UDAF Grazing Improvement Program (GIP) Makes Nearly $3 Million Available for Rangeland Reseeding Efforts
View photos of the reseeding effort
The Utah Department of Agriculture and Food has received special funding in the amount of $2.5 million to help purchase grass seed as part of the unprecedented rehabilitation of grazing lands burned in the Milford Flat Fire in Beaver and Millard Counties and other fires in Utah in 2007. The UDAF is also contributing another $250,000 to the effort for a total of $2,750,000.
The war on cheatgrass in Utah is underway with the beginning of the rehabilitation and reseeding of more than 200,000 acres burned in the historic Milford Flat Fire this past July. It is also part of Governor Huntsman’s Watershed Restoration Initiative that targets 1 million acres across the state. A total of 26,000 acres of private rangeland and 15,000 acres of State SITLA land are being reseeded in the Milford Flat area.
Utah Commissioner of Agriculture and Food, Leonard Blackham, is optimistic this effort between private landowners and state and federal land management agencies will benefit all Utahns.
“We need to quickly stabilize the soil in that area to prevent erosion and dust storms that can threaten public health and safety,” Commissioner Blackham said. “In the long term these efforts will establish grass and shrub species that can help prevent a reoccurrence of the catastrophic fires we saw here four months ago. These efforts will also help the people who live in this area, who depend on the natural resources to operate and contribute to their communities,” he added.
Funding breakdown for statewide fire damage rehabilitation for 2007:
| Bureau of Land Management | $23 million |
| State of Utah | |
| UDAF/GIP | $2,750,000 |
| DNR/FFSL | $1,524,000 |
| State & Institutional Trust Lands Administration | $ 266,000 |
| Quality Growth Commission | $ 200,000 |
| TOTAL STATE OF UTAH | $4,740,000 |
| Non-government | |
| Private landowners | $800,000 |
| Mule Deer Foundation | $250,000 |
| Others | $175,000 |
| Utah Bowman's Association | $ 4,700 |
| TOTAL NON-GOVERNMENT | $1,229,700 |
Posted November 20, 2007