Institute for Applied Ecology
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We work to conserve native species and habitats. With offices in Oregon and New Mexico, our work puts restoration, research, and education into action. Take action,
volunteer
or
become a member
with a
donation
today!
"If you truly love nature, you will find beauty everywhere." - Vincent Van Gogh
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Oh, the places seed goes…
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By the time seed arrives at the IAE Southwest Office Seed Studio in Santa Fe, New Mexico, to be processed and cleaned, some collections have traveled close to 300 miles from their source populations. However, this move is temporary; the seed will eventually make its way back to the region where it is genetically adapted to survive. After all, what better role could it play than in the ecosystem where it evolved with the soil, climate, pollinators, and herbivores of the area?
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Willamette Valley Oak and Prairie Cooperative
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The Willamette Valley Oak and Prairie Cooperative (WVOPC) is an emerging partnership with a long term vision to conserve and maintain prairie and oak habitats within the Willamette Valley through a regionally-focused, collaborative, and sustainable effort. The WVOPC has now completed a Strategic Action Plan with the assistance of many dedicated natural resource professionals. IAE is proud to serve on the Steering Committee of the WVOPC, and to have played a role in drafting the Strategic Action Plan as part of a contractor team with JK Environments. Learn more about how you or your organization can be a part of the WVOPC vision for prairie and oak habitat on the
WVOPC website
.
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The Violet Restoration Hydra
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Restoration work at IAE is often like a multi-headed hydra (we’re talking the cute cousin to anemones type of hydra, not the scary monster that Hercules killed). Each project has multiple “arms,” including property owners, staff, funders and sometimes researchers, who all have to come together to make the magic happen on (or in) the ground.
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Meet Mak Estill, IAE's new Student Board Member!
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Mak is currently a candidate for a Master of Nonprofit Management degree with the University of Oregon. She is interested in understanding community efforts toward conservation land-use planning through grassroots, nonprofit, and cross-sector collaborations. "I am thankful to have been welcomed onto the Board to serve for the two years of graduate program," Mak says. "I am learning about Board governance, leadership, collaboration for environmental nonprofits, and more! With my program focusing on nonprofit management, the dynamic role Boards play in organizations is of particular interest. Although I am very much in a learning stage (as we always are), I aim to act on what I know is required of Board members to ensure optimal governance." In her free time, Mak is also a trail runner and snowboarder (when she is not injured). Welcome and thanks for your help, Mak!
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Rivers to Ridges plans a Willamette Valley Habitat Management and Restoration Meeting
Join
Rivers to Ridges
for the 2020 Willamette Valley Habitat Management and Restoration Meeting, held at the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife Headquarters in Salem from 9 AM to noon on Wednesday, February 26th, 2020. This year will feature habitat restoration projects that have included a component of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in their efforts. Email
Ed Alverson
for more information.
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The Botany Bill has been reintroduced in both chambers of the 116th U.S. Congress. The bill promotes botanical research and sciences capacity, generates demand for native plant materials, and authorizes related federal activities. This bipartisan legislation allows federal agencies to act with the expertise required to preserve unique American landscapes and emphasizes the importance of protecting native plants and ecosystems.
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The threatened Mohave desert tortoise,
Gopherus agassizii,
is getting a new helping hand. IAE is starting an innovative Sustainability in Prisons Project at the California City Correctional Facility to start a seed production program. We're partnering with Judy Perkins, Mojave Desert Native Plant Coordinator for the BLM, who saw a need to bulk up the seed bank used for restoration of plants that the desert tortoise uses for forage and cover. Adults in custody will sow annual and perennial native seed in early March and will daily care for the plants – thinning, fertilizing and watering. At right, Tyler Knapp, IAE Ecological Education Coordinator, visits one of the California nurseries.
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Last month, ETG Director Laura Brophy attended the annual meeting of the Pacific Marine and Estuarine Fish Habitat Partnership in Arcata, California. She presented the results of ETG's recently completed study of historical change in Oregon's coastal estuaries (report
here
, web app
here
). The group was interested to learn about opportunities to restore long-lost tidal forested wetlands on the Oregon coast. This photo shows Laura in a Sitka spruce (
Picea sitchensis
) tidal swamp in the Nehalem River estuary.
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Bi-national Youth Education
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Ecological Education coordinators Dionné Mejía and Tyler Knapp visited Ms. Powell's 4th grade class at South Shore Elementary in Albany, Oregon, as part of the Willamette-Laja Migratory Bird Youth Program. Students used compasses to learn that birds can
see Earth's magnetic field
and use it to navigate. Students also recreated bird range maps that show where migratory birds are at different times of the year. In the photo, a student shows off her range map and drawing of the belted kingfisher, which lives near rivers and migrates between Canada and Mexico.
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IAE Board of Directors:
Ken Bierly, President; Cary Stephens, Vice President; Laurie Halsey, Treasurer; Deborah Clark, Secretary; Anne Bradley, Mak Estill, Sarah Greene, Brandy Humphreys, Debbie Johnson, Shinji Kawai, Carol Savonen
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