GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – The Colorado Division of Wildlife’s Habitat Partnership Program has awarded $500,000 to five recipients in Colorado that will fund habitat enhancement projects on private and public land with the goal of keeping big game animals from coming into conflict with adjacent private agricultural landowners.

The recipients this year are:

• White River National Forest Milk Creek Enhancement Project near Meeker
• Rio Grande National Forest San Luis Valley Water Development project near Saguache
• Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre and Gunnison National Forest Uncompahgre Plateau Habitat Restoration project
• Uncompahgre Partnerships North Rim Landscape Restoration project near Hotchkiss
• Three Rivers Alliances Russian olive and tamarisk removal project in Yuma County

Landowners will use the funds to launch improvement projects that will include the use of brush manipulation, weed control, water developments and reseeding with a goal of increasing available habitat and forage for big-game animals. The deadline for completing the work is June 2012.

The HPP State Council evaluated each proposal based on several criteria including the size and scale of treatments and the type of improvements proposed. One critical component the Council examined before presenting the awards was the extent of the recipient’s partnerships. The selected projects exemplified the partnership component that HPP encourages and develops.

“The criteria that the State Council used to evaluate the applicants ensures that we can leverage everyone’s limited funds while creating a successful project for both landowners and wildlife,” said Division of Wildlife HPP coordinator Pat Tucker.

HPP began these grants in 2009 to encourage larger scale habitat improvement projects and this is the second time that the HPP program has granted funds for them. By the end of June 2012, an additional $1 million will have been spent by HPP to improve habitat and reduce conflicts between big game and agricultural operators. This does not include additional money spent by project partners, which can easily double or triple HPP’s investment.

The Colorado General Assembly and the Colorado Wildlife Commission established the Habitat Partnership Program in 1990 with a goal to reduce wildlife conflicts by facilitating cooperation between landowners, land managers, sportsmen, the DOW and others to minimize and resolve conflicts between ungulates and agricultural users.

“These grants have proven to be a very effective way to help reduce big game conflicts with private landowners,” said Northwest Regional Manager Ron Velarde. “We appreciate the cooperation with both public and private landowners and their efforts to improve natural habitat for wildlife.”

While applications for this habitat improvement grant offer are no longer being accepted, people interested in local HPP projects should contact their local Division of Wildlife office or go to the Division’s website, www.wildlife.state.co.us/landwater for more information.

For more news about Division of Wildlife go to: http://wildlife.state.co.us/news/index.asp?DivisionID=3

For more information about Division of Wildlife go to: http://wildlife.state.co.us.

Contact:

Mike Porras

Phone: 970-255-6162