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News Releases from Region 08

EPA awards nearly $400k in wetlands grants in Wyoming to bolster wetland assessments and the development of water quality tools and data

09/05/2018
Contact Information: 
Lisa McClain-Vanderpool (mcclain-vanderpool.lisa@epa.gov)
303-312-6077

Denver, Colo. (September 5, 2018) – EPA has awarded $397,064 in wetlands grant funding to the Wyoming Game and Fish Department and the University of Wyoming. These projects will help build a robust wetlands program in the state by providing much needed mapping and spatial data.  Projects will also demonstrate restoration techniques and support local stakeholders in wetlands management and decision making.

“These projects will support the generation of solid scientific data to support local decision making,” said Darcy O’Connor, Assistant Regional Administrator of the Office of Water Protection. “Wyoming’s wetland program development will serve the state’s environment and communities well into the future.”

The Wyoming Game and Fish Department was awarded $222,500 for a project to develop a wetlands program that will help grow local capacity for multi-benefit conservation efforts.

In collaboration with Ducks Unlimited, the Wyoming Game and Fish department will implement and showcase wet meadow restoration techniques focused on agricultural lands, conduct training on wetland ecosystem services for local decision makers, offer wetland technical expertise in watershed planning to increase participation in voluntary restoration, develop wetland management guidelines for producing desired plant communities in drought prone systems and explore the feasibility of using beaver dam analog structures and improving permitting guidelines.

The University of Wyoming was awarded $174,564 to develop Wyoming wetlands information and spatial data online. The University will incorporate useful information about wetlands (their features, distribution, and condition) into the Wyoming Natural Diversity Databases and create a new wetlands segment of the existing website to make the data readily available.

EPA has awarded over $2.5 million in wetlands grant funding for 11 projects across EPA’s mountains and plains region of the West (Region 8). Healthy wetlands perform important ecological functions, such as feeding downstream waters, trapping floodwaters, recharging groundwater supplies, removing pollution, and providing habitat for fish and wildlife.

Wetlands Program Development Grants assist state, tribal, local government agencies, and interstate/intertribal entities in building programs that protect, manage, and restore wetlands and aquatic resources. States, tribes, and local wetlands programs are encouraged to develop wetlands program plans, which help create a roadmap for building capacity and achieving long-term environmental goals.

For more program information visit: https://www.epa.gov/wetlands/wetland-program-development-grants