More than $65 million from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and invested in the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service will help improve water quality, trails, roads and fish habitats nationwide.

The USDA announced the first round of “a $25.5 million investment over five years through the new Collaborative Aquatic Landscape Restoration Program,” according to an Aug. 26 news release. In addition, more than $40 million will be used for fiscal year 2022 projects for the existing Legacy Roads and Trails Program. The funding will address rural communities’ needs, provide employment and enhance the public’s access to national grasslands and forests.

“President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law has given us a remarkable opportunity to restore and improve waterways across the whole landscape,” Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said in the release. “The investments we’re making here ensure communities have clean drinking water and the improved fish habitats that rural areas rely on for subsistence and strong recreation economies.”

The Collaborative Aquatic Landscape Restoration Program was created after Vilsack’s directive to the Forest Service to restore forests, increasing their resilience to drought, wildfire, disease and insects plus to address the climate crisis, the release reported. The 89 announced projects will improve water quality as well as minimize sedimentation into streams and restore functional floodplains on Tribal, state and federally administered public lands.

The 120 projects announced for the Legacy Roads and Trails Program will address road issues, improving roads and trails, the release said.

“The Legacy Roads and Trails Program funds projects, along with other restoration and infrastructure work, to improve water quality and aquatic habitat while making transportation systems safer, more sustainable and more durable,” the release said.