Columbia Land Trust’s Post

Changing how we cut grass can create more native wildflower meadows. Even if some of these patches are small, it will all add up to a big area. Wildlife will be able to move between wildflower habitats as they become connected. Yet despite WAG policy and strategy’s small local community councils will again ignore and continue with their business as usual approach without being held to account? How should this be approached as letters of complaint and reporting to County Council level have to date resulted in no change?

Spring is nearly upon us. Time for the bloom of wildflowers and the hum of pollinators. Now is the time to ensure that #pollinators emerge into a world that supports them, not poison them. 🌻 Colorado is rich in opportunity, thanks in part to its diverse landscapes. Vast agricultural areas give way to the Rocky Mountains, where natural environments and recreation take precedence. Municipal managers need the freedom to navigate these landscapes, which often have diverse and sometimes competing requirements. Policies effective in agricultural regions may not always suit mountainous areas, and vice versa. 📣 This is a significant reason why we, at WILD, are supporting HB1178. Colorado is not a one-size-fits-all state, and neither are its citizens. To achieve policy balance that safeguards both our farms and wild areas, city managers must have the flexibility to adapt. Learn more about HB1178: https://lnkd.in/gqKUW65V Join us in urging these representatives to vote yes on HB1178: Eliza Hamrick: eliza.hamrick.house@coleg.gov William Lindstedt: william.lindstedt.house@coleg.gov Bob Marshall: bob.marshall.house@coleg.gov Brianna Titone: brianna.titone.house@coleg.gov #fothewild

Prescribed burning is the practice of using fire as a management tool to take care of fire-dependent ecosystems like prairies, oak savannas, and other landscapes that need the periodic presence of fire. The use of fire as a management tool is not a new phenomenon either. Native Americans have long used, and continue to use cultural burning to maintain and manage the landscape. Follow along with this Rochester, Minnesota Field Crew as they conduct a prescribed burn with Conservation Corps Minnesota & Iowa, as well as Minnesota DNR staff at Frontenac State Park in southern Minnesota. https://lnkd.in/dXYua7rs #FireFriday #ServeOutdoors #GetThingsDone #ClimateCareers #EnvironmentalCareers #ConservationCareers #ServiceYear #YearOutdoors #CareerExperience

From the place where it slips out of Lake Ann in Benzie County’s northeast corner, Platte River haunts a landscape of forest and open fields, steals past this village of 330 residents, crosses a mighty and silent wetland, fills a big lake, and then, nearly 30 miles from where it started, reaches a curved sand inlet where it empties into Lake Michigan. One of the 49 blue ribbon trout streams in Michigan’s lower peninsula, the Platte’s clear waters sparkle in the sunlight of a blue sky day. Cedars along the banks open their branches, as if to salute the splendor. Still, there’s considerably more to the river’s story than its compelling beauty. In the 160 years since the watershed was settled by immigrants from the East Coast and Europe the river has flowed through three distinctive eras in Benzie County. The decades of rapacious logging in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, distinguished the first. That was followed by a half century of healing the waters and the forests, helped by the thousands of red pine seedlings planted by President Franklin Roosevelt’s Civilian Conservation Corps. The third era, when Benzie’s restored natural character inspired public policy to protect it, opened in the mid-1960s and has been unfolding ever since with increasing urgency, intelligence, and commitment. The banks of the Platte River, logged, healed, and now secure, have served as a stage for every era. On May 18, 2024, a new act in the drama occurred when the Honor Area Restoration Project (HARP) culminated nearly a decade of citizen engagement and a keen public-private financing strategy and formally opened Platte River Park. The 52-acre expanse of forest, blueberries, and meadow flanks 1,550 feet of undeveloped riverfront. Platte River Park adds to the legacy of stewardship that’s helped make Benzie the greenest county in Michigan. https://lnkd.in/gXarFV5U

Happy New Year, everyone! As we kick off 2024, I wanted to take a moment to reflect on EBTJV's progress and the projects we've funded over the past 17 years as a member of the National Fish Habitat Partnership. While we've often used infographics like this, I can't help but wonder if there's a better way to display our importance to coldwater conservation. As the go-to link between management agencies and scientists for eastern brook trout, we host the assessment (the 'map' showing where they are by small watershed) and award grant dollars to promote the best strategies for brook trout conservation. To date, we've put over $4M into these on-the-ground projects, which brought in another $22M in leverage or match. We know that $4M, or even the $22M, is just a drop in the bucket compared to the work of our partners since 2006, but we're committed to continuing to support their successes. I'm curious if anyone has an example - from any field - of an infographic that shows influence towards partner successes, without claiming ownership of them. Let me know in the comments! #conservation #partnerships #grantfunding #infographic #fisheries #infrastructure

The Virginia Outdoors Foundation (VOF) is making $1.7 million available from its Preservation Trust Fund program and $175,000 from its Get Outdoors Fund for grants that protect open space for public use and other public benefits. Preservation Trust Fund grants for the spring 2024 grant round will prioritize projects that result in significant public access, but funds may also be used for projects that protect exceptional conservation values such as water quality, historic and cultural resources, wildlife habitat, and high-quality farmland and forestland. A real estate interest must either be acquired by a local government or conveyed to VOF to be eligible for funding, and protection must meet the requirements of Virginia’s Open-Space Land Act. Get Outdoors Fund grants may be used to fund projects that create, protect, expand, or enhance access to open space in underserved communities. Proposals up to $25,000 may be considered. See the full announcement here: https://lnkd.in/e9zZKxNM

🌍The Black Grouse Translocation Project: Our Misson We’re excited to share our groundbreaking effort to combat the decline of black grouse populations. Our project’s first phase focuses on understanding brood foraging habitats in the North Pennines. With this knowledge, the second phase aims to translocate and re-establish black grouse in the North York Moors—expanding their range to suitable areas and giving them a better chance to thrive. Using radio transmitters and GPS tags, we are tracking their movements, settlement patterns, and survival to guide moorland management and protect the species from future climate impacts. With support from Natural England’s Species Recovery Programme, we’ve already seen positive results—seven females tagged this spring, five nests, and three successfully hatched broods. However, as funding is coming to an end, we need your help to continue this vital work. Watch the video to learn more about how you can support our efforts to secure the future of the black grouse. Find out more about the project and show your support:https://lnkd.in/ennSVnKy #Conservation #BlackGrouse #WildlifeProtection #MoorlandManagement #SpeciesRecovery #ClimateAction #GWCT

The future is looking brighter for the Ohio River! The 981-mile Ohio River and its tributaries are critical resources for communities in the entire Ohio River Basin. Public drinking water, river transportation, commerce, industry, outdoor recreation and tourism. In 2023 American Rivers named the Ohio River among America's most endangered rivers, which means that without taking basin-scale preservation and restoration measures it could fall into the imperiled category. The Ohio River Basin Alliance will hold its annual Day on Capitol Hill, meeting with Members of Congress to educate and advocate for dedicated, permanent federal funding to support the ecological restoration of the Ohio River. Preserving and enhancing the Ohio River's water quality, recreational value and economic vitality is a worthy goal. #ohioriver #ohioriverbasin #ecologicalrestoration

From a predominantly agency-led practice to a statewide grassroots movement, prescribed fire has transformed significantly in California. Over the last few decades, there has been a massive shift to “reclaim fire as a tool for normal people,” according to Lenya Quinn-Davidson, Fire Network Director for the University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources (UCANR). Her recent webinar on “California’s Prescribed Fire (R)evolution,” hosted by the California Fire Science Consortium, addresses the prescribed fire evolution/revolution in California and paths forward. Landowners, farmers, ranchers, and other community members are working together to conduct prescribed burns across the state. These informal, community-led movements have proved highly effective in changing how we think about and implement prescribed fire in California. Communities are demanding something different, and we shouldn’t underestimate the broader cultural and ecological implications of this local work. “That’s the cultural change that we need to allow for anything else to happen at a landscape level,” as Quinn-Davidson sees it. Visit the link below to view the full webinar: https://lnkd.in/gMZgwg6A #climateandwildfire #prescribedfire #firescience #firepractitioners #fireresilience #grassrootsmovement #communityengagement #communityorganizing #californiawildfire

#FieldNotes: After destroying more than 2,500 homes and businesses, the largest recorded wildfire in Oregon state history left multiple communities along Highway 99 looking to recover. Known as the Bear Creek Greenway, the region came together as part of a unique area action plan with unified goals. With input directly from community advisory committees, the revisioning process positioned the corridor to come back even stronger than before the Almeda Fire. "It’s unusual to do long-range planning for multiple jurisdictions…Following the Almeda Fire, the unique goals of each community impacted were addressed with project advisory committees to create a unified corridor revisioning." Take a closer look at this planning effort with David Sacamano, ASLA to see how community engagement provided the basis for a comprehensive plan designed to redevelop these areas with a focus on smart growth principles. Read more about the Bear Creek Greenway project at otak.com: https://lnkd.in/gqerNcbp Client: Oregon Department of Transportation / Oregon Department of Land Conservation and Development #comprehensiveplanning #communityengagement