Habitat & Conservation  |  10/30/2024

Pheasants Forever Awarded $24.3 Million in South Dakota for Prescribed Fire


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The Habitat Organization and partners to improve 125,000 acres statewide

Pheasants Forever is excited to announce plans for conservation efforts on 125,000 acres of working lands and wildlife habitat in South Dakota. The project – Accelerating Prescribed Fire in South Dakota – was recently funded at $24.3 million by the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP).  

Working with a myriad of partners over the next five years, the funding will be utilized to apply 50,000 acres of prescribed fire on South Dakota’s landscape, and an additional 75,000 acres of technical assistance for the state’s farming and ranching community. This investment is part of the broader effort to tackle the “green glacier” - woody encroachment of eastern redcedar - which is one of the primary threats to intact grassland ecosystems impacting upland wildlife, grazing lands, and migration corridors. Likewise, sustainability measures such as carbon sequestration will benefit from the investment in grasslands. 

“We at Pheasants Forever, along with our many partners in South Dakota, are thrilled to provide this much needed cost-share funding to agricultural producers throughout the state to address woody encroachment from eastern redcedar,” said Matt Gottlob, state coordinator for Pheasants Forever in South Dakota. “Through the implementation of conservation practices such as prescribed fire, brush management, and prescribed grazing, we will restore grasslands for the benefit of wildlife habitat and livestock forage here in ‘The Pheasant Capital.’ We’re incredibly proud to be granted this opportunity from the NRCS.”  

The project will focus on intact grasslands where halting woody encroachment is most impactful. Focal areas include land along the Missouri River, James River, and White River watersheds, but the whole state is eligible for project implementation. Outcomes include 100 outreach events, working with more than 750 landowners, and developing 90 contracts. 

Funding for the project is made possible by USDA’s Regional Conservation Partnership Program, which awarded $1.5 billion for 92 partner-driven conservation projects throughout the United States. Contributing partners include South Dakota Natural Resources Conservation Service, South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program, South Dakota Association of Conservation Districts, Northern Great Plains Joint Venture, Audubon Great Plains, American Bird Conservancy, Southeast Dakota Prescribed Burn Association, and River Breaks Prescribed Burn Association.  

To learn more about this project, contact Matt Gottlob at MGottlob@PheasantsForever.Org.