News Release Archive

Reclamation Seeks Applied Science Project Applicants for Desert and Southern Rockies Landscape Conservation Cooperatives

Media Contact: Peter Soeth, 303-445-3615

For Release: April 11, 2014

WASHINGTON - The Bureau of Reclamation is seeking applicants for applied science projects for the Desert and Southern Rockies Landscape Conservation Cooperatives. Proposed projects are expected to deliver new capabilities that address priority resources identified and shared by Reclamation and partners involved in the Desert and Southern Rockies LCC.

The Desert LCC funding opportunity is seeking applicants to study wildfire impacts on riparian areas and study environmental flow impacts on the Colorado River Delta. This funding opportunity may be found at www.grants.gov by searching funding opportunity number R14AS00031. Applications are due May 13, 2014 at 4 p.m. MDT.

The Southern Rockies LCC funding opportunity targets projecting future water availability and quality, projecting the resiliency and vulnerability of natural or cultural resources, and assessing and evaluating natural or cultural resources management practices and adaptation opportunities. The funding opportunity is available at www.grants.gov by searching funding opportunity number R14AS00032. Applications are due May 13, 2014 at 4 p.m. MDT.

Approximately $700,000 will be available for Desert and Southern Rockies LCC projects combined. Up to $100,000 in federal funding will be available for each project award. Reclamation's share of each proposed project shall not exceed 50 percent of the total project cost.

The Desert LCC encompasses portions of five states: Arizona, California, Nevada, New Mexico and Texas, as well as a substantial portion of Northern Mexico. The area is topographically complex, including three different deserts (Mojave, Sonoran and Chihuahuan), grasslands and valley bottoms and the isolated mountain ranges in the southern portion of the LCC (Apache Highlands and the New Mexico-Texas Highlands, also known as the Sky Islands). There are several large river systems, including the lower Colorado, Gila, Rio Grande, San Pedro and Verde Rivers.

The Southern Rockies LCC 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 14,000 foot peaks to the Grand Canyon and cold desert basins. This topographically complex region 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.

LCCs are partnerships of governmental (federal, state, tribal and local) and non-governmental entities. The primary goal of the LCCs is to bring together science and resource management to inform climate adaptation strategies to address climate change and other stressors within an ecological region, or "landscape." There are 22 different LCCs across the United States, territories and other countries. To learn more about Landscape Conservation Cooperatives, visit www.lccnetwork.org.

To learn more about these funding opportunities visit www.usbr.gov/WaterSMART/LCC/. To learn more about the Desert LCC, please visit www.usbr.gov/dlcc. To learn more about the Southern Rockies LCC, please visit southernrockieslcc.org.

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The Bureau of Reclamation is a federal agency under the U.S. Department of the Interior and is the nation's largest wholesale water supplier and second largest producer of hydroelectric power. Our facilities also provide substantial flood control, recreation opportunities, and environmental benefits. Visit our website at https://www.usbr.gov and follow us on Twitter @USBR; Facebook @bureau.of.reclamation; LinkedIn @Bureau of Reclamation; Instagram @bureau_of_reclamation; and YouTube @reclamation.

Relevant Link:

Desert LCC Funding Opportunity Announcement

Southern Rockies LCC Funding Opportunity Announcement