This cooperative agreement is being implemented with tierra y montes soil and water conservation district, (hereinafter swcd)

The U.S. Department of the Interior Fish and Wildlife Service has awarded Tierra Y Montes, a U.S. local government Soil and Water Conservation District, a $100,000 Cooperative Agreement under the Partners for Fish and Wildlife program (CFDA 15.631). The 5-year award, effective October 2, 2023, will support habitat restoration and enhancement projects on private lands in San Miguel and Mora Counties, New Mexico. Key objectives include improving wildlife habitat quality, reducing erosion and sedimentation, and educating landowners through hands-on restoration workshops. Project activities will involve thinning overstocked conifer stands, removing ladder fuels, and restoring ecological structure to benefit migratory birds, the New Mexico meadow jumping mouse, native pollinators, and other federal trust species. Tierra Y Montes has received multiple Cooperative Agreements from this federal grant program for similar habitat work on private lands.

The primary objective for this cooperative agreement is to work with various private landowners in SAN miguel and mora counties on habitat restoration and enhancement projects. This project will benefit the public by improving the quality of wildlife habitat, reducing erosion and sediment deposition, and help educate landowners around restoration practices through a hands-on landowner restoration workshop. The swcd and its partners are equipped with the expertise to achieve this project as habitat restoration on private lands is their main organizational mission.