Nature's Infrastructure Podcast

About this podcast

Each month we have conversations with project partners, Tribal nations, and other stakeholders about the positive conservation and restoration impacts the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law Bipartisan Infrastructure Law
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) is a once-in-a-generation investment in the nation’s infrastructure and economic competitiveness. We were directly appropriated $455 million over five years in BIL funds for programs related to the President’s America the Beautiful initiative.

Learn more about Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) is having on ecosystem restoration, climate resiliency, ESA-listed species, habitats and communities around the nation. From the sage-brush in the west to the Delaware River in the east, the Service has multiple areas of focus across the country for significant projects funded under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Join us as we explore the importance of these projects and the impact they are having in protecting and preserving Nature’s Infrastructure.

S1:E1 Connecting Communities to Conservation

On this inaugural episode, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Martha Williams joins the conversation to talk about how the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law Bipartisan Infrastructure Law
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) is a once-in-a-generation investment in the nation’s infrastructure and economic competitiveness. We were directly appropriated $455 million over five years in BIL funds for programs related to the President’s America the Beautiful initiative.

Learn more about Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is helping promote collaboration and conservation in communities across the nation. 

The Service received $455 million, over five years, from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, signed by President Biden on November 15, 2021, to support and implement projects which help local, state and Tribal communities tackle the climate crisis, advance environmental justice, and protect wildlife and natural resources. For many of these investments, the Service coordinated with conservation partners, Tribal nations and Indigenous communities to enhance locally led conservation efforts and increase recreational opportunities on public lands.

S1:E2 A Little Fish Saves a Big Sports Complex in Alabama 

This month, we are chatting with Rick Hopkins, the director of Springville, Alabama’s Parks and Recreation Department, and Coach James Miller, who leads tackle football, flag football and baseball at Springville’s 70-acre sports complex, to discover how a little fish in the Little Canoe Creek helped create safer recreational access for youth sports teams and improve the quality of life for an entire community. 

S1: E3 Klamath Basin Part 1: Sprague River Collaborative Restoration 

This month, in a two-part series, we are focusing on the Klamath Basin, and the ways the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law Bipartisan Infrastructure Law
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) is a once-in-a-generation investment in the nation’s infrastructure and economic competitiveness. We were directly appropriated $455 million over five years in BIL funds for programs related to the President’s America the Beautiful initiative.

Learn more about Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is positively impacting collaborative conservation throughout this vital ecosystem. 

On this episode, we are sitting down with Brad Parrish, a water rights specialist with the Klamath Tribes and Larry Nicholson, the executive director of the Upper Klamath Basin Ag Collaborative, to talk about the Sprague River Collaborative Restoration project that is happening in the Upper Klamath Basin, in Oregon.  

The Klamath Basin is set to receive $162 million over five years from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to restore the regional ecosystem and repair local economies. As drought conditions persist throughout the region, the Klamath Basin’s fragile ecosystem will depend on collaborative partnerships among a wide variety of stakeholders and the development of holistic solutions to save cherished fish and wildlife from further decline. 

S1: E4 Klamath Basin Part 2: Developing an Improvement Plan for Lower Klamath Lake

In this episode, we are chatting about a significant project in the Lower Klamath Basin as we sit down with Alta Harris, an environmental coordinator with the Klamath tribes, as well as Scott White from the Klamath Drainage District and Michael Belchik, a senior water policy analyst with the Yurok Tribe, to discuss how these groups are coming together to develop a water and habitat improvement plan for the Lower Klamath Lake.

While this improvement plan was not actually funded through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law Bipartisan Infrastructure Law
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) is a once-in-a-generation investment in the nation’s infrastructure and economic competitiveness. We were directly appropriated $455 million over five years in BIL funds for programs related to the President’s America the Beautiful initiative.

Learn more about Bipartisan Infrastructure Law , the project is an important part of the Klamath story and will play a critical role in reconnecting and restoring wetlands in the Klamath Drainage District and Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge area, which, in turn, will create multiple interconnected benefits for wildlife, farms, and the communities which call this landscape home.