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TRCP Partners Receive Over $275 Million for Habitat Creation and Enhancement
Hunters and anglers should expect serious benefits from these projects over the next several years and beyond.
On October 23rd, the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) announced $1.5 billion of funding awards through its Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP). The RCPP uses a public-private partnership model to deliver voluntary, incentive-based conservation in ways that neither NRCS nor partners could do on their own. This year’s awards are at an unprecedented level, with $300 million being available through a traditional Farm Bill model and a staggering $1.2 billion provided by the Inflation Reduction Act for climate-smart activities.
Lead partners on this year’s awards include universities, Tribes, state and local governments, and nonprofit organizations. Many, if not all, of the projects will improve wildlife habitat and water quality in one way or another, but hunters and anglers should be particularly excited about those projects led by TRCP partners. As part of their mission, TRCP partners demonstrate a commitment to creating, enhancing, and protecting habitat, supporting access, and more. Funding these groups means better opportunities for hunters and anglers nationwide.
Of the 92 awarded projects this year, 16 are led by TRCP partners or their state-level affiliates, and these alone add up to over $275 million of conservation work. An additional 21 projects are led by members of the Land Trust Alliance, a TRCP partner. Several others are led by informal partners we work with regularly, and many more by others but include our Policy Council members as supporting partners.
So, what will this actually accomplish? Here are a few examples:
- Our partners at Tall Timbers will receive $25 million to use practices like prescribed fire and forest stand improvement to enhance upland forest habitat for species like bobwhite quail.
- Trout Unlimited will receive over $14 million to build habitat through stream restoration in the Salt River of Wyoming and its tributaries.
- The Conservation Fund will protect 100,000 acres of Montana grasslands at high risk of conversion with its $25 million award.
- The Nature Conservancy and its state level affiliates in Idaho and Maine will support climate-smart forest management in Maine and New Hampshire, protect forests and grasslands in Idaho and South Dakota, improve water quality in Indiana, improve fish passages in Maine, and reduce methane emissions from dairy cattle. These projects will total over $102 million.
- Ducks Unlimited will lead two projects totaling over $31 million, restoring wetlands and grasslands in Illinois and protecting waterfowl wintering habitat in California.
- Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever will restore rangelands in the Colorado River Basin of Arizona, enhance grasslands and associated wildlife migration corridors in Montana, and manage invasive Eastern Red Cedar in South Dakota with its $73.9 million across three projects.
- The Trust for Public Land will create habitat while supporting military readiness by permanently protecting 100,000 acres of working lands in the Colorado Springs area with their $19.4 million award.
“Active land stewardship, guided by science and fueled by a passion for hunting, has led to the remarkable success of regions like the Red Hills, with their thriving wild quail populations and high biodiversity,” said Shane Wellendorf, Director of Tall Timbers’ Land Conservancy. “The RCPP award enables Tall Timbers to reach a broader range of landowners, implementing critical conservation practices such as frequent prescribed fire. These practices build on past successes and conserve wildlife corridors, mitigate wildfire risks, and bolster forest resilience.”
“The $14 million Salt River Watershed Restoration Project will restore aquatic and riparian habitat, reduce streambank erosion, restore habitat connectivity, and sequester carbon in the Salt River and its tributaries through stream restoration, grazing management, and agricultural infrastructure projects,” said Tanner Belknap, Salt River watershed manager at Trout Unlimited. “This is a huge win for the entire Salt River Basin, and we are thankful to the NRCS for this funding, which will allow us to reconnect and restore habitat for the Snake River cutthroat trout, improve the health of the watershed, and increase partner coordination around watershed priorities.”
Hunters and anglers should expect serious benefits from these projects over the next several years and beyond, and we are working to make sure that conservation programs like the RCPP continue. Learn more about how you can help HERE.
Top photo by USDA via flickr
The Mississippi’s Massive Catfish, Tasty Drums & Bountiful Crabs: Video Compilation
See what happened when TRCP brought a group of talented river anglers with prominent online followings to check off a multitude of fishing wish-list items
TRCP recently hosted several well-known, river-savvy angling influencers on a two-day fishing and crabbing excursion on the Mississippi River, to talk about the importance of restoring the functionality of the river, throughout the basin from the Gulf of Mexico to Minnesota. The video-makers got an up-close look at freshwater and sediment diversions to see firsthand how effective they are at improving productivity and rebuilding land being lost to subsidence, rising seas, and battering from hurricanes.
Particularly near the river’s confluence with Neptune Pass, the group got into a bevy of black drum, sheepshead, catfish, redfish, speckled trout, and blue crabs. Chris Macaluso, TRCP’s director of marine fisheries, said that he was impressed by how everyone who attended was already aware of how important a naturally flowing river is for the best angling opportunities.
“Buras, Louisiana, in the fall can be one of the most incredible places in the world to fish because the Mississippi River and its passes and connected marshes are teeming with fresh and saltwater fish, ducks, alligators, crabs, and shrimp,” Macaluso said. “For some, it was their first chance to fish in the river where it meets the Gulf of Mexico and catch redfish and giant catfish with massive ocean-going ships passing by and migrating ducks landing all around. While they hadn’t seen the river at that scale and talked about connecting that much water and sediment into coastal wetlands, all had a story about some of their home waters and how much better the fishing is in rivers that continue to interact with floodplains and support wetland habitats.”
Check out the resulting videos below.
Cole & Jay
Cole and Jay Harken, based in Arkansas, are a husband/wife duo with a passion for wildlife, nature, and fishing in particular who post weekly outdoor content that focuses on freshwater angling as well as interesting wildlife encounters and traditional Southern sporting endeavors like frog gigging.
Marsh Man Masson
Todd Masson is and outdoor writer and lifelong fisherman who travels Louisiana’s Gulf Coast and beyond seeking speckled trout, redfish, flounder, bass, and other sportfish and panfish. His videos offer techniques and locations to help other anglers mimic his success and introduce viewers to local guides. With a mind for conservation, Masson also has been featured in several collaborations with TRCP.
Outside the Levees
This YouTube channel, hosted by Jared Serignè, features hunting and fishing adventures in South Louisiana “outside the levees” of the Mississippi River. The channel offers many videos focusing on targeting invasive species and cultural traditions like shrimping, crabbing, and alligator hunting, with an emphasis on the catch-and-cook mentality.
River Certified
Based in Iowa, Spencer Bauer’s posts on River Certified are mostly about fishing for giant catfish, bass, walleyes, and other Midwestern fish, from kayak, boat, and shore. He also offers angling tips and tricks, and posts on camping and general outdoor fun, with a new video posted every Monday and Thursday afternoon. While in Louisiana with TRCP, Bauer made a number of videos because of all the action he found, including some on landing monster blue catfish.
TRCP is working to improve Louisiana’s coastal wetlands and fish habitat, and enhance recreational fishing opportunities, by restoring more natural flows from the Mississippi River. Click the video below to learn more.
Fish Camp
A place where fish are caught, stories get bigger, and camaraderie runs deep
There’s no place I’d rather be during the month of September than in my home state of Oregon. For all 30 days, one can travel across the diverse geography, from the salty coast to the deep canyons of the Snake River, taking full advantage of the long, lingering summer light while attempting to fill the freezer in the company of good people with a bow or rod in hand. That’s why when I received an invitation to attend a salmon fishing event hosted by Work Sharp called ‘Fish Camp’ along the mighty Columbia River, I eagerly accepted.
Growing up outside of Astoria at the mouth of the Columbia, learning to fish for salmon was a rite of passage for any fledging angler. My dad was a local pastor, and since we didn’t have our own boat, I would beg him to use his large network of church members to get us on as many vessels as we could during the famed Bouy 10 fall chinook season.
Although I now live in central Oregon, I still try to salmon fish on the Columbia at least once a year. This year’s invite by Work Sharp to fish the river outside of The Dalles, Oregon, was going to be my only opportunity to bring home some bright orange salmon fillets, and as I drove across the Columbia plateau north from Madras, I was excited to get on the water.
We woke early the first morning and drove from The Dalles to just below Bonneville Dam where the winds were expected to be calmer to meet our guides for the day. Our guide, Dave Eng has been fishing these waters for over 45 years, and his easy-going confidence navigating the predawn light to where the fish had been biting gave us all upbeat spirits. Satisfied with the look of the water, Dave idled down and told us to toss out our flashers, weights, and Super Baits as we kicked into trolling mode. Minutes later, Kyle with Work Sharp hooked a fish. We netted the 15-pound hen and brought her into the boat, silvery sides reflecting various hues of grey in the overcast sunrise.
The morning passed easily. We were all engaged in conversations that were frequently interrupted by bent rods and the tell-tale nibble of upriver bright Chinooks. These fish travel hundreds of miles upstream through the now dam-regulated current of one of the largest and most productive salmon rivers in the world.
Historically, between 10-16 million salmon returned annually to the vast Columbia River System and its tributaries. Today, the returns rarely exceed 2 million, and we were lucky on this trip that the Chinook return in the fall of 2024 was a strong one. These fish are resilient, and billions of dollars have been spent in recent years restoring habitat within the basin to revive this abundant food source and economic engine that’s a key element of the Tribes and people who live in the Pacific Northwest. Conversations are still bustling in the halls of Congress and the many towns that rely on salmon in the PNW about how best to manage them into the future to ensure their abundance.
The Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership is engaged in many public land planning processes that directly impact the salmon of the Columbia River System: whether that be through engaging in national forest management planning efforts to support updates to the Northwest Forest Plan or through engagement in national legislation on forest health to expand tools to help combat the effects of over a century of fire exclusion. According to a recent USFS threats analysis, the forests in the Pacific Northwest are rapidly changing due to warmer and drier weather and face high risks such as wildfire, insects, and disease. This past summer proved to be one of the largest wildfire seasons ever in Oregon, with more than 1,900 fires burning over 1.9 million acres in the state. The scale of these uncharacteristic wildfires aren’t good for salmon as they can result in warmer water temperatures and increased stream sediment in the headwaters where salmon spawn. The TRCP and our partners strive to champion policies that make habitat a priority on our public lands and waters, and just like the salmon, the work to conserve them is far ranging.
Back on the water, thanks to our guide Dave’s knowledge, we each had our one chinook on board and on ice before lunch and were back on the dock in time for an afternoon spent in conversation. The dialogue spanned topics from what type of scent to put on a lure, the angle a fillet knife needs to be in order to achieve maximum sharpness, and how to best barbecue a backstrap. I knew I was in good company.
With the hectic pace our world brings to modern life, I was thankful to have been invited to spend a few days on the water where I used my phone for photos rather than emails and spent time laughing and swapping stories with people who are all in one way or another employed and inspired by the great outdoors and abundant natural resources, like the salmon we trolled for on the river.
Thanks to Work Sharp and the many brands for hosting this event and to the many guides and journalists who made time to attend. We all had the opportunity to put good gear to the test and remember why we are in this industry, whether as a guide, a journalist, a conservationist, or a brand marketing director. The comradery, the stories, and the fish caught all have me excited to return for Fish Camp in 2025.
Learn more about TRCP’s work in the Pacific Northwest HERE.
Fish Camp was attended by representatives of Work Sharp, Columbia PFG, Smith, CRKT, Whiteduck, Camp Chef, KLYMIT, Sea to Summit, and The Dalles Area Chamber of Commerce.
Photos courtesy of Work Sharp.
TRCP Opposes the Blanket Sale or Transfer of Federal Land to States
Recent efforts from states to transfer federal lands mean risks for hunter and angler access & wildlife habitat management
This past August, leading Utah officials petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to hear Utah’s case that argues for the transfer of Bureau of Land Management acres to state ownership. The action was recently backed by amicus briefs filed by Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Idaho, Iowa, Mississippi, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, and Wyoming.
While the Utah filing is limited to “unappropriated lands” managed by the Bureau of Land Management, their brief clearly justifies and rationalizes the transfer or sale of all federal public lands. If the U.S. Supreme Court decides to take up this case, it is very possible that their decision would set a precedent that makes all 640 million acres of federal public lands, including National Parks, vulnerable to transfer to state ownership.
“This is a lose-lose situation for states and all Americans for which these lands are held in the public trust,” said Joel Webster, chief conservation officer for the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership. “There have been several efforts over the past four decades to sell or transfer federal lands. None have been successful, and all have been unpopular. States simply do not have the resources to manage the vast acres that make up federal lands.”
Currently, lands managed in trust by states in the West, including Utah, are legislatively mandated to generate revenue to support trust land beneficiaries, such as public schools. This means that most state lands are managed for maximum profit, often benefiting private interests. Public access is also not guaranteed on state trust lands. Hunters and anglers in Montana successfully opened their state trust lands after decades of restricted access, whereas state trust lands in Colorado are open to the public only if the acres are actively enrolled in an access lease. Long-term conservation of these lands to benefit public access and enjoyment, as well as managing fish and wildlife populations, is not secure.
Utah’s latest proposal is not new and evokes memories of similar proposals from the early 2010s. These proposals received massive pushback from hunters and anglers, outdoor recreationalists, outdoor businesses, and conservationists. In response to long-term opposition, bipartisan lawmakers recently introduced proactive legislation that would require congressional approval for the sale or transfer of most federal lands. The main arguments against land transfer proposals remain unchanged.
If granted ownership of federal lands within their borders, states would be wildly underfunded and understaffed to manage them. They would also lack any clear mandate for what that management should look like as the lands would no longer be governed by federal multiple-use laws. Without the resources or mandate to manage world-class hunting and fishing destinations for wildlife or recreational access, these important areas could be sold to the highest bidder.
Local and state economies could also take a serious hit if federal lands were transferred to the states. Counties across the West receive millions of dollars in federal revenue based on the amount of federal public land within their borders through programs such as Payments in Lieu of Taxes and laws like the Mineral Leasing Act and the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act. Thousands of BLM, National Forest, and National Park Service jobs would be eliminated in rural communities, and public land-driven outdoor recreation tourism would cease.
New financial burdens would extend into fighting fire and post-fire mitigation, a battle that seemingly intensifies every year in the West. The 2024 wildfire season in Wyoming alone has burned well over half a million acres, draining the state’s $39 million wildfire suppression account. That figure is on top of tens of millions of dollars spent by federal firefighting efforts. These burn areas are now prone to the spread of invasive weeds, requiring millions of dollars in mitigation efforts. Transferring federal lands to states would put the cost of wildland fire fighting and post-fire mitigation on the backs of limited state budgets.
There are many complex challenges to managing millions of acres of federal public lands for multiple uses. However, the blunt instrument of sale or transfer will not solve the problems states have with federal agencies. This brash action will in fact only exasperate states’ present management and budgetary issues. Collaboration, as it has been for decades, is the way toward successful and lasting resource development, wildlife habitat management, and public access.
“TRCP recognizes that there is tension over how some federal public lands are managed, but the sale or transfer of public lands is not the answer,” concluded Webster. “We believe that the best way for people to address these challenges is by rolling up their sleeves and finding common ground. TRCP is committed to being a part of that dialogue, and we encourage others to take a similar approach.”
Learn more about this issue HERE.
The TRCP is your resource for all things conservation. In our weekly Roosevelt Report, you’ll receive the latest news on emerging habitat threats, legislation and proposals on the move, public land access solutions we’re spearheading, and opportunities for hunters and anglers to take action. Sign up now.
HOW YOU CAN HELP
From now until January 1, 2025, every donation you make will be matched by a TRCP Board member up to $500,000 to sustain TRCP’s work that promotes wildlife habitat, our sporting traditions, and hunter & angler access. Together, dollar for dollar, stride for stride, we can all step into the arena of conservation.
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