On December 22, 2011, the Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy recorded conservation easements protecting 474 acres in southern Buncombe County. This project combines with neighboring conservation easements and other preserves to bring the total amount of land protected on Little Pisgah Mountain to more than 1,400 acres. “The Little Pisgah project is a major step in preservation of mountaintops in an important focus area of the Buncombe County land conservation plan,” according to Albert Sneed, chairman of the Buncombe County Conservation Advisory Board. The property contains 100 acres of high elevation pasture, rock outcrops and cliffs, and 374 acres of forested
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Private landowners interested in enhancing and restoring critical grassland habitat could be eligible for grants totaling approximately $1 million, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Joe Martens announced today. With grasslands declining in New York and nationwide, DEC’s Landowner Incentive Program (LIP) for Grassland Protection and Management directs funding to projects on private property that will help at-risk species that depend on unique grassland ecosystems to survive. “Through the Landowner Incentive Program, private landowners have been directly involved in conserving grasslands for a variety of species since 2008,” Commissioner Martens said. “Governor Cuomo recognizes the value of
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Voters across the country gave strong support at the ballot box for conservation related initiatives during the 2012 election. This year, 46 of the 57 conservation funding ballots passed, an approval rate of 81 percent. There were three statewide initiatives on the ballot in 2012 as well as a number of municipal and county initiatives that ranged from bonds to tax increases. Together the passed initiatives will direct more than $2 billion towards conservation to support parks, open spaces, working farms and ranches, and to improve water quality; of that $767 million is new funding. In addition, four states supported
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A ground-breaking memorandum of understanding has been signed between the NWTF and the National Bobwhite Conservation Initiative to help restore bobwhite quail populations. The partnership between the NWTF and NBCI combines a network of quail enthusiasts with proven track records of restoring and enhancing upland habitat. Efforts will take place on projects within focal areas that address the most critical conservation needs of both wild turkeys and bobwhite quail. These areas will be developed on regional, state and local levels and utilize cutting edge geospatial technology and existing partnerships to identify and implement these critical habitat projects. “This agreement will
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The NWTF and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) have formed a partnership to invest more than $300,000 to restore vanishing longleaf pine on private land in the Savannah River Corridor in South Carolina and Georgia. Longleaf pine is a southern ecosystem that is critical to wild turkey, deer, quail and other wildlife, including many endangered species. Unlike other species of pine, longleaf are adapted to poor soils and are more suitable than other pine species for a wide variety of landscapes such as mountains, rolling hills, sandhills and flatwoods. Healthy longleaf pine forests are an important part of
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American Bird Conservancy (ABC), an international bird conservation organization, is seeking to employ a Science Coordinator for the Appalachian Mountains Joint Venture. This is a full-time position with American Bird Conservancy (ABC). The Appalachian Mountains Joint Venture (AMJV) Science Coordinator works for the AMJV partnership, which consists of private, state, and federal conservation agencies and organizations that have assumed responsibility for the implementation of national and international bird conservation plans within the Appalachian Mountains Bird Conservation Region. The Science Coordinator functions as part of the AMJV Office, which is responsible for coordinating and facilitating the work of the entire AMJV
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