Pecos Watershed Conservation Initiative 2019 Grant Slate
NFWF CONTACTS
Chris West
Director,
Rocky Mountain Regional Office
chris.west@nfwf.org
303-222-6484
Kirstin Neff
Manager,
Southwest Rivers Program,
kirstin.neff@nfwf.org
303-222-6485

FUNDING PARTNERS
• Anadarko
• Apache Corporation
• Chevron
• Marathon Oil Corporation
• Noble Energy
• Occidental Petroleum
• Shell Oil Company
• XTO Energy
• U.S. Department of
Agriculture’s Natural Resources
Conservation Service
- New Mexico
• U.S. Department of
Agriculture’s Natural Resources
Conservation Service - Texas

ABOUT NFWF
The National Fish and Wildlife
Foundation (NFWF) protects and
restores our nation’s fish and wildlife and their habitats. Created by
Congress in 1984, NFWF directs
public conservation dollars to
the most pressing environmental
needs and matches those investments with private funds.
Learn more at www.nfwf.org
NATIONAL HEADQUARTERS
1133 15th Street NW
Suite 1000
Washington, DC 20005
202-857-0166

Chestnut-collared longspur   Credit: Rick Bohn, USFWS
OVERVIEW
The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF), Anadarko, Apache Corporation,
Chevron, Marathon Oil Corporation, Noble Energy, Occidental Petroleum, Shell Oil
Company, XTO Energy and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources
Conservation Service for the states of New Mexico and Texas announced a secondyear round of funding for Pecos Watershed Conservation Initiative projects. NFWF
awarded 11 new habitat conservation and species research grants totaling $2.16 million,
leveraging $2.87 million in matching contributions from grantees and generating a total
conservation impact of $5.03 million.

In November 2017, the Pecos Watershed Conservation Initiative was launched to fund
projects that will have the greatest positive return on investments for the unique wildlife
species, habitats and local communities of the Pecos River Watershed, a riparian corridor
in the Chihuahuan Desert home to many species found nowhere else in the world.
The Initiative’s long-term goals include strengthening the health of existing habitats
along the Pecos River and its tributaries, improving the management and function
of native grasslands, addressing water quality and scarcity concerns for wildlife and
agricultural uses, and identifying opportunities to re-establish species to areas of their
range where they have been lost or to bolster small remnant populations.
(continued)

 Pecos Watershed Conservation Initiative 2019 Grant Slate

Pecos River   Credit: Daniel Rodriguez
Grassland Restoration for Improved Soil and
Water Quality in the Delaware Basin Watershed (NM)
Grantee: New Mexico Association of Conservation Districts
Grant Award:. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $485,000
Matching Funds: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $912,982
Total Amount:. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $1,397,982
Improve aquatic health and function in the Black and
Delaware rivers by restoring upland grasslands and
revegetating riparian zones with native species. Project will
benefit water quality and maintain and enhance habitat for
Texas hornshell mussel, Bell’s vireo and wintering grassland
birds such as Sprague’s pipit and chestnut-collared longspur.
New Mexico Southeast Plains Pronghorn
Grassland Habitat Restoration
Grantee: New Mexico Association of Conservation Districts
Grant Award:. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  $200,000
Matching Funds: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 324,256
Total Amount:. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $524,256
Enhance more than 500,000 acres of habitat for use by
pronghorn in Chaves and Eddy counties, New Mexico
through restoration of Chihuahuan Desert grassland
and livestock fence modifications to facilitate pronghorn
migration across ranches and pastures. Project will restore
5,930 acres of grassland habitat through mesquite brush

control and install 15 miles of pronghorn-friendly fencing.

Genomics and Ecology of Desert Massasauga
in the Pecos River Watershed (NM, TX)
Grantee: Texas A&M AgriLife Research
Grant Award:. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $121,599
Matching Funds: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $121,599
Total Amount:. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $243,198
Evaluate the genetic relationships among populations of
desert massasauga, a rattlesnake species, which has been
petitioned for listing under the Endangered Species Act, and
prairie massasauga, which has no federal listing status, in
the Pecos River watershed. Project will conduct research
to determine the taxonomic identity of desert massasauga
populations in the Pecos River watershed to inform future
conservation actions.
Riparian Restoration on the Rio Hondo and
Pecos River, Bitter Lake National Wildlife Refuge (NM)
Grantee: U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Bitter Lake National
Wildlife Refuge
Grant Award:. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $173,693
Matching Funds: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $300,000
Total Amount:. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $473,693
Remove invasives and restore riparian habitat on the Rio

 Pecos Watershed Conservation Initiative 2019 Grant Slate
Hondo and Pecos River on Bitter Lake National Wildlife
Refuge. Project will restore more than 20 miles of riparian
habitat to benefit numerous native aquatic species, including
Pecos gambusia, Pecos pupfish and Rio Grande cooter.

Native Seeds Development and Outreach for Grassland
Restoration in the Trans-Pecos Region (NM, TX)
Grantee: Texas A&M University-Kingsville
Grant Award:. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $186,538
Matching Funds: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $216,577
Total Amount:. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $403,115
Develop ecotypic native seed sources for the Pecos River
watershed and West Texas region to support successful
grassland restoration. Project will address limitations to
native grassland habitat restoration through outreach
and technical assistance to landowners, energy operators
and related contractors reseeding in the watershed,
by expanding an established native seed research and
development program, and by collaborating with the
commercial seed trade to expand seed source availability.
Monitoring Wintering Grassland Birds
in the Chihuahuan Desert, Phase 3 (NM, TX)
Grantee: Bird Conservancy of the Rockies
Grant Award:. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $374,512
Matching Funds: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $300,000
Total Amount:. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $674,512
Apply a rigorous sampling protocol to estimate the density
and/or occupancy of wintering grassland birds in the
Chihuahuan Desert, including Sprague’s pipit and chestnutcollared longspur. Project will implement a monitoring
program developed in phases 1 and 2 over two winter
seasons (2019-2020 and 2020-2021) in order to produce
robust baseline estimates of wintering bird populations
and evaluate the impact of ongoing grassland restoration
investments.
Surveying Occupancy and Habitat Use of Rio Grande
Cooter within the Pecos River Watershed (NM, TX)
Grantee: Eastern New Mexico University
Grant Award:. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $150,000
Matching Funds: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $150,709
Total Amount:. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $300,709
Describe the occupancy and habitat use of Rio Grande
cooter in the Pecos River and tributaries to support
future conservation planning. Project will survey 32 sites
over two years at previously unexplored but assumed
regions of species range to shed light on the occupancy
and distribution of this poorly understood native aquatic
species.

Marfa and Marathon Grassland Habitat Enhancement
for Migratory Birds and Pronghorn, Phase 2 (TX)
Grantee: Borderlands Research Institute-Sul Ross State
University
Grant Award:. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $244,695
Matching Funds: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $244,696
Total Amount:. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $489,391
Conduct brush management activities in the Marfa and
Marathon grasslands of West Texas to improve grassland
health and habitat for pronghorn and migratory grassland
birds. Project will conduct brush management on 5,000
acres of brush-invaded grassland, monitor pronghorn
and grassland bird response to treatments and create
region-specific, science-driven, resource management
recommendations.
Grassland Restoration on Working Lands
in the Big Bend Soil and Water Conervation District (TX)
Grantee: Big Bend Soil and Water Conservation District
Grant Award:. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $100,000
Matching Funds: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $100,000
Total Amount:. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $200,000
Restore native grassland habitat for use by pronghorn
and migratory grassland birds in Brewster and Jeff Davis
counties, Texas. Project will work with producers and
landowners to install pronghorn-friendly fence and conduct
brush management to control brush encroachment and
conserve quality native grassland habitat.
Highland Soil and Water Conervation
District Grassland Restoration Program (TX)
Grantee: Highland Soil and Water Conservation District
Grant Award:. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $100,000
Matching Funds: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $100,000
Total Amount:. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $200,000
Restore native grassland habitat for use by pronghorn
and migratory grassland birds in Presidio and Jeff Davis
counties, Texas. Project will work with producers and
landowners to conduct brush management to control brush
encroachment and conserve quality native grassland habitat.
Central Trans-Pecos Native Grassland Restoration
and Management Program (TX)
Grantee: Toyah Limpia Soil and Water Conservation District
Grant Award:. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $100,000
Matching Funds: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $100,000
Total Amount:. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $200,000
Restore native grassland habitat for use by pronghorn and
migratory grassland birds in Reeves, Jeff Davis, Culberson
and Pecos counties, Texas. Project will work with producers
and landowners to conduct brush management to control
brush encroachment and conserve quality native grassland
habitat.