Under the rocks are the words…

Staff Report –

The Biden administration announced more than $65 million in spending this week for the U.S. Forest Service to invest in projects nationwide to prepare for climate change by improving roads, trails, fish habitat and water quality.

Made possible by President Joe Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the first round of a $25.5 million investment over five years through the new Collaborative Aquatic Landscape Restoration Program was announced, along with more than $40 million for Fiscal Year 2022 for the Legacy Roads and Trails Program, according to a press release from the Department of Agriculture.

The investments will support projects that serve rural community needs while addressing the climate crisis, all while creating new jobs and improving access to national forests and grasslands.

“President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law has given us a remarkable opportunity to restore and improve waterways across the whole landscape,” Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said in making the announcement. “The investments we’re making here ensure communities have clean drinking water and the improved fish habitats that rural areas rely on for subsistence and strong recreation economies.”

The Collaborative Aquatic Landscape Restoration Program follows Secretary Vilsack’s recent direction to the Forest Service to take bold action to restore forests, make them more resilient to drought, wildfire, insects and disease. In addition to improving water quality, the 89 projects will reduce sedimentation into streams and restore functioning floodplains across tribal, state and federally managed public lands.

The Legacy Roads and Trails Program funds restoration and infrastructure work to improve water quality and aquatic habitat while making transportation systems safer, more sustainable and more durable. The 120 projects aim to address critical road issues in real time by delivering funds where they are needed most. In addition to improving roads and trails for communities, business and recreation, the Legacy Roads and Trails program creates jobs for contractors, including those who specialize in stream restoration, environmental design and heavy equipment operations.

Since 2008, the Legacy Roads and Trails program maintained and storm proofed more than 18,000 miles of roads, replaced more than a thousand culverts for fish habitat, restored nearly 17,000 miles of streams and decommissioned more than 7,000 miles of roads to improve fish habitat and reduce pollution. Projects also built or repaired 137 bridges and repaired more than 5,000 miles of trails while creating between 700 and 1,100 jobs each year and reducing annual maintenance costs for project areas by $3.5 million.

“For decades, our forests lacked sufficient maintenance investments due to the escalating cost of climate change driven wildfires and other natural disasters such as hurricanes, tornadoes and flooding,” Forest Service Chief Randy Moore said. “The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is investing billions to improve our national forests and our public facilities for all to enjoy. The Biden Administration’s investments are helping to address our most critical needs so we can better steward the national forests and grasslands that provide so many public benefits.”

This round of funding supports projects in Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Illinois, Michigan, Montana, Oregon, Puerto Rico and Utah. To see the specific projects by state click here.

Under the Biden-Harris Administration, USDA is transforming America’s food system with a greater focus on more resilient local and regional food production, ensuring access to healthy and nutritious food in all communities, building new markets and streams of income for farmers and producers using climate, smart food and forestry practices, making historic investments in infrastructure and clean energy capabilities in rural America, and committing to equity across the department by removing systemic barriers and building a workforce more representative of America.

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