developing Tribal co-stewardship agreements with the U.S. Forest Service that restore the health of federal grasslands through Indigenous natural resource management practices. This project will lead to the development of six plans and monitoring programs focused on Indigenous cultural fire management practices, restoration of keystone fauna species and reseeding of native grasses and prairie plants

The North Dakota Game and Fish Department is another grant recipient. They’ll receive $2.5 million with matching funds, for a total project cost of almost $3 million dollars for the Meadowlark Initiative, to advance grassland conservation on private lands in North Dakota. This project will assemble collective insights, resources and efforts of conservation, agriculture and industry partners to enhance, restore and sustain native grasslands in North Dakota. About 18,000 acres of native grasslands will be protected by providing financial compensation to volunteer ranchers and producers to protect their native grasslands from conversion and development. 

The Fort Peck Buffalo Program in Montana is also set to receive grant money for the Northern Plains Bison Range Conservation Improvements. The Fort Peck Tribes are set to receive nearly $5 million dollars, the estimated cost of the project. This project will enhance grassland habitat conservation value within the 17,000-acre Fort Peck Cultural Buffalo Ranch in northeast Montana. Project will utilize herd health and range ecological assessments to identify and implement appropriate habitat improvement, workforce development, and community engagement strategies.

The Biden-Harris administration and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, announced a total of $141.3 million in grants through the America the Beautiful Challenge (ATBC). The 74 new grants announced today will support landscape-scale conservation projects across 46 states, three U.S. Territories, and 21 Tribal Nations, and will generate at least $12 million in matching contributions for a total conservation impact of more than $153 million. Approximately 40 percent of 2023 grants and funding will support projects implemented by Indigenous communities, representing an unprecedented level of funding dedicated to Tribally led projects for a single grant program at NFWF.

America the Beautiful, launched by the Administration in 2021, set the nation’s first-ever goal to conserve 30 percent of U.S. lands and waters by 2030. The 10-year, locally led and nationally scaled initiative lifts up efforts to conserve, connect, and restore the lands, waters, and wildlife upon which we all depend. In his first two years in office, President Biden invested more dollars in conservation than any other President in a two-year period, and he is on track to conserve more lands and waters than any President in history.

The competitive grant awards were made possible through President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, with funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, other federal conservation programs, and private sources..

“Nature is essential to the health, well-being and prosperity of every community in America. Through the President’s Investing in America agenda, we have the historic opportunity to invest in locally led, collaborative efforts that can help combat the impacts of climate change, advance environmental justice, and safeguard the lands and waters we all love,” said Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland. “I’m thrilled that in this year’s grant selections, 40 percent of the projects awarded will be implemented by Tribal communities, putting Indigenous Knowledge at the center of our conservation work.”

Overall, the projects announced today are expected to:

Improve management of more than 13 million acres

Improve or remove more than 115 miles of fence to benefit wildlife

Manage more than 69,000 acres of fire-dependent habitat with prescribed burning

Remove or improve more than 150 barriers to fish and aquatic organism passage

Reconnect nearly 900 miles of stream or river

Restore more than 650 acres of wetlands

Open more than 6,600 acres for public access

The ATBC includes an emphasis on supporting Tribal access to grant funding for restoration, conservation and capacity-building, and seeks projects that incorporate Indigenous Knowledge in planning and implementation. The number of proposals awarded to Tribal Nation applicants in 2023 far exceeded expectations and demonstrated high demand and clear need for the funding.

“Indigenous Knowledge and leadership are critical if the U.S. hopes to address the climate and biodiversity crisis,” said Erik Stegman, CEO of Native Americans in Philanthropy. “I am deeply grateful to our funders and partners at the Tribal Nations Climate and Conservation Funding Collaborative who, for the second year in a row, helped Tribes meet the non-federal match requirement, an historic barrier for many to receiving federal funds.

You can see a complete list of the 2023 grants made through the ATBC webpage.

 

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