The colorado first conservation district (cfcd) is seeking to be the recipient of funds to promote a collaborative and scientifically driven approach towards conserving and restoring sagebrush…

The Colorado First Conservation District (CFCD) has been awarded a $294,717 Cooperative Agreement from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Partners for Fish and Wildlife (CFDA 15.631) program to promote a collaborative and scientifically driven approach towards conserving and restoring sagebrush ecosystems in Moffat County, Colorado. The project aims to address the loss of sagebrush landscapes and associated native vegetation due to invasive annual grasses and large wildfires, which has led to landscape-scale changes that are challenging to restore. CFCD, a local government entity with expertise in implementing conservation projects through public-private partnerships, will utilize this funding to undertake seeding, planting, and invasive plant control efforts to protect critical habitats for species like the greater sage-grouse. The project will run from January 2025 through December 2026, contributing to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's mission of supporting voluntary conservation on private lands.

The colorado first conservation district (cfcd) is seeking to be the recipient of funds to promote a collaborative and scientifically driven approach towards conserving and restoring sagebrush ecosystems in moffat county, colorado. Loss of sagebrush landscapes, including the loss of important native grasses and forbs, is driven largely by invasive annual grasses and the associated impacts from large wildfires, resulting in landscape scale change that can be difficult to restore. Complex interactions with drought and changing climates and limited native plant material make restoration challenging and requires a strategic approach to ensure theecosystem can support wildlife, ranching, recreation, and other land uses. Conserving critical sagebrushecosystems requires a combination of efforts where all stakeholders play vital roles. The colorado first conservation district (cfcd), whose primary focus is coordinating technical, financial, and educational assistance for wildlife habitat and rangeland improvement, has a proven track record of success in implementing conservation projects with specific measurable results. Cfcd has successfully coordinated public private partnerships to implement programs that improve soil health, enhance wildlife habitat and improve grazing. The sagebrush ecosystem supports critical agricultural and recreation economies in moffat county and provideshabitat to approximately 350 native wildlife species including greater sage-grouse (grsg), migratory songbirds, and big game herds. In addition, sagebrush ecosystems in northwest colorado support a large majority of thecolorado grsg population. There are approximately 1.2 million acres of priority- habitat and over 2.27 millionacres of habitat within the boundaries of the colorado first conservation district, which encompasses all ofmoffat county. Cfcd contains 483,000 acres of private lands with more than 160 different landowners that include grsg priority habitat, nesting area, brood rearing area and or winter range.participation of landowners and conservation districts in the restoration, conservation and monitoring ofsagebrush ecosystems is critical for reaching the goals outlined in federal, state and local conservation plans.while state and federal agencies are required to manage populations and habitat, implementation on private landis voluntary. Barriers to implementing improvement projects on private lands include lack of financial incentives, lack of technical expertise and concerns over potential regulatory restrictions.invasive annual grasses continue to expand their foothold in moffat county. Although there are many sagebrushecosystem enhancements needed, focusing first on protecting and growing the core through seeding, planting and control of invasive plants has been set as a priority focus at cfcd. Landscape wide collaborative efforts arecrucial to protecting and conserving core areas, and private land participation is necessary for meaningfulefforts. This program for landowners implementing sagebrush ecosystem restoration is designed to encourage and financially assist private landowners in restoring and maintaining sagebrush habitats. Seeding will not occurwithin annual grass treatment areas. The conserving sagebrush ecosystems on working lands program will result in tangible and measurable benefits to sagebrush ecosystems. Cfcd will establish an internal team and collaborate with partner organizations such as but not limited to US fish and wildlife service, colorado parks and wildlife, moffat county commissioners, moffat county weed and pest, little snake field office, BLM and others to ensure success.