A Chinook salmon jumps through the whitewater in Idaho’s Rapid River on May 17, 2001, while trying to clear a migration barrier dam. (Photo by Bill Schaefer/Getty Images)
The Nez Perce Tribe will receive a $1.9 million grant to restore affected habitat at a historic hydraulic mine in Idaho.
The grant is funded through the America the Beautiful Challenge, which was launched by the Biden administration in 2021 as a partnership with the Departments of the Interior, Agriculture and Defense, as well as Native Americans in Philanthropy and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. It set the nation’s first-ever goal of conserving at least 30% of U.S. lands and waters by 2030.
The 61 grants announced Monday represent a total of $122.4 million to states, tribal nations and U.S. territories, according to a news release from the U.S. Department of the Interior. The grants support projects that conserve, restore and connect wildlife habitats and ecosystems, while improving community resilience and access to nature.
The Nez Perce Tribe’s project will restore 22 acres of an abandoned hydraulic mine on Leggett Creek. The project aims to reduce excessive sediment delivery to critical habitat for steelhead salmon, Chinook salmon and bull trout, while stabilizing eroding slopes by planting native evergreens and deciduous shrubs. According to the National Wildlife and Fish Foundation, it will also improve water passage of more than 23 miles of upstream spawning and breeding habitat.
U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland (courtesy of the U.S. Department of the Interior)
U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland said the America the Beautiful initiative has been “transformative.”
“Working together across the federal family, and through private-public partnerships, we have built a sustainable path to support hundreds of locally led, collaborative conservation projects across the country,” Haaland said in the press release. “The America the Beautiful Challenge has advanced tribal engagement, funded a record number of tribal-led efforts, and increased the use of indigenous knowledge to benefit endangered species and cherished landscapes. These innovative investments will leave a lasting legacy on our nation’s lands and waters.”
According to the press release, approximately 42% of all America the Beautiful grants through 2024 will support projects implemented by indigenous communities and organizations.
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