News Release Archive

Desert and Southern Rockies Landscape Conservation Cooperatives Name Steering Committees

Media Contact: Peter Soeth (Reclamation) 303-445-3615, Charna Lefton (FWS - Desert LCC) 505-248-6911
Kevin Johnson (FWS - Southern Rockies LCC) (303) 236-4518

For Release: June 15, 2011

The Desert and Southern Rockies Landscape Conservation Cooperatives are continuing their work to implement a collaborative, science-based response to climate change by naming their Steering Committees. The purpose of these Steering Committees will be to guide the objectives and priorities for each of these Landscape Conservation Cooperatives.

The Bureau of Reclamation and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are partners and co-leads in the effort to develop the Desert and Southern Rockies Landscape Conservation Cooperatives. They seek to identify best practices, connect efforts, identify gaps, and avoid duplication. This coordination helps ensure efficient use of limited funding and resources.

The Desert and Southern Rockies Landscape Conservation Cooperatives are two of 21 Landscape Conservation Cooperatives that collectively form a national network of partnerships working collaboratively across jurisdictions and political boundaries to address landscape-scale changes and impacts to America's land, water, wildlife, and cultural resources by leveraging and sharing science capacity. Landscape Conservation Cooperatives complement and build upon existing science and conservation efforts within the U.S. and across our international borders, such as fish habitat partnerships and migratory bird joint ventures, as well as water resources, land, and cultural partnerships.

To learn more about Landscape Conservation Cooperatives, please visit: www.usbr.gov/WaterSMART/lcc.html.

Desert Landscape Conservation Cooperative

The Desert Landscape Conservation Cooperative encompasses portions of five states: Arizona, California, Nevada, New Mexico and Texas, as well as a substantial portion of Northern Mexico. It is topographically complex and includes three deserts - Mojave, Sonoran and Chihuahuan - grasslands and valley bottoms, and isolated mountain ranges in the southern portion of the Landscape Conservation Cooperative. The richness of the topography leads to equally diverse species composition; the area supports habitat for many native plants, fish and wildlife species, including many endemic species that are extremely susceptible to climate change.

The Steering Committee for the Desert Landscape Conservation Cooperative was selected at a meeting in Phoenix, Ariz., on April 27-28, 2011. The Steering Committee Meeting was attended by 60 partners within the Desert LCC Region. The meeting attendees identified and selected the Steering Committee members from among their respective organizations. The Steering Committee is currently represented by six representatives from non-governmental organizations, five from State agencies, representatives from five tribes, nine representatives from Federal agencies, and one international organization.

In addition, a Desert Landscape Conservation Cooperative Science Sub-Committee has been established to identify and prioritize preliminary science needs based on stakeholder input, and an assessment of available science to address those needs.

This year, Reclamation is planning to post a Funding Opportunity Announcement to target projects that meet the shared science needs identified by stakeholders within the Desert Landscape Conservation Cooperative.

To read more about the Desert Landscape Conservation Cooperative or to see those serving on the two committees, please visit: www.usbr.gov/WaterSMART/lcc.html.

Southern Rockies Landscape Conservation Cooperative

The Southern Rockies Landscape Conservation Cooperative encompasses large portions of four states: Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah, as well as smaller parts of Idaho, Nevada and Wyoming. The area is geographically complex, including wide elevation and topographic variation; from the depths of the Grand Canyon and cold desert basins to 14,000-foot peaks in the Rocky Mountains. It includes the headwaters of the Colorado River and Rio Grande, the Wasatch and Uinta Mountains to the west and the Southern Rocky Mountains to the east, separated by the rugged tableland of the Colorado Plateau.

Thirty-eight executives from multiple natural and cultural resource managing entities met in Salt Lake City, Utah, on April 5-6, 2011. These executives identified and selected the Steering Committee members from among their respective organizations. The Steering Committee is currently made up of 24 individuals, including five representatives from Non-Governmental Organizations, seven from State agencies, representatives from two Tribes, and 10 representatives from Federal agencies.

A Science Committee has also been convened that will assist the Steering Committee with the identification of science needs and priorities, utilizing subcommittees or working groups as warranted to address the needs and priorities within the Landscape Conservation Cooperatives. This year, the Southern Rockies Landscape Conservation Cooperatives is seeking project ideas for funding science needs that address conservation goals identified by the partnership's Steering Committee. Currently, the Bureau of Reclamation and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have funds available.

To read more about the Southern Rockies Landscape Conservation Cooperative or to see those serving on the two committees, please visit: www.usbr.gov/WaterSMART/lcc.html.

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Relevant Link:

WaterSMART Landscape Conservation Cooperatives