Every spring, the Prairie Pothole Region (PPR) teems with duck calls and wings splashing on water. Shallow ponds glisten amidst rolling grasslands and farmlands, filled with waterfowl returning from the south to nest and raise their young. Spanning Montana, the Dakotas, Minnesota, Iowa, and southern Canada, the PPR is often called the cradle of North [...]
In Southwest Colorado, fuels specialists and researchers have come together to experimentally evaluate different silvicultural treatments for enhancing pinyon-juniper ecosystem health and reducing fire risk. This interdisciplinary team has implemented replicated silvicultural treatments that vary in spatial complexity and amount of thinning in pinyon-juniper woodlands spanning an elevational gradient. A major goal of this effort [...]
In southeast New Mexico, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is working to preserve grassland habitat and improve rangeland health on public lands by treating and removing invasive mesquite. This is part of a larger effort through Restore New Mexico to remove mesquite on both public and private lands. Since 2005, the partnership has treated [...]
A key aspect to successful conservation delivery is listening to the needs of partners and shaping strategy around those conversations. That is what Playa Lakes Joint Venture (PLJV) is doing with two recently funded projects that address declining aquifer levels in Kansas. Groundwater Recharge and Sustainability Project This past year, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service [...]
In the fall of 2018, the North Olympic Land Trust added a few more acres to the 3,300 it had already conserved on Washington’s North Olympic Peninsula. A 34.5 acre parcel was donated to the Land Trust and includes footage along the Calawah River where it runs through Forks, Washington. The Olympic Peninsula is within [...]
Since our formation in 2008, the Appalachian Mountains Joint Venture (AMJV) has worked to build partnerships to conserve, manage, and restore the health of forest habitat in the Appalachian region. Our vision is to have effective, collaborative partnerships for habitat conservation across the entirety of our Joint Venture geography. However, it requires tremendous capacity to [...]
At a time when good news can be hard to come by, we are glad to be able to report that wetland restoration is working in and around the San Francisco Bay Area thanks to the efforts of the San Francisco Bay Joint Venture (SFBJV) partners! Since the inception of the SFBJV in 2001, our [...]
What drives landowner decisions to re-enroll in or exit the USDA Conservation Reserve Program (CRP)? What happens on fields that are not re-enrolled in the program? A new study report brings together data from 700 survey responses, 3 focus groups in 3 states, 27 landowner interviews, and 3.5 months of observational field research to provide [...]
Hiding deep in the marsh, inaccessible to even the most dedicated birders and researchers, Black Rails have kept much of their ecology a secret for centuries. Now the species is facing alarming declines and solutions are urgently needed to stabilize the population. Given how little is known about the species and their habitat, the Atlantic [...]
In June, the City of Clovis and Playa Lakes Joint Venture (PLJV) formalized their partnership with a joint resolution to provide public education about the significance of playas to groundwater recharge and wildlife habitat and to restore playas in Curry County, New Mexico, so they can better provide those benefits. The resolution was signed by [...]