The Biden-Harris administration, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) and public and private sector partners announced $122.4 million in grants Dec. 2 through the America the Beautiful Challenge (ATBC).
The 61 new grants will support landscape-scale conservation projects across 42 states, 19 tribal nations and three U.S. territories. According to a press release, the grants will generate at least $8.7 million in matching contributions for a total conservation impact of $131.1 million. Approximately 42% of all 2024 ATBC funding will support projects implemented by Indigenous communities and organizations, representing another year of record funding dedicated to tribally led projects for a single grant program at NFWF.
In New Mexico, three projects are getting more than $4.5 million in grants.
The Pueblo of Jemez will get $2,172,100 for its Jemez River and Vallecito Creek Stream, Riparian and Wetland Restoration project, which will establish 3 miles of vegetation that grows along riverbanks, stabilizes 4,500 feet of stream, restores four acres of fens wetland and protects a 10-acre unique oxbow-wetland complex along the Jemez River and Vallecito Creek on Pueblo of Jemez lands. The project will create a Bosque protection zone; a native seed bank; conservation-based workforce training; community engagement with Pueblo youth, other tribes and local cities; and watershed planning.
A Pueblo of Sandia project, Building Capacity for Restoration and Resilience in New Mexico’s Enchanted Circle Landscape, will get a $1,441,600 grant to build internal capacity for the pueblo’s ranch properties department to “undertake ecological restoration and resilience planning along with necessary federal environmental compliance for pueblo properties within northern New Mexico’s Enchanted Circle landscape.” The project will expand opportunities to readily implement crossboundary habitat conservation activities that add ecological and resilience value to the landscape.
The Santa Fe National Forest’s Trees, Water & People Grant is for $1,110,700 with $277,700 in matching funds for improving forest systems, canyon bottom and streams of the Jemez mountains in north central New Mexico after decades of drought and megafires. The project will restore 40 acres of watershed landscape and will facilitate 20 meetings of Indigenous leaders, natural resource departments and area communities to build trust and collaboration among stakeholders and forge long-term adaptation management approaches.
America the Beautiful, launched by President Biden in 2021, set the nation’s first-ever goal to conserve at least 30 percent of U.S. lands and waters by 2030. The 10-year, locally led and nationally scaled initiative lifts up efforts to conserve, connect and restore lands, waters and wildlife.Since 2021, the Biden-Harris Administration has conserved more than 45 million acres of America’s lands and waters.
According to the press release, ATBC grants support projects that conserve, restore and connect wildlife habitats and ecosystems while improving community resilience and access to nature, which also advance President Biden’s environmental justice goals. The competitive grant awards were made possible through President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, with funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, other federal conservation programs, and private sources. The Biden-Harris Administration launched the Challenge in 2022 as a partnership with the Departments of the Interior, Agriculture and Defense, Native Americans in Philanthropy, and NFWF.
“President Biden’s America the Beautiful initiative has been truly transformative. By working together across the federal family, and through private-public partnerships, we have built an enduring path to support hundreds of locally led collaborative conservation projects across the country,” said Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland. “The America the Beautiful Challenge has advanced engagement with Tribes, funding a record amount of Tribally led efforts and elevating the use of Indigenous Knowledge to benefit endangered species and treasured landscapes. These innovative investments will leave a lasting legacy on our nation’s lands and waters.”