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Conservation of New Mexico’s riparian and wetland ecosystems
This is a proposal for science monitoring seasonal surface water availability in New Mexico. New Mexico Wetlands Proposal Despite encompassing a small fraction of the landscape (< 2%), riparian systems in arid regions act as keystone features that concentrate biological diversity. These habitats are particularly important to waterbirds during migration and act as critical resting…
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The Conifer Conundrum
Pushing Back Problem Trees in Montana Grasslands and Rangelands Article by Hannah Nikonow and Emily Downing, IWJV Communications Specialists Forests are changing across the West. Fires are an integral part of the health of forested landscapes but humans are pretty good at putting them out to protect lives, economies, and infrastructure. In Montana’s Blackfoot Valley…
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Intermountain Insights: Working Science for Working Landscapes
Agriculture and human settlement have long been tied to ecologically important wetland and riparian resources and the water they provide. For over one hundred years, this pattern has concentrated private land ownership in the West’s river bottoms and valleys, areas that are surrounded by publicly-owned sagebrush rangelands and forests. Those private lands account for only…
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SageCon Invasives Initiative: Hot on the Horizon in Oregon’s Rangelands
The wildfire and invasive fuels problem will not be solved in silos around the West. The Oregon-based Sage-Grouse Conservation Partnership (known as SageCon) launched its Invasives Initiative to strategically link local and regional invasive grass efforts. “Working with noxious weeds is like a bare-knuckled bar brawl. Some years you gain ground, others you get beat,…
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Low-Tech Wet Meadow Restoration: Reading the Landscape
Webinar Co-presenters: Shawn Conner, Restoration Ecologist, BIO-Logic, Inc., Montrose, CO Jeremy Maestas, Ecologist, USDA-NRCS, Portland, OR Host: Mandi Hirsch, Sagebrush Collaborative Conservation Specialist, Intermountain West Joint Venture, Lander, WY Wet or mesic meadows are rare but disproportionately important habitats within western rangelands. Gully erosion and channel incision are widespread problems reducing natural resiliency and water…
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Why is Sagebrush Country on Fire?
Through SageWest, a sagebrush communications network, Audubon and Intermountain West Joint Venture partnered with the Bureau of Land Management in offering a 1-hour webinar presentation on June 3rd, 2020, titled “Why is Sagebrush Country on Fire?” Thank you to everyone who participated, we had a great turnout with folks ranging from policy-makers to practitioners in this field to those…
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More Menace Than Cheatgrass?!
The following article is by Bebe Crouse, Communications Director for The Nature Conservancy in Montana and Wyoming, with contributions from the Intermountain West Joint Venture. “It’s like a horror film!” That’s the way The Nature Conservancy’s northeast Wyoming program director Carli Kierstead describes the rapid spread of two invasive annual grasses. What started as a…
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Intermountain Insights: Maintaining Resiliency of Continental Waterbird Flyways
Waterbirds in the Intermountain West rely on a limited number of important wetland sites as they migrate hundreds of miles between breeding grounds in the north and wintering grounds in the south. This network of wetlands is vital for resting and refueling on these long journeys. What is more, these sites are also important centers…
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Nevada Seed Strategy
Vision: Keep Nevada lands diverse and functioning by using the right seed in the right place at the right time. Mission: We are a partnership helping Nevada increase the availability of locally adapted seed to restore diverse plant communities and sustainable landscapes. The Nevada Seed Strategy (Strategy), prepared by the Nevada Native Seed Partnership, aims…
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Nevada Native Seed Partnership
The Nevada Native Seed Partnership (NNSP) is a coalition of agencies and organizations in Nevada that work together with the vision of keeping Nevada lands diverse and functioning by using the right seed in the right place at the right time. By implementing the Nevada Seed Strategy, the NNSP’s mission is to increase the availability…
