Arizona News – On Tuesday (Nov. 14), the American Conservation Experience (ACE) was awarded a large America the Beautiful Challenge (ATBC) grant to conduct important watershed improvement and invasive species management work for up to four years on Coconino National Forest.
The $1,755,900 grant included a grant amount of $1,404,700 with matching funds of $351,200 and will employ two specialized six-person crews to perform the work.
The crews will remove and treat invasive species on 1,000 acres as well as deliver 15 miles of instream and riparian restoration. They will do this through the removal of failed culverts, channel stabilization, installation of rack or log structures and the reduction of non-functioning flow diversion features.
Forest personnel will begin coordinating with ACE this winter to begin planning where and when this important work will begin and the timeline of projects.
“ACE is really excited to work on this forest, and to add capacity as a multidisciplinary restoration crew that can help the forest move toward desired conditions within our Forest Plan and meet restoration objectives,” said Forest Botanist Andy Pigg.
The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation recently announced more than $140 million in grants from the ATBC to restore lands and waters, which included 74 grants across 46 states, three U.S. Territories, and 21 Tribal Nations. A complete list of the ATBC 2023 grants is available online.
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Human waste has done more damage to our waterways than invasive plants and species ever could. There are National Parks worldwide that have human waste problems so bad they are now asking the public to use the same bags used for K9 waste removal for themselves rather than just taking a leak or dump adjacent to or on a trail without burying it properly. If our parks did the same and fined people caught ignoring the request with significant fines then the problem would not go away but would dissipate some. Remember water flows downhill and Carrie’s everything in its path with it including urine and feces. After tackling this issue then maybe adding invasive species to the list would make sense.