Forest Service and NRCS Awarded $500,000 for Project Near Sierra Blanca
The Lincoln National Forest and the Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) has been awarded over half a million dollars through the Joint Chiefs’ Landscape Restoration Partnership for forest restoration near Sierra Blanca in Otero and Lincoln counties.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will invest more than $46 million this year through the Joint Chiefs’ Landscape Restoration Partnership for projects that reduce wildfire risk, improve water quality, and restore healthy forest ecosystems on public and private lands across the country. Funding for 37 projects includes $13 million for eight new projects and $33.3 million to complete work on 29 projects previously selected in 2019 and 2020.
The Sierra Blanca Restoration Partnership Project
The project is located near the iconic Sierra Blanca Mountain in southern New Mexico and straddles the lower half of Lincoln County and the northern portion of Otero County. This project was chosen because heavy fuel loadings of piñon-juniper, Ponderosa pine, and mixed conifer forest contribute to high risk of uncharacteristic wildfire and significant threat to local communities, infrastructure, two adjacent wilderness areas, source water for community water supplies, as well as the Snowy River Cave System. This project will provide for treatment on a combination of private, Tribal, municipal, and Federal lands. Project activities will focus on mechanical fuels reduction, prescribed burning and riparian area restoration. Benefits to nearby communities include lowered risk for wildfire, security for water quality and supply, and stimulation of the local economy via enhanced tourism opportunities. Ancillary benefits of these outcomes will be enhanced wildlife habitat for several threatened and endangered (T&E) species, and eventually the ability to reintroduce native Cutthroat Trout into the local watersheds.
About the Joint Chief’s Landscape Restoration Partnership
The Joint Chiefs’ Landscape Restoration Partnership enables NRCS and the Forest Service to collaborate with agricultural producers and forest landowners to invest in conservation and restoration at a big enough scale to make a difference. Working in partnership, and at this scale, helps reduce wildfire threats, protect water quality and supply, and improve wildlife habitat. Partners on the Sierra Blanca Restoration Project include Mescalero Apache Tribe, Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Village of Ruidoso, NM Conservation Corp, Ecoservants, Trout Unlimited, and New Mexico Department of Game and Fish (NMDGF).
“The Joint Chiefs’ Landscape Restoration Partnership continues to provide an excellent example of the shared stewardship model,” said Forest Service Chief Vicki Christiansen. “The program enables federal, state, and local partners to work across boundaries and jurisdictions to accomplish joint management goals at a much larger scale.”
Added NRCS Acting Chief Kevin Norton: “These Joint Chiefs projects are proof positive of what can be achieved when there is collaboration at all levels – federal, state, and local. We’re proud to help continue these conservation partnerships and successes with these next eight projects.”
The eight newly awarded projects are:
Alabama and Florida: Sustaining Gains in Longleaf Pine Restoration Through Coordinated Cogongrass Control
Alaska: Prince of Wales Landscape Restoration Partnership
Idaho: North Fork Hazardous Fuels Reduction Project
New Mexico: Sierra Blanca Restoration Partnership
Oregon: Buttes to Basins - All Lands Forest Resiliency Project
Oregon: Lake County All Lands Restoration Initiative
Puerto Rico: Ecosystem Resilience Through Conservation Practices
Tennessee: East Tennessee Aquatic Habitat for At Risk Species
Past Success
USDA has invested more than $247 million over seven years in Joint Chiefs’ Landscape Restoration Partnership projects, which focus on areas where public forests and grasslands intersect with privately-owned lands. This year’s selections bring the total number of projects to 93.
Since 2014, these projects have delivered important forest and rangeland funding to 40 states and Puerto Rico. A partnership that has demonstrated success over the past few years is the Greater La Pine Basin Cohesive Strategy project in Oregon. This project reduced hazardous fuels on over 18,500 acres of federal and private lands. In July 2020, these treatments helped firefighters suppress the 393-acre Rosland Road fire, preventing it from spreading into the nearby community of La Pine, Ore.
More Information
For full project descriptions and information on past completed projects, visit the Joint Chiefs’ Landscape Restoration Partnership website.
Agricultural producers and forest landowners interested in a project to mitigate wildfire risk should contact their local USDA Service Center to learn if their land is eligible.
All USDA Service Centers are open for business, including those that restrict in-person visits or require appointments. Please call ahead.
