UDAF Awards $2 Million in Grants

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UDAF Awards $2 Million in Grants To Fight War on Cheatgrass

List and map of projects selected for funding

The Utah Department of Agriculture and Food (UDAF) has awarded $2 million in grants to fund projects designed to reduce the size and frequency of wildland fires. The UDAF grants are being awarded through the newly created Invasive Species Mitigation Fund to reduce threats to public safety, the environment, and local economies due to catastrophic fires which are often fueled by invasive weeds and fire prone cheatgrass. The 10 projects receiving grants are designed to protect 705,000 acres of grasslands in nine Utah counties including: Box Elder, Kane, Washington, Beaver, Millard, Salt Lake, Utah, Duchesne, and Sevier Counties.

The funded projects were judged on their potential to reduce air pollution, flooding, soil erosion, degraded water quality, release of carbon, damage to livestock and wildlife habitat forage, and negative economic impacts to rural communities.

"This is a great start to reclaiming our landscape that has become vulnerable to catastrophic fires," said Commissioner Leonard Blackham. "I am pleased so many conservation partners are participating such as: the BLM, the USDA, the Ute Indian Tribe, local counties, and more than 65 individual private land owners. These 10 projects will primarily create green stripping using fire resistant grasses to combat the infestation of cheatgrass," Commissioner Blackham added.

Posted August 7, 2008