Native Plant Program Restores Lander Watershed While Building Community Support | LOR Foundation
In-Progress Environment

Native Plant Program Restores Lander Watershed While Building Community Support

  • Local Champion: Popo Agie Conservation District
  • Date Funded: February 21, 2025
  • Grant Amount: $10,000

In Lander’s watershed, invasive Russian olive trees have been crowding out native vegetation, creating monoculture stands that reduce wildlife diversity and habitat quality. For several years, a collaborative effort among local agencies has been working to remove these invasives from properties along Squaw and Baldwin Creeks and replace them with native species at no cost to the landowners. These replacement trees were small though, and property owners wanted more mature native trees to replace the large Russian olives being removed. When a community volunteer and conservation specialist with the Popo Agie Conservation District recognized this gap in the approach, he reached out to LOR for support. LOR’s funding will help subsidize 60 percent of the cost of mature native plants, with property owners covering the remaining 40 percent, making it more affordable for landowners to participate in the restoration effort. This partnership between multiple agencies and private landowners aims to plant up to 250 native trees and shrubs, restoring critical habitat diversity and maintaining community buy-in for this ongoing watershed health initiative.

Contact our community officer in Lander. Meet Ami Vincent
More Environment Solutions
Environment / Cortez A Mower Preserves the Cortez Cemetery’s Sacred Space
Local Champion:
Cortez Cemetery District
Date funded:
May 13, 2025
Grant Amount:
$7,000
Environment / Libby A Pedal Track Encourages Young Libby Riders
Local Champion:
Libby Outdoor Recreation Association
Date funded:
May 6, 2025
Grant Amount:
$10,000
Environment / Questa Community Clean-Up Days Offer Free Waste Disposal in Questa
Local Champion:
Village Of Questa
Date funded:
May 2, 2025
Grant Amount:
$4,033
Environment / Lander Camping Equipment Opens Outdoor Recovery Experience for Lander Families
Local Champion:
Wind River Family and Community Health Care
Date funded:
April 30, 2025
Grant Amount:
$3,573
Environment / Libby A Walking Path Makes a Libby Park Family Friendly
Local Champion:
Libby Parks District
Date funded:
April 29, 2025
Grant Amount:
$10,000
Environment / Cortez A Botanical Field Guide Enhances Visitor Experience at Cortez’s Canyons of the Ancients
Local Champion:
A Cortez local
Date funded:
April 25, 2025
Grant Amount:
$7,140

Share an Idea

If you have an idea for improving quality of life in Cortez or Monte Vista, Colorado; Lander, Wyoming; Libby, Montana; Questa or Taos, New Mexico; or Weiser, Idaho, use this form to start a conversation with us.

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.