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Yampa Valley leafy‑spurge effort hit as federal grant funds are frozen; local group urges county advocacy
Summary
Conservation partners warned Routt County commissioners that a federally funded boost to a regional leafy‑spurge control program has been frozen, and asked the county to help sustain staff and field operations for 2025.
Friends of the Yampa and partners told Routt County commissioners on April 7 that a planned seven‑year federal grant supporting biological control of leafy spurge has been frozen, jeopardizing staff time, an Idaho collection trip for beetles and other 2025 activities.
Emily Burke, conservation program manager with Friends of the Yampa, said Dinosaur National Monument had been awarded roughly $540,000 from the Inflation Reduction Act to expand beetle collection and releases across the Yampa Valley, but that the funds are currently inaccessible. Burke said the freeze also restricted staff river travel that had supported releases inside the monument.
"That funding was going to support seasonal employees through Dinosaur National Monument," Burke said. "We can’t access the funds and that impacts the Idaho trip and releases planned for 2025."
Friends of the Yampa and the local weed program asked the commissioners to allow existing Routt County contributions, historically used for event food and youth outreach, to be reallocated to help pay Friends of the Yampa staff time so the project can continue limited operations this season. The group also requested that commissioners advocate to the county’s congressional delegation for reinstatement of the frozen federal funds.
Routt County staff said they would check legal terms on previously approved county grants and consider whether funds may be redirected to support Friends of the Yampa staff. Commissioners indicated they would support outreach to the congressional delegation and suggested exploring joint letters with Moffat County, which also funds the project.
Speakers at the briefing included Jonathan Murray (Routt County education enforcement technician), Tiffany Carlson (Routt County noxious‑weed program supervisor) and several volunteers and partners who described the years of volunteer effort, beetle collection trips and monitoring that underpin the regional program.
Friends of the Yampa said its priorities for 2025 are a scaled Idaho beetle‑collection trip, priority releases and a modified Show‑Me float for regional partners, with a proposal to shift county grant funds to maintain core staff and implementation capacity while the federal funding situation is resolved.
