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New Tech is a Nexus for Native Fish, Agriculture
In a high-elevation hay meadow somewhere in the mountains of Colorado, cold, clear water is diverted out of a river and into an irrigation ditch. It flows through the hand-dug ditch mostly unimpeded—that is, until an electrical pulse tells a powerful magnet to release a hinged sheet of metal, which flops unceremoniously down into the…
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Intermountain Insights: White-Faced Ibis and Water in the West
This Intermountain Insights takes a look at a fascinating study on white-faced ibis and its implications for the conservation of wetlands in the Intermountain West. Researchers from the University of Montana and the Intermountain West Joint Venture conducted the first-ever long-term monitoring of white-faced ibis breeding habitat. Using satellite imagery, they estimated seasonal flooding across…
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Private Lands Conservation
“Our private lands are the least expensive wildlife refuges available.” — George Shine, Oregon Rancher Public lands comprise around 70 percent of the Intermountain West’s iconic landscapes. However, 70 percent of the region’s wetlands—including important sagebrush mesic habitat—occur on private land. These water-rich areas are frequently associated with irrigated agriculture and often occur on working ranches…
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NRCS Practices for Connecting Landscapes
Although fencelines often divide the landscapes of the Intermountain West, water and wildlife do not abide by those boundaries. Conservation of these important resources relies on an understanding of landscape-scale connectivity. This visual representation of various practices used by USDA NRCS on private agricultural land and public land leased for agriculture seeks to create dialogue…
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Restoration a Part of Ranching in Colorado’s Yampa Valley
As far as the Knott family remembers, beavers have always been present on their ranch. Their dams, built across the sinuous channels of Trout Creek, slow and alter the flow of the water running off the snowy peaks of Colorado’s Flat Tops range. Occasionally, the Knotts will have to remove an attempted beaver dam in…
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North American Wetlands Conservation Act
Protecting, restoring and enhancing wetland habitats for birds since 1989. In the past two decades, the North American Wetlands Conservation Act (NAWCA) has funded over 3,300 projects projects for over 7,000 partners, conserving more than 32.6 million acres of vital habitat. These efforts have been made possible through $2.28 billion in grants and an additional…
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A Cure for the Creek
View the story map below or in fullscreen via this link: https://arcg.is/1DmS9O0
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Intermountain Insights: The Call of the Cranes
Greater sandhill cranes rely on wetland habitat on private and public land throughout the West as they migrate to and from wintering and breeding grounds each fall and spring. New science from the Intermountain West Joint Venture (IWJV) identifies the landscapes and wetland sites most important to sustaining these seasonal migrations. The paper, Migration efficiency…
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Klamath Basin Farming and Wetlands Coalesce in RCPP
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced last week that it is investing $3.8 million in the Klamath Basin Farming and Wetland Collaborative project in the Klamath Basin through the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP). This investment will bring some much-needed relief to farmers and migratory birds over the next…
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Working Wet Meadows: A Low-Tech Waterfowl Stopover in the Channeled Scablands
Article and photos by Sarah and Trevor Siperek, Meadow Creek Ranch LLC Editor’s Note: Water 4 supports partnership-based conservation tailored to the unique opportunities and needs within landscapes, including conservation easements, agricultural flood irrigation infrastructure enhancements, fish and big game habitat improvement, and water management planning timed to habitat needs. This article features a project…
