Ranching & Agriculture
Conservation is a team sport. Read about the many landowners across Hawaii who have joined watershed partnerships to enable forest management to benefit endangered native birds such as the ‘akikiki, or Kauai creeper.
As the struggling U.S. farm economy continues to make the news, ag organizations, agencies, and conservation groups are focusing their attention on the affordability of conservation adoption. A 2018 report,
Farm Finance and Conservation found that farmers who adopt conservation practices such as no-till, nutrient optimization, cover crops and diverse rotations improved their profitability and were more resilient.
Creativity, collaboration and community make a recipe for success.
Conservation district in Oregon tests new ways to stop loss of farmland.
Two families lock in deal to ensure their farmland never becomes home to a warehouse.
It's been a watershed year for Oklahoma’s conservation.
Conservation is a conscious choice for the Johnsons, this year's winner of the South Dakota Leopold Conservation Award. Alan and Mickie, son Brian, and wife Jamie farm 1,800 acres of cropland and 500 acres of grassland.
The focus on conservation at Johnson Farms started with the decision to go 100% no-till after Alan grew tired of watching the lack of moisture on their farm limit yield potential.
Water
Thanks to the vision of landowner, Al Davis, another stretch of the South Fork is forever protected. The Teton Regional Land Trust (TRLT) recently completed this conservation easement that builds on decades of conservation along the South Fork.
Record-high funding for Virginia’s cost-share program for agricultural best management practices will enable more farmers to participate. Gov. Ralph Northam’s announcement of $73 million to protect water and soil health through farm conservation practices represents the largest-ever investment of state funding in that program.
Wildlife, Recreation & Education
Poll shows conservation increasing but rented land remains a barrier. Known also as the “Farm Poll,” the survey has been conducted since 1982 and is the longest-running survey of its kind in the nation. It shows that although most farmers believe they are responsible for conservation, they are less likely to invest in conservation on the land they rent.
There are Bobolink Projects in Massachusetts, Vermont and Connecticut, which raise money to pay farmers to mow fields later in the summer.
Largest remaining piece of Palouse Prairie slated for conservation. Washington DNR to purchase 437 acres of grassland in the shadow of ‘iconic’ Steptoe Butte.
Without positive action from hunters and legislators, pheasant hunting and pheasant numbers may never rebound to what they were just 11 years ago. Why? Because 830,000 acres of Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) grasslands were taken out of production in the Minnesota pheasant belt.
Forests
USDA Forest Service and State of Utah Invest in Utah’s Future Through Shared Stewardship, and agreement signed in May 2019. As part of Utah’s Shared Stewardship agreement, an investment of up to $20 million dollars will be made over the next four years to address the threat of catastrophic wildfire and protect watersheds.
The Washington State Recreation and Conservation Funding Board last week announced the award of more than $126 million in grants to a suite of 333 projects that build and maintain outdoor recreation facilities and conserve wildlife habitat and working farms and forests around the state.
