Blog: NFF Grant Partners and Projects - National Forest Foundation

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NFF Grant Partners and Projects

Cutthroat Trail Construction Begins

In mid-July, a cross-disciplinary group from the San Juan National Forest hiked a stretch of what will soon be known as the Cutthroat Trail, a roughly 5.5-mile trail situated above the East Fork of Hermosa Creek. This new multiple-use trail will be the first on the San Juan National Forest designed for E-bikes, but will also be accessible to hikers, horseback riders, and mountain bikers wanting to explore the Hermosa area.

How do you stop a mountain pine beetle outbreak from becoming an epidemic?

The question came to light early in the fall of 2019. USDA Forest Service entomologists had just conducted aerial surveys in coordination with the Colorado State Forest Service (CSFS). On-the-ground investigations followed. Soon specialists revealed their diagnosis: after decimating 3.4 million acres of forests across Colorado from 1996 until the epidemic finally ran its course around 2014 , mountain pine beetles were back, actively infesting approximately 600 acres of lodgepole pine forests across private and National Forest System lands in the Gunnison Valley.

Restoring watershed health and habitat connectivity on Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest

With support from the Matching Award Program from the National Forest Foundation, Conservation Northwest worked alongside volunteers and the U.S. Forest Service to restore watershed health and habitat connectivity in this landscape during 2019.

The Pecos Wilderness and a New Generation of Stewards

At New Mexico Wild, we believe it is our duty to be good stewards of places like the Pecos Wilderness so future generations have the same opportunities to experience its vastness and beauty. Over a six-month span in 2018, we recruited 128 volunteers who contributed 938 hours of stewardship service to this beloved outdoor recreation destination.

Restoring “Lost” Trails with Washington Trails Association

Trails link people and wild places. They allow us to connect with nature—and each other. But every year, budget declines and increasingly extreme winters and fire seasons have made it harder to keep our backcountry trails open and accessible. Without the maintenance they need, Washington’s trails are slowly becoming lost.

Collaboration Grows Community

What began as a preliminary characterization at an orphaned hard rock mine in Illinois Gulch, a prominent drainage of the Upper Blue River, ultimately morphed into a collaborative effort to remove mine waste from the Illinois Gulch flow path on the White River National Forest.

Fostering Connections to the South Fork Trinity River through Trail Building

Thanks to our partners at the National Forest Foundation (NFF), the Hayfork Youth Conservation Crew employed by the Watershed Center in Hayfork, California improved forest and stream health. Their actions reduced erosion and non-designated OHV trail-use while increasing public awareness around the incredible natural value of the South Fork Trinity River (SFTR) management area.

Mountain Studies Institute’s long-term commitment to restore a rare, iconic fen wetland on the San Juan National Forest

Mountain Studies Institute (MSI), a nonprofit, community-driven research and education organization in Southwest Colorado, partnered with the National Forest Foundation and the San Juan National Forest (SJNF) to restore Chattanooga Fen, a rare, iron-rich type of wetland, just north of Silverton, Colorado. MSI received funding through NFF’s Matching Award Program to engage youth and volunteers to help bring this decade-long project to a close.

Unlikely Partnerships Help Improve Forest Resiliency

The North Central Washington Forest Health Collaborative (the Collaborative) brings together stakeholders in the Upper Columbia region ranging from government agencies to local tribes, non-profit conservation groups and timber industry; all with the purpose of collaborating to improve forest resiliency. The Collaborative operates on consensus, and while the process can be slow, when agreement is achieved the results are tremendous.

Mt. Columbia: The Final Year of a Historic Project

Mt. Columbia has experienced increasingly heavy foot traffic in the past decade. Prior to the new trail construction, hikers used a social trail that ascended straight up a loose scree field. The lack of a sustainable trail caused heavy erosion and damage to the fragile alpine ecosystem and the unstable trail conditions made for dangerous hiking.