A $1.9 million grant is being given to the Nez Perce Tribe in Idaho to rehabilitate habitat that has been damaged by a former hydraulic mine.
The grant is made possible by the America the Beautiful Challenge, which was started in 2021 by the Biden administration in collaboration with the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, Native Americans in Philanthropy, and the departments of the Interior, Agriculture, and Defense. By 2030, it established the nation’s first-ever target to conserve at least 30% of American lands and waters.
The U.S. Department of the Interior said in a press release that the 61 awards awarded Monday total $122.4 million to states, tribal entities, and U.S. territories. The funds fund initiatives that increase community resilience and access to nature while preserving, restoring, and connecting animal habitats and ecosystems.
22 acres of an abandoned hydraulic mine in Leggett Creek will be restored as part of the Nez Perce Tribe’s initiative. By planting native evergreens and deciduous shrubs, the initiative seeks to stabilize eroding slopes and lessen the amount of excess silt delivered into vital habitat for steelhead, Chinook salmon, and bull trout. According to the National Wildlife and Fish Foundation, it will also enhance the water passage of more than 23 miles of upstream fish habitat for spawning and rearing.
According to U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland, the America the Beautiful campaign has had a profound impact.
We have created a sustainable route to fund hundreds of locally driven collaborative conservation initiatives nationwide by cooperating across the federal family and through private-public partnerships,” Haaland stated in the statement. By supporting a record number of initiatives led by tribes and promoting the application of Indigenous knowledge to protect endangered species and cherished landscapes, the America the Beautiful Challenge has improved interaction with tribes. These creative investments will have a long-lasting impact on the lands and rivers of our country.
According to the news announcement, projects carried out by Indigenous communities and groups will get about 42 percent of all 2024 America the Beautiful funds.
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