The U.S. Department of Agriculture is investing $250,000 to address wildlife habitat, water quality and rangeland rehabilitation from the 2018 South Sugarloaf Fire.
The fire burned aobut 145,000 acres of national forest system land, 80,000 acres of private land, and 10,000 acres of other federal or state land. It adversely impacted the drainage basins to Wildhorse Reservoir, the Owyhee River, and the North Fork of the Humboldt River. These are all major water sources for members of the Shoshone-Paiute Tribes of Duck Valley and residents of Elko and Twin Falls counties.
USDA’s Forest Service (FS) and Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) will implement rehabilitation activities including improving upland and stream habitat, livestock distribution to protect wildlife habitat, water quality, and promote rangeland recovery, mitigating wildfire risk and environmental education and public outreach.
“Native species including the Lahontan cutthroat trout, greater sage-grouse, sharp-tailed grouse, northern goshawk, mule deer, pronghorn, and elk will benefit from the rehabilitation activities,” said NRCS Nevada State Conservationist Ray Dotson. “We look forward to working with our partners to get this work on the ground.”
Project partners include: Nevada Division of Forestry, Nevada Department of Wildlife, Duck Valley Tribe, Bureau of Land Management, Nevada Cattleman’s Association, Northeastern Nevada Stewardship Group, and Elko County.
For full project descriptions and information on completed projects, visit the Joint Chiefs’ Landscape Restoration Partnership website.
