The following guest blog by Hannah Ryan of Intermountain West Joint Venture and Matt Cimitile of Appalachian Mountain Joint Venture highlights key partnerships that work with farmers and ranchers to conserve habitat for the benefit of birds, other wildlife and people. The 2014 Farm Bill Field Guide to Fish and Wildlife Conservation is a collaborative effort by conservation partners that provides a new tool for those who work with private landowners and agricultural producers in adopting conservation practices included in the 2014 Farm Bill. It provides biologists, range conservationists, foresters, and others with a road map to help navigate Farm Bill programs
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This article was orginally featured in the Bay Journal. In no place is the optimism of the American chestnut restoration more evident than on the barren slopes of abandoned mines on the tops of Appalachian mountains. Here, where entire mountain tops have been blasted off and the rubble pushed into valleys, hybrid American chestnuts, including Restoration Chestnut 1.0 trees, are being planted to reclaim the ruined landscape, as well as provide information essential to the widespread re-establishment of a stronger, disease-resistant tree. Old-timers said that these ridge tops once looked like they were covered in snow during June and July because
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The recovery of our national symbol, the Bald Eagle, is considered one of the greatest conservation successes of the 20th century. The 44 nesting pairs detected in Maryland in 1977 represented an all- time low for the state. However, as actions were taken to reduce the declines (e.g., banning harmful pesticides like DDT), Bald Eagle populations recovered to the point that they were removed from the federal threatened and endangered species list in 2007. Today, the Chesapeake Bay region is home to the largest concentrations of Bald Eagles in the lower 48 states, with an estimated 400 or more pairs currently breeding in Maryland. Although organized surveys of
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Every time a hunter or angler purchases a sporting license, or buys hunting and fishing equipment or related items, they are participating in a subtle, yet successful conservation program that has been at work for more than 75 years. The Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Program is the most successful conservation program in the history of the United States. According to the Georgia Department of Natural Resources’ Wildlife Resources Division, the program is responsible for generating vital funds for conservation programs nationwide. “The Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Program benefits all wildlife species, protects and restores habitat and helps improve
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To celebrate the nation’s enduring connections to the natural world and the unique ways nature touches everyone’s lives, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) is celebrating National Wildlife Refuge Week from October 11-17, 2015. National wildlife refuges, managed by the Service, have been part of America’s rich natural heritage since 1903, when President Theodore Roosevelt established the first national wildlife refuge on Pelican Island in Florida. Today, you can visit a refuge to fish, hunt, hike, birdwatch or simply commune with nature. While you’re there, learn how refuges protect natural spaces and improve life for you and your community.
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As a way to enhance capacity within the Partnership and address a variety of emerging issues related to the new Operational Plan, the AMJV created Working Groups composed of Technical Committee members from federal and state agencies, NGOs, and Land Trusts. Each Working Group will work to address immediate needs to advance the tasks in the Operational Plan. At this year’s Technical Committee Meeting, five such groups were formed, each headed by one of our partner’s Committee members: A Landscape Decision Support Tool Working Group is focusing on acquiring information from end users – who the various audiences are, how they will
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