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Kurt Thomas: Leading by Example in the Klamath Basin
Kurt Thomas is a lifelong rancher from the Upper Klamath Basin whose immense contributions to water and land conservation in the area earned him the 2021 Intermountain West Joint Venture Private Landowner Conservation Champion Award. As an early adopter of sustainable water management practices and by demonstrating his efforts to others, he has magnified conservation…
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Sagebrush Ecosystem Team: Bringing Science and Partnership to the Table
In 2019, the USFWS Mountain-Prairie Regional Director for Interior Region (IR) 5/7 established a strategic effort to work across programs and partners to maintain healthy, working landscapes that support native wildlife, climate resilience, and rural economies. Ever since, the Sagebrush Ecosystem Team (SET) has been hard at work creating an innovative model for landscape-scale conservation…
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Bruce Taylor Leaves Indelible Mark in Oregon
If you have worked in Oregon’s conservation community for any length of time, chances are you either know Bruce Taylor or have heard his name. He has been involved in hundreds of conservation projects throughout the state and has routinely brought partners together to collaborate. He has also been instrumental in helping partners secure the…
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Bi-State Local Area Working Group Collaborates for Conservation
East of the Sierra Nevada mountain range, along the Nevada-California state border, exists a wide expanse of sagebrush sea that is home to a geographically isolated and genetically distinct population of sage-grouse known as the Bi-State sage-grouse. Nearly two decades ago, concerned stakeholders realized this population’s isolation from other Greater sage-grouse populations could leave them…
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Wyoming’s Hellyer Family Leads Local Private Lands Conservation
The Hellyers run a cattle operation with the main base found along Willow Creek south of Lander, WY. In the summer, they run cattle on their Burnt Ranch property along the Sweetwater River in southern Fremont County. The ranch is comprised of 7,100 acres of deeded land as well as many thousands of acres of…
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Conservation Youth Award Nominee Brings Science Home to the Ranch
Every time Siobhan Lally goes out on the mesa near her family’s ranch on the Colorado-Wyoming border, she counts deer. She’s mainly looking for hunting purposes, she said, but, over time, she’s learned quite a bit about the animals and their habits. “I see what species are there and where they like to go,” she…
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Finalist for Conservation Youth Award Finds the Sweet Spot Between Science and Politics
When Jonathan Karlen decided to major in wildlife biology at the University of Montana (UM), he was confident in his interest in the natural world. Karlen grew up in Manhattan (New York), but he spent his weekends wandering around the state forests and parks of Connecticut. The contrast between the two worlds piqued his curiosity.…
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Hank Taliaferro Receives Private Landowner Conservation Champion Award
Noted as one of the most committed landowners to protecting wildlife, habitat, and agricultural lands within the Rio Grande corridor, Hank Taliaferro was presented the 2018 IWJV Private Landowner Conservation Champion Award while hosting a partner field tour on his property in central New Mexico on November 6, 2019. Hank started La Joya Farms by purchasing 108…
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Jon Griggs Takes the Lead on Local Conservation
Jon Griggs is more than just the manager of Nevada’s Maggie Creek Ranch. He is a community leader who is actively involved in a number of collaborative efforts in Nevada, including ROGER (Results Oriented Grazing for Ecological Resilience), the Nevada Collaborative Conservation Network, and the Northeastern Nevada Stewardship Group. Many local partners seek Jon out…
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U.S. Senator Bennet Recognized as Conservation Policy Champion
The Intermountain West Joint Venture (IWJV) recently presented its prestigious Conservation Policy Champion Award to U.S. Senator Michael Bennet (Colorado) for his efforts to conserve wildlife habitat through partnerships in ways that support local communities. This award recognizes an individual who exemplifies the spirit of the IWJV and efforts to conserve habitat through collaborative, landscape…
