Western Working Lands For Wildlife Resilient Rangelands Workshop
Over 200 attendees primarily from 19 western states gathered at the expanded Western Working Lands for Wildlife (WLFW) workshop, in which PFC partnered the USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service, Pheasants Forever, and others. We heard about some of the latest research and technical tools as well as stories of partnerships that are working to ensure resilient rangelands to benefit the triple-bottom line of ecologic, economic, and community outputs that flow from western rangelands and the human community they support.
Banner photo
: Low tech riparian restoration stop during a field trip in the Grouse Creek Valley, Western WLFW Workshop June 2019.
Above:
The Tanner Family of Grouse Creek, Utah recognized by WLFW for their hospitality and extensive conservation partnership work during the field trip to the Grouse Creek Valley.
Note from the ED photo:
New Mexico rancher Bret Riley speaks on a panel at the Western WLFW Workshop, Twin Falls Idaho June 2019
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REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN: Private Lands Partners Day Ogden, Utah
September 24-26, 2019
The 12th annual Private Lands Partners Day will be held September 24-26 in Ogden, Utah. This year’s event, themed Private Lands Partners Day in a Public Lands State, will highlight conservation partnerships that touch both public and private land in Utah and elsewhere in the Great Basin, as well as other public-private partnerships from around the country.
Register here. Registration price includes reception on Tuesday night, field trip on Wednesday with lunch and dinner provided, and all day conference on Thursday with closing banquet dinner.
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Partners for Conservation on YouTube
Who doesn’t like a good re-run? Here is PFC’s very first video providing vignettes from about 10 different landowners from across the country who are working to “keep it together” while also taking brave steps to collaborate with government agencies rather than avoid them.
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Playas Work for Kansas: All Sorts of Wildlife
Moe Linden farms and runs cattle in Lane County, Kansas. He has a playa, about 40 acres in size, that he manages for wildlife habitat and hunting because “a playa is hard to farm, you might as well do something else.” You can improve hunting by managing the environment for wildlife. The playa attracts wildlife, and if it’s surrounded by grain fields, it’s a food source. The playa attracts all sorts of wildlife — from upland birds to deer, antelope, cranes, ducks, and geese. “Even in drought years, if you get an inch rain, there will be water in the playa, which attracts wildlife.” Linden’s playa will be in a perpetual Wetland Reserve Easement because”it’s a good deal.”
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Partner/Private Lands News
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Ranching & Agriculture
Working landscapes can be used for species conservation alongside economic activities—even in Costa Rica!
How to reduce the carbon hoof-print: adding livestock is helping one farm fight climate change in MN. ”The chickens we use as our terraformers…Then the sheep come in to further alter the soil and the grass through a process called management-intensive grazing.”
Get paid to build soil health. Farmers can now be paid an additional $5 to $30 per acre per year to store carbon in their soils.
Michigan farmers will keep their tax incentives if they build commercial solar panels on land set aside for agricultural use. Sites that add solar panels must also meet pollinator habitat standards designed by researchers at Michigan State University, which reduces threats to crops like apples, blueberries and cherries.
Water
Guest column: Collaboration on water is harder than picking a fight. Water connects us all — farms, cities and the environment. While decreased water supply reliability presents unique problems for each sector, the solutions should be interconnected and mutually beneficial — not divisive.
Wildlife, Recreation & Education
County rice producers can enhance conservation efforts through a Conservation Stewardhip Program (CSP) led by the USA Rice-Ducks Unlimited Rice Stewardship Partnership, the Gulf Coast Water and Wetlands Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP), and the Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA). The RCPP provides an opportunity to enhance conservation on rice lands in 12 Texas counties.
Forests
Starting in around 2012 there has been a fast-developing market in ecological or conservation services allowing timber managers to generate cash flow from such activities as the sale of working-forest conservation easements, the leasing of land for wind turbines, and the sale of forest-carbon credits
The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) launches new standard for forest management in Canada. "We are facing some of the most important issues in Canadian forest management history."
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A NOTE FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Hello from the Airport,
I’m coming back from the
first Western Working Lands for Wildlife Workshop held this week in Twin Falls, Idaho. Wow! What an inspiring gathering of over 200 landowners along with state, federal, and nonprofit conservation professionals and academics living and working across 19 western states. The attendees gathered to hear both about some of the latest tools and techniques related to ensuring resilient rangelands as well as stories from landowners and their partners who are making their landscapes more sustainable for people and nature.
More about the session can be found elsewhere in the newsletter, but I wanted to relate just a little about one interesting theme that arose during the meeting…the power of one. In many of the success stories shared, the most important factor could be traced back to one conversation, one meeting, one relationship, or one moment in time when one person had the courage and foresight to stand up and make something happen. We didn’t hear about many, if any, silver bullets but we were amazed as we often are about what can be accomplished when a person remains committed to hard work, including the hard work of building and maintaining the partnerships that make things happen.
Partners for Conservation is looking forward to working with USDA-NRCS, Pheasants Forever, and the other partners on future sessions. If you missed this one, you missed something special. If you can’t wait until the next Western Working Lands event, give our own
Private Lands Partners Day a try this fall in Ogden. We are certain you will leave that one as inspired as I felt leaving Twin Falls!
Sincerely,
Steve Jester
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Our Amazing Grasslands
The Gary and Amy Cammack family have a ranch in the “cow country” of Union Center, SD, 50 miles east of the Black Hills. Since purchasing it in 1984, they’ve added to it 6 or 7 times. Gary serves in the SD Senate and agriculture committee. Why? He says, “To have people that are producers have a good understanding of the workings of agriculture and a good understanding of conservation efforts and the cost-sharing money that ranches or farms get for their efforts. It’s an effort that’s going to benefit every single citizen of SD and every single citizen of the U.S. in one way or another eventually.” Simply for the beauty, the Cammacks have planted thirty thousand trees. “A hundred years from now the only evidence of Amy and I being here will be the kids and the trees and the wildlife.”
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Texan by Nature Constructed Wetlands for Water Quality Treatment
The population of the North Texas Region is expected to double by 2060. Population growth drives the need for a clean and reliable water supply. Learn more about a partnership that includes regional and municipal water districts and a local WMA working with others to create innovative, efficient, and sustainable approaches for the natural filtration of water through the development of constructed wetlands. Filled with beneficial aquatic plants, these wetlands remove on average 95% of the sediment and 50% to 80% of nitrogen and phosphorus.
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#FridaysOnTheFarm
Knowledge is key to
Salvador Prieto and Martha Romero, owners of a 20-acre lemon and avocado orchard in Somis, California. “We need to make a profit, obviously, but, for me, I want to do it while protecting mother nature and precious resources like water. I can do this with NRCS’s help.”
Each Friday, meet diverse farmers, producers, and landowners through our
#FridaysOnTheFarm stories. Visit local farms, ranches, forests, and resource areas where USDA customers and partners do right and feed everyone.
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ABOUT PARTNERS FOR CONSERVATION
Partners for Conservation (PFC) is a private landowner-led organization which communicates and collaborates on conservation partnerships for working landscapes to benefit present and future generations.
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