The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) and the Borderlands Research Institute (BRI) in Alpine, Texas, collaborated with local landowners to prioritize areas for pronghorn-friendly fence modifications. The team removed old, unused fences and accompanying fence posts, and adjusted the height and bottom strand of existing restrictive fences to allow pronghorn passage.
The Regional Transportation Authority partnered with the Arizona DOT to construct two wildlife crossing structures (one overpass and one underpass) with adjacent wildlife-funnel fencing on Oracle Road to help wildlife move between protected habitat areas. The two wildlife crossing structures were constructed at the best available location to accommodate both large mammals and small animals.
Local ranchers drove the restoration of semi-dessert grassland to create diverse and connected habitats for pronghorn, quail, and other grassland species, as well as improve rangeland productivity for cattle on private lands and state trust lands. The project focuses on mechanical removal of mesquite that has reduced nesting habitats and cover of forage for wildlife and caused habitat fragmentation.
The Southeast Arizona Collaborative Grassland Workgroup was created in 2010 to develop a southeastern Arizona Regional Pronghorn Strategy to increase pronghorn population numbers, distribution, and connectedness. The project aimed to improve habitat connectivity and access to available water sources through strategic fence modifications, and improve habitat quality through grassland restoration and addition of water sources.
A collaborative effort among irrigators, conservation interests, regulatory agencies, local entities, and nonprofit organizations is working to restore the declining Colorado River Cutthroat Trout population in Abrams Creek, Colorado that had been impacted by water diversion. The team piped the ditch to improve the irrigation efficiency and conserved 40% of the diverted water.
Led by USACE, the Bosque Wildfire Project was initiated to restore bosque habitat and wetland function around Albuquerque, New Mexico. Key features of restoration included constructing wetlands and swales to support moisture-seeking plants and animals, creating high-flow channels and bank terracing to enhance hydraulic connectivity within the bosque, and revegetating with native plants.
A partnership between the BLM, Sacramento Water Forum, and USFWS is working to restore spawning conditions and salmonid habitats in the Lower American River downstream of the Folsom Dam. The plan focuses on enhancing gravel habitat, adding woody material, and creating side channels and floodplains for spawning and rearing Chinook salmon and steelhead.
Riparian buffers are vegetated areas adjacent to an inland waterbody that are managed to protect the waterbody from the impacts of surrounding land uses.
A floodplain is a low-lying area directly adjacent to a waterbody and partially or fully flooded during high-water events.
Wildlife road crossing structures are infrastructure built with the joint goals of increasing habitat connectivity across roads and reducing wildlife–vehicle collisions.
