Wildlife Conservation Through Sustainable Ranching
|
|
|
Ask the Expert: Q&A on Voluntary Conservation Outcomes for Wildlife with Charlie Rewa
HEAR FROM CHARLIE REWA, WILDLIFE ASSESSMENTS LEAD FOR THE CONSERVATION EFFECTS ASSESSMENT PROJECT, ON THE IMPORTANCE OF PRIVATE LANDS, WLFW, AND ASSESSING OUTCOMES FOR SUCCESSFUL CONSERVATION
|
In this Ask the Expert from Farmers.gov, Charlie Rewa answers questions about wildlife and voluntary conservation, the value of a data-driven approach to strengthen conservation for key species, and NRCS resources to support farmers, ranchers, and other land managers in pursuing conservation across their operations.
Specifically, Charlie addresses:
- The role private landowners play in wildlife conservation;
- What the Conservation Effects Assessment Project (CEAP) is and how it boosts conservation;
- What Working Lands for Wildlife is and how it ties into other NRCS efforts;
- NRCS resources available to private landowners for wildlife conservation.
|
|
|
Stitching the Landscape Back Together
|
STORYMAP HIGHLIGHTS HOW FUNDING FROM THE BIPARTISAN INFRASTRUCTURE LAW FUNDED WET MEADOW RESTORATION, TRAINED CONSERVATION PRACTITIONERS, AND BENEFITED LANDOWNER IN UTAH
|
In 2021, the Biden Administration committed $10 million per year over the next five years under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) for sagebrush ecosystem restoration. To implement this funding for priority projects such as mesic habitat restoration, which helps retain needed water on sagebrush landscapes longer, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) is investing in dynamic and successful partnerships across 13 Western states—such as their collaboration with the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources (UDWR) and Watershed Restoration Initiative (WRI) in Utah.
This excellent storymap, produced by the Intermountain West Joint Venture, does a great job of showcasing the multiple benefits this project provided:
- On-the-ground restoration of critically important wet meadow habitat, benefiting wildlife and livestock;
-
Training for conservation practitioners to expand the scope and scale of this type of work across the West, including free post-workshop, virtual training opportunities;
- Win-win conservation investments that build on existing, successful partnerships to benefit wildlife and producers.
Working Lands for Wildlife partnered in this effort, providing support, training, and expertise through Jeremy Maestas, National Sagebrush Ecosystem Specialist, USDA-NRCS West National Technology Support Center and core WLFW staff member.
Thanks to the Intermountain West Joint Venture and their Partners in the Sage initiative, this training is now available for free, online, and on-demand for other conservation practitioners and anyone else who would be interested.
|
|
|
Fridays on the Farm: Managing the Land Protect Monarch Butterflies |
OKLAHOMA RANCHER USES PRESCRIBED FIRE TO IMPROVE LAND FOR CATTLE AND MONARCHS
|
Dr. Katie Blunk has worked with the NRCS for years to implement prescribed fire on her OK ranch, clearing encroaching redcedar trees and improving forage for her Angus cattle and native prairie for species like Monarch butterflies.
She's become such a fan of the benefits of prescribed fire that she's joined the local burn association to help others tap into the benefits of fire.
|
|
WLFW in the News: Grassland Birds in Peril, Spurring All-out Conservation Efforts |
WORKING LANDS FOR WILDLIFE'S SCIENCE ADVISOR, DIRAC TWIDWELL, QUOTED IN ARTICLE
|
This story from the Associated Press dives into the conservation efforts, including Working Lands for Wildlife, springing up across the Great Plains grasslands in response to sobering declines in grassland bird species.
The article points to working lands, like ranches and grazing lands, as key to conserving grassland species like lesser prairie-chickens and highlights how encroaching trees are a major factor in grassland habitat loss.
|
|
|
Publication Alert: New Tool Illustrates Tree Expansion Across Montana Rangelands Decades Earlier Than Remotely Sensed Analyses
IN ADDITION TO UPDATED ANALYSIS, WLFW RESEARCHERS BUILT AN INTERACTIVE MAP ALLOWING USERS TO SWIPE BETWEEN HISTORICAL AND MODERN AERIAL IMAGERY TO SEE LONG-TERM LANDSCAPE CHANGES
|
Tree encroachment happens when woody species move into tree-free ecosystems like sagebrush steppe or grasslands. When trees displace native grass and shrublands, they threaten numerous ecosystem services including wildlife habitat, forage production, water availability, carbon storage, and more.
But, because this landscape threat is slow-moving, it is hard to observe with the naked eye. New research from Scott Morford, a WLFW researcher at the University of Montana’s Numerical Terradynamic Simulation Group, combined machine learning with historic and modern aerial imagery to illustrate and analyze increasing tree encroachment in Montana over the past 70 years. His team then took that research a step further, developing a new visual tool that provides an instantaneous comparison between the 1950s and now.
Because this analysis reached back decades further than other publicly available datasets, it quantified nearly twice as much tree cover expansion. The team found that across the nearly 48 million acres of Montana rangelands they analyzed, tree encroachment had occurred on approximately 7.4 million acres, or about 15.4% of intact rangelands in Montana.
Morford and his team made this analysis publicly available through a new mapping platform where users can compare historical and modern imagery across 17 western states, called Landscape Explorer. A separate Montana-specific mapping tool highlights where tree encroachment is currently threatening our sagebrush and grassland ecosystems.
The tools allow landowners, range managers, and the public to immediately see how Western landscapes have changed over the past 70 years. With a simple swipe, users can see trees move across the landscape, watch towns and cities grow and expand, and see other land-use changes that threaten our natural heritage.
|
|
|
All WLFW Frameworks for Conservation Action in National Agricultural Library
|
THE FRAMEWORKS ARE PART OF THE NATIONAL AGRICULTURAL LIBRARY'S PERMANENT COLLECTION
|
All three of Working Lands for Wildlife's Frameworks for Conservation Action now are now registered resources in the USDA'S National Agricultural Library. The National Agricultural Library is one of five national libraries of the United States and houses one of the world's largest collections devoted to agriculture and its related sciences.
Additionally, a WLFW-produced report summarizing ten years of science research in the sagebrush biome is also part of the National Agricultural Library.
|
|
|
The Daily Montanan covered research from Joe Smith, a WLFW-affiliated scientist at the University of Montana, showing how invasive annual grasses like cheatgrass are rising in elevation and shifting to more northerly aspects.
|
The Southwest Montana Sagebrush Partnership (SMSP) and Beaverhead Conservation District are seeking to fill an Invasive Annual Grass Coordinator - a unique position created to accelerate cross boundary land stewardship in southwest Montana’s sagebrush steppe with the specific task of implementing the SMSP strategy for addressing invasive annual grasses. The right candidate will be an experienced and capable conservation practitioner to the job – someone able to independently manage cross-organizational relationships, can coordinate multiple simultaneous projects, and is motivated to take on new and innovative approaches to address one of the largest threats facing the American west today. Deadline September 21, 2023. Learn more and apply through link above.
|
K-State Research and Extension scientists explored whether and how prescribed burning can impact ticks, horn flies, and dung beetles. This video summarizes their findings, namely that spring burning can help control tick populations, fall burning can help control horn fly populations, and spring burning is least impactful to dung beetles, a beneficial species.
|
Eastern redcedar windbreaks that have outlived their usefulness can be a significant contributor to woody plant encroachment in grasslands. Removing them is a key recommendation in the recent "Reducing Woody Encroachment in Grasslands: A Pocket Guide for Planning and Design" co-produced by WLFW and the Great Plains Grasslands Extension Partnership, which is why we're excited to highlight that Nebraska Game and Parks are removing outdated windbreaks on the Grove Lake Wildlife Management Area.
|
|
|
Working Lands for Wildlife is the Natural Resources Conservation Service's premier approach for conserving America's working lands to benefit people, wildlife, and rural communities. In the West, WLFW is guided by two, action-based frameworks for conservation. The framework approach is designed to increase conservation and restoration of rangelands by addressing major threats to rangeland health and through the implementation of conservation measures that limit soil disturbance, support sustainable grazing management, promote the strategic use of prescribed fire, and support native grassland species. Together, the frameworks leverage the power of voluntary, win-win conservation solutions to benefit people and wildlife from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean.
|
|
|
Manage your preferences | Opt Out using TrueRemove™
Got this as a forward? Sign up to receive our future emails.
View this email online.
|
|
| This email was sent to .
To continue receiving our emails, add us to your address book.
|
| |
|
1783 Buerkle Circle | Saint Paul, MN 55110 US
|
|
|
|
