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More than $24 million to be used by AZ Game and Fish for Colorado River Basin conservation

Colorado River
M. Quinn/National Park Service
The Colorado River.

More than $24 million has been awarded to Arizona Game and Fish by the USDA in an effort to sustain tens of thousands of acres of land for Arizona wildlife and communities. This project would serve part of the Colorado River, which provides 36% of the state’s water.

Across 35,000 acres of range and forest within the Colorado River Basin, Game and Fish hopes to help reduce wildfire risk, improve water quality and restore native plant communities important to Arizona wildlife.

Dan Sturla is the agency’s program manager for landowner relations and habitat enhancement. He said it’s the most amount of funding the department has ever received to undertake conversation efforts.

It’s also the largest project in the agency’s history.

“We’ve got a lot of really great partners in Arizona, and just years of great relationships and communication helped this come online," Sturla said.  

Within the basin, Sturla said some of the areas that have been labeled priorities so far include the greater Flagstaff area and portions of the White Mountains. The project is expected to begin later this year.

Nick Karmia is a reporter at KJZZ.