LAKEWOOD, Colo. — The U.S. Department of Agriculture is putting nearly $66 million toward improving roads, trails and water quality in the Rocky Mountain region, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service announced in a news release Monday.
“These investments will ensure that millions of Americans can continue to enjoy clean water, world-class recreation, and more resilient transportation infrastructure across hundreds of communities in and around national forests and grasslands," U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said.
Approximately $3.5 million of the total funding will go toward the Pike-San Isabel and White River National Forests in Colorado, and the Shoshone, Bighorn and Medicine Bow-Routt National Forests in Wyoming.
A portion of the money will go toward decommissioning trails and roads, which means converting ones that are no longer needed back to nature, according to the Pacific Coast Trail Association.
Another part of the funding will be allocated for restoring threatened and endangered fish and wildlife habitat, the forest service said.
$5 million will also go to the Collaborative Aquatic Restoration Program at Camp Hale in Eagle County, Colorado — a World War II era training camp.
The projects are being planned in coordination with the Ute Tribes and National Forest Foundation to improve water quality, prevent E. coli, restore passage for aquatic species, increase landscape resiliency and eliminate large amounts of sediment in drinking water systems.
For more information on the effort, click here.
