USDA announces Great American Outdoors Projects

WASHINGTON (KIFI)-USDA announced Thursday it will invest more than $218 million to fund Great American Outdoors Projects. Secretary Tom Vilsack said they are intended to conserve critical forest and wetland habitat, support rural economic recovery, and increase public access to national forests and grasslands.

The funding will leverage the Land and Water Conservation Fund and support work with state agencies to encourage private forest landowners to protect their land through conservation easements or land purchases.

“The investments will not only protect our natural heritage, they will also create jobs, expand access to the outdoors, and help tackle climate change," said Vilsack.

Of $123 million to fund land acquisition projects, $6.4 million will be used in Fiscal Year 21 to acquire 8,590 acres for the Lolo Trails Project in Montana. The project is aimed at mitigating the effects of climate change by providing the cold water needed to sustain healthy populations of federally listed bull trout and other species in a warming climate.

The Forest Service will invest more than $94 million to fund 28 projects under the Forest Legacy Program. Inlcuded in that is the second phase of the Kootenai Forestlands Conservaton project. It will preserve 28,000 acres of land in northwest Montana. The project area belongs to the Stimson Lumber Company. In addition to contributing to the local economy, the company allows free public access as a recreation destination. The project will also protect the area from further residential development, reducing firefighting costs by more than half.

The agency worked with partners, considered multiple criteria and used established competitive processes to select projects for fiscal year 2021.

You can review the full list of Intermountain Region Forest projects here.