Category Overview
The State Lands Restoration and Enhancement category provides funding to two state agencies to help repair damaged plant and animal habitat. These grants focus on resource preservation and protection of public lands. Projects in this category help bring important natural areas and resources back to their original functions by improving the self sustaining and ecological functionality of sites.
Project Highlights
The Department of Natural Resources will use this restoration grant to rehabilitate damage at Cleveland Shrub Steppe Natural Area Preserve caused by the construction of an unauthorized fireline. In addition, DNR will use this grant to restore natural vegetation in lands historically enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) and control emerging invasive species onsite (primarily medusahead rye, Taeniatherum caput-medusae). The rehabilitation and restoration of the fireline will be conducted at the fireline which runs along the east end of the site for about 3/4 of a mile. This work will involve removal of a berm created by heavy equipment followed by seeding of native species, weed control as needed, and monitoring. The restoration of vegetation will be conducted in three patches of former CRP land totaling about 80 acres in the site interior. It will involve the collection and propagation of native species from the site. These species will then be planted into the restoration area. The control of invasive species will occur throughout the 640 acre site, focusing on areas bordering the fireline and areas in the early stages of invasion. This work will result in the restoration of this shrub steppe ecosystem to a more natural state and will support habitat for the 2 state threatened species onsite (Texosporium sancti-jacobi and Lomatium tamanitchii). This will help meet our management goals and make the site more useful for appropriate educational events.