The conservation groups Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever have received more than $400,000 from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation to help restore rangeland and wildlife habitat in Idaho by reducing invasive grasses.
The money will help the Idaho Cheatgrass Challenge Team, which was established in 2019 by federal, state, and private land managers to combat the threat posed by invasive grasses in rangelands. According to a news statement from the organizations, the team plans to use the grant to treat 21,000 acres.
Nearly 50,000 public and private sites in Idaho have been treated by the program thus far. The use of adaptive herbicides, ground and aerial perennial plant seedings, and livestock grazing management are strategies to lessen invasive grasses. According to the announcement, restoring these acres will improve biodiversity, cattle grazing, and the amount of animal habitat that is available.
According to a press release from the nonprofit’s coordinator of the cheatgrass challenge, Lacey Clarke, “without the strong partnerships we’ve built here in Idaho and the landowners willing to get on board with these large, landscape level treatments, we could not fund and treat all these acres against annual invasive grasses.” We will continue to expand our core areas and combat annual invasive grasses in the West with the support of this additional NFWF financing.
On treated and monitored acres, successful programs will observe a decrease in annual grasses and an increase in desirable permanent plants. These treatments’ long-term objectives include lowering the size, frequency, and intensity of wildfires, which would promote the growth of natural habitat and increase the opportunities for recreational activities.
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