The headwaters of the colorado initiative (hoc), in partnership with the national forest foundation (NFF) and western landowners alliance (WLA), is a collaboration of federal and state land management…

This $300,000 Project Grant award from the Bureau of Reclamation's Cooperative Watershed Management Program (CFDA 15.554) supports the Headwaters of the Colorado (HOC) Initiative, a multi-stakeholder collaboration focused on building resilient and functioning forested headwaters within the Little Snake and Yampa watersheds in Wyoming and Colorado.

The funding will enable the HOC partnership, which includes federal and state land management agencies, private landowners, and local community stakeholders, to formally establish a watershed group and develop a comprehensive watershed restoration plan. Key activities include conducting outreach, gathering information, and designing specific cross-boundary watershed restoration projects to address ecological and social challenges facing the region, such as climate change impacts, historic fire suppression, and competing land use demands. The planning process will involve coordination across private, state, and federal lands, with the ultimate goal of implementing impactful restoration projects starting in 2025.

The headwaters of the colorado initiative (hoc), in partnership with the national forest foundation (NFF) and western landowners alliance (WLA), is a collaboration of federal and state land management agencies, private landowners, and local community stakeholders that is building a diverse watershed collaborative. The hoc is a unique partnership between many diverse partners who are responsible for over 1.4 million acres in the BI-state project area. These partners support resilient and functioning forested headwaters within the little snake and yampa watersheds of southern wyoming and northwest colorado through science-based ecosystem planning, coordinated partnerships, and collaboration across multiple landscapes. The hoc will formally establish a watershed group to develop an organizational cross- jurisdictional framework capable of conducting outreach activities, gathering information, and creating a watershed restoration plan. The hoc will engage in collaborative watershed restoration planning and project design and implementation to facilitate impactful cross- boundary watershed projects. The hoc project area of the little snake and yampa watersheds are a primary headwater of the colorado river basin. This area is uniquely positioned to address the drivers of ecosystem change. Specifically, this watershed is severely impacted by ecological and social challenges, including but not limited to: complex shifts in basin-wide hydrology due to warming temperatures and reduced snowpack, historic fire suppression policies, increased mortality from insect and disease outbreaks, the potential for large, high-severity wildfires, and diverse land use values and demands across multiple sectors on natural resources add to the watersheds vulnerability. The development of the watershed group and subsequent creation of a watershed restoration plan with project design will be a multiyear process. In early 2023, the partners began stakeholder involvement, building on years of informal discussions and collaboration. Hoc development will progress through 2024 and continue through the length of this grant proposal with planning and project design in 2025 - 2027. The goals and objectives encompassed in this proposal will be completed by december 2027. Implementation and monitoring will continue through the life of the hocs watershed plan. The proposed planning efforts will involve private lands, state lands in wyoming and colorado, and federal lands in the medicine BOW-routt national forest and blms little snake andrawlins field offices.