Land trust accepts $1.2 million donation

Agrium has donated almost $1.2 million to help fund conservation and wildlife habitat protection in the Soda Springs area.

The Sagebrush Land Steppe Land Trust will manage projects associated with the Rasmussen Valley Mine.

“Every penny of this fund will go directly on the ground for conservation easements and habitat improvement projects in southeast Idaho,” said SSLT Executive Director Matt Lucia.

The Land Trust will accept project requests, evaluate progress, and disburse funding for projects that benefit the local environment.

Agrium is working to identify reclamation and off-site mitigation practices to benefit wildlife and their habitat, incorporate mine designs to increase the number of final reclamation acres, and minimize the impact of phosphorous mining on wetland and stream resources.

Acting Idaho Falls District Bureau of Land Management Manager Lance Brady commended the company.

“Agrium’s donation to the Sagebrush Steppe Land Trust shows its commitment to being a good neighbor–to being a part of a community, really,” said Brady. “On one level, this is about helping with important habitat work, but it’s also about jobs, about working landscapes and about how Idaho residents traditionally use this part of the state.”