Conservation group Trout Unlimited is getting $40 million from the federal government to fund watershed restoration efforts in national forests across the country, including here in Montana.
The U.S. Forest Service and Trout Unlimited announced the five year National Watershed and Aquatic Restoration initiative, which is funded by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act passed by Congress in November 2021.
The initiative aims to improve the pace and scale of restoration efforts in national forests and grasslands. In Montana, the funding will go to projects in the Custer-Gallatin, Beaverhead-Deerlodge, Lolo, Bitterroot, Helena-Lewis and Clark national forests, and focus on building road-stream crossings, abandoned mine reclamation, and habitat restoration.
Project development and design is expected to run through 2023, with implementation going through 2024 and 2025.