Game & Fish Partners With Public and Landowners To Preserve Natural Habitats
Source: www.azgfd.gov
Published: Aug. 24, 2006
Because private landowners and the public are working together, some of the best examples of native habitats and at-risk species in Arizona are being saved for future generations.
Through an Arizona Game and Fish Department program, the public is aiding landowners with many projects like restoring grasslands, creating wildlife water developments and cleaning up trash from ranches.
These cooperative efforts have helped to open up public access to two million acres of federal or state lands previously closed by private landowners and unavailable to the public for outdoor recreation.
Since 2003, the Arizona Game and Fish Department has provided private landowners interested in developing and maintaining wildlife habitat on their property with financial and technical assistance through the Landowner Relations Program. Landowner Incentive Program (LIP) funds are one of the programs available to private landowners for habitat restoration projects that benefit species and habitats at risk.
The funding helps landowners with on-the-ground wildlife habitat. One example of a property that has benefited from the program is Diablo Trust Ranches in northeast Arizona, which has completed almost 100,000 acres of grassland restoration since 1960 and is currently planning to restore another 80,000 acres.
Because of this effort, the Diablo Trust was recently awarded a 2006 Environmental Stewardship Award by the National Cattlemen's Beef Association and sponsors Dow AgroSciences, LLC, and the Natural Resource Conservation Service.
The award recognizes those who showcase the stewardship and business practices that exist together on progressive farms and ranches. The Diablo Trust is a collaborative team that manages 426,000 acres of intermingled private, state and federal lands. Participants include ranchers, conservationist, federal and state land managers, scientists, recreationists, elected officials and other citizens.
"The Arizona Game and Fish Landowner Relations Program wants to help with more efforts like this. The program encourages the public and landowners to take an active conservation role and provides us with an important opportunity to address critical habitat needs," said Arizona Game and Fish Commissioner Michael M. Golightly, from Flagstaff.
"We will continue to work closely with interested conservation partners like the Diablo Trust to protect and recover endangered, threatened and at-risk species and habitat." The Arizona Game and Fish Department would like to encourage others to get involved in the Landowner Relations Program by volunteering to help with restoration and clean up projects or by seeing how your property might provide more access in exchange for benefits.
If would like more information on the program and LIP funds, please visit azgfd.gov.
• More Arizona News • More State Wildlife News • Arizona Forum BoardReader Comments
0 Comments on Game & Fish Partners With Public and Landowners To Preserve Natural Habitats
