The Landscape Conservation Bulletin |
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A bi-monthly service of the Network for
Landscape Conservation
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Dear Network Friends,
While I served at the U.S. Department of the Interior, I met with folks along Duck Trap River in Maine, Las Cienegas in Arizona, the Swan Valley in Montana, the Umcompahgre Plateau, the North Carolina coast, and many other places. All these people were collaborating in constellations of action to conserve places and enhance communities and their economies. Such efforts are not easy—but they continue to effloresce across this Nation. How can we stitch together—across scales—the collaborative conservation leadership that is emerging in all of these places to accelerate collective impact?
This was an animating question for a summit that the Southeast Conservation Adaptation Strategy (SECAS) partners convened in February. I had the opportunity to share remarks as we collectively considered this question and associated ones: How big is big enough for landscape scale? How do different scales influence success? Beyond geographic and ecological factors, what else do landscapes include? What kinds of leadership, funding, and governing systems and processes are needed to sustain collaborative conservation at scale?
During two days of rich conversation, participants affirmed the critical funding challenges to support basic operations—for planning and coordination and foundational capacity to collaborate. The concepts of networks and network governance loomed large, as we considered how to interconnect efforts at different scales to advance goals. Notwithstanding tremendous progress in agencies coordinating on shared values, goals, and actions, agencies themselves still strive for enhanced collaboration among themselves—within departments and across departments.
Despite big questions, the sentiments were optimistic: much as we are seeing throughout the country, in the Southeast it is clear that collaborative landscape conservation is maturing and deploying new leadership models and information tools. Through efforts described at the Southeast summit—and those highlighted by NLC and others—we see the building blocks of healthy lands, waters and wildlife; thriving communities; and dynamic economies.
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Integrating Biodiversity and Climate |
Perspectives: Landscapes of the Future |
Additional Landscape Conservation News |
Landscape Conservation Job Board |
Webinars & Additional Resources |
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Lynn Scarlett
Former Deputy Secretary, Department of the Interior
Member of the NLC Coordinating Committee
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Cover photo: The painted hills of Carrizo Plain National Monument,California. Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash.
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Featured News
2024 Catalyst Fund RFP is now available, with proposals due by April 26
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Earlier this month, we released a new Request for Proposals for the 2024 funding round of the Catalyst Fund. With this its sixth grant cycle, the Catalyst Fund strives to accelerate the pace and practice of landscape conservation and stewardship across the United States by making strategic investments in strengthening the collaborative capacity of place-based, community-grounded Landscape Partnerships. The Fund couples financial support through a competitive grant program with capacity-building support through in-depth Peer Learning for funded Partnerships. A portion of the Fund is reserved specifically to advance Indigenous landscape conservation and stewardship priorities.
Visit the Catalyst Fund page of our website for more information on the how to apply. Proposal submissions are due by Friday, April 26 and we anticipate announcing grant awards in August 2024.
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Featured News
Integrating biodiversity and climate concerns: A growing focus on Natural Climate Solutions
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In mid-February, the New York Times published the first article in a “Wild Places, Clean Energy” series, which intends to explore how the energy transition will impact wildlife. In exploring pathways for building out solar panel and renewable energy projects while minimizing negative impacts on biodiversity, the article brings to the forefront the tension that can exist between climate and biodiversity concerns. Growing attention to this intersection is imperative, and Natural Climate Solutions—efforts focused on conservation, restoration, and improved land management practices as a means of increasing climate mitigation—are attracting increasing attention as a means for aligning climate and biodiversity interests on landscapes. For instance, in January a team at The Nature Conservancy published a paper defining five principles for Natural Climate Solutions, outlining how nature can provide effective, measurable, and equitable solutions to tackle the climate and biodiversity crises. Elsewhere, also in late January, the Northeast Forest Network released a new report that synthesizes talking points for making the case for New England forests as a Natural Climate Solution. And finally, from a somewhat different perspective, a report out in February from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and partners considers the intersection of risk management, insurance, and environmental management—offering recommendations on further integrating nature-based solutions into risk science and insurance, and highlighting how environmental managers can leverage the risk reduction benefits of nature-based solutions to scale up conservation and restoration efforts.
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Designing Nature's Half: Landscape conservation podcast launched |
Designing Nature’s Half: The Landscape Conservation Podcast is a platform dedicated to facilitating learning and inspiring action to combat the combined wicked problem of climate change and biodiversity loss. Through conversations with experts, hosts Rob Campellone and Tom Miewald aim to empower landscape partnerships to think about, design, and implement actions that further landscape
sustainability and resilience.
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Perspectives: Landscape Conservation in Action |
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Landscapes of the future: Enhancing collaborative action
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At the Southeast Conservation Adaptation Strategy's Southeast Landscape of the Future Summit in late February, former Deputy Secretary of the Department of the Interior Lynn Scarlett offered keynote remarks on how a collaborative, landscape conservation, and transdisciplinary approach is imperative to addressing climate change and its negative impacts to habitat and humans. In this month’s Perspectives piece, we are pleased to share an adapted version of Lynn’s remarks, as she takes us across the U.S., looking at examples of “collaborative efforts residing at the confluence of science, technology, communities, management, economies, laws, and policy.” Lynn shares reflections on scale, relevant landscape factors, and collaboration form, governance, and leadership. As Lynn notes, “We need all hands on deck and the wisdom of diverse peoples across diverse places,” as we consider landscapes of the future.
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Image: The Southeast Conservation Blueprint represents a living spatial plan to achieve the SECAS vision of a connected network of lands and waters across the Southeast. |
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SURVEY: ECOLOGICAL CONNECTIVITY IN CONSERVATION
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Additional Landscape Conservation News |
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Article on the Center for Effective Philanthropy blog highlights the power of collaborative approaches to environmental stewardship, and focuses attention on the disconnect in conventional funding paradigms that limits resources for supporting such collaborative approaches.
Salmon are creatures of the forest: Article in From the Ground Up spotlights efforts by the Penobscot Nation to advance conservation efforts that support biodiversity, carbon sequestration, and land justice in the Penobscot River watershed in Maine.
The Sentinel Landscapes Partnership releases its 2023 Sentinel Landscapes Accomplishments Report, capturing how unconventional partnerships are advancing valuable landscape-scale outcomes for the coming decade.
The Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes received the Native Nations Traditional Ecological Knowledge Award in the 2023 ESRI ArcGIS StoryMaps Competition, for transforming their Climate Change Strategic Plan into a StoryMap set that functions as a living document reflecting climate priorities and achievements on the Flathead Reservation.
Understanding the “C’s of conflict competency:” Over the last year the Environmental Dispute Resolution Program at the University of Utah has explored core competencies for navigating conflict in environmental management contexts–two new posts explores more deeply the core competencies of commitment and communication.
Position paper by Archaeology Southwest looks at Tribal co-management collaborations, how they work, and in what geographies.
Article from Pew Charitable Trusts explores how Indigenous-led conservation efforts are setting the standard for global environmental stewardship in protecting Canada’s Boreal Forest.
In working to build a community-driven plan to restore and protect the waters of the Ohio River, a new report from the National Wildlife Federation and Ohio River Basin Alliance synthesizes findings from 31 community listening sessions on community priorities for Ohio River Basin restoration and protection.
In a Land Lines Magazine interview, The Nature Conservancy’s ecologist Mark Anderson discusses the development of TNC’s Resilient Land Mapping Tool and how we can work towards a future of connected landscapes that are uniquely suited to preserve biodiversity and withstand the impacts of climate change.
Defenders of Wildlife and the Land Trust Alliance release a new interactive online tool, Wildlife and Land Trusts (WALT), which aims to help land trusts identify federal resources for wildlife conservation.
Article in Post & Courier spotlights the Sentinel Landscapes Program, and how the newly-designated Low Country Sentinel Landscape is advancing conservation successes–including for example the near-4,500 acre Gregorie Neck acquisition.
Open Space Institute releases a report synthesizing insights on advancing forest protection as a clean water strategy, drawing upon an assessment of its 10-year Delaware River Watershed Protection Fund.
A new online tool released by the U.S. Forest Service’s Rocky Mountain Region guides users in better understanding Indigenous knowledge and perspectives and how to better partner with Tribes.
National Public Radio story highlights how the Southern High Plains Initiative program brings groups together to save native grasslands in the high plains.
Adirondack Explore article spotlights the Algonquin to Adirondacks Collaborative and building momentum in identifying wildlife corridors and sustaining key connectivity linkages in eastern North America.
Article in Mongabay looks at how culture and conservation thrive as Great Lakes Tribes bring back native wild rice to wetlands.
Colorado College releases 14th annual Conservation in the West poll results, which reveal that threats to public lands are highly important to voters.
Mongabay article highlights the creation of the first U.S. Indigenous Marine Stewardship Area, and how the Tolowa Dee-ni’ Nation, Resighini Rancheria, and Cher-Ae Heights Indian Community are stewarding nearly 700 square miles of ancestral ocean and coastal territories in northern California.
The Nature of Cities blogpost highlights three examples on how an ecosystem approach—a framing of the interrelationships among air, water, land, and all living things, including humans—has been successfully applied in urban areas.
The National Wildlife Federation and partners release new guide to help policymakers, researchers, and resource managers harness the power of creativity and innovation to achieve more effective climate adaptation outcomes.
As part of BBC’s Climate and Us series, two short films highlight how Indigenous practices could help prevent wildfire, what Indigenous knowledge can teach us about land stewardship in the Arctic, and insights on how Indigenous communities are leading conservation efforts.
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Upcoming Conferences & Events
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Tucson, Arizona
Virtual
Estes Park, Colorado
Auburn, WA
Durham, North Carolina
Grand Rapids, Michigan
Olympic Valley, California
Montreal, Quebec
Rapid City, South Dakota
Anchorage, AK
Quebec, Canada
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Landscape Conservation Job Board
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Managing Director, Heart of the Rockies Initiative
Resilience Specialist, Avon Park Airforce Range Sentinel Landscape
Resilience Specialist, Northwest Florida Sentinel Landscape
Executive Director, InterTribal Sinkyone Wilderness Council
Program Manager, Willamette Valley Fire Collaborative
Land of the First Light Fellowship, Native Land Conservancy
Black and LatinX Community Coordinators, MPA Collaborative Network
Vice President of Conservation Programs, Northeast Wilderness Trust
Director of Forest Programs, Northern Forest Center
Vermont/New Hampshire Director, Northern Forest Center
Working Lands Program Director, Western Landowners Alliance
Philanthropy Director, River Network
This section of the Landscape Conservation Bulletin is intended to be a space to share job postings that will be specifically relevant to landscape conservation practitioners. We welcome submissions: if your organization would like to widely distribute a posting please be in touch.
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Webinars & Additional Resources
The Open Space Institute and the Land Trust Alliance are currently accepting proposals for the 2023 round of the Land and Climate Grant Program, with proposals due on May 17, 2024.
The Western Conservation Leadership Development Program is currently accepting applications to its 2024-2025 course, Western Conservation Leadership: Through the Looking Glass. Learn more and apply by May 17th here.
The Environmental Dispute Resolution Program at the University of Utah is currently accepting applications for its Collaboration Certificate Course. Learn more and apply by April 22 here.
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A webinar of the Building the New Forest Future webinar series, hosted by the Northern Forest Center
April 17, 2024
Southeast Climate Adaptation Science Center Science Seminar webinar
May 15, 2024
Open Communications for the Ocean webinar
May 22, 2024
An interactive three-part virtual workshop series by the Institute for Conservation Leadership.
April 30—May 7, 2024
Every two weeks, hosts Rob Campellone and Tom Miewald sit down with thought leaders, innovators, conservationists, and scientists to raise awareness, inspire dialogue, and encourage engagement in designing sustainable and resilient landscapes before it’s too late. Large landscape conservation is complex, but Designing Nature’s Half breaks the conversation into manageable pieces for novices and experts alike.
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The Network for Landscape Conservation is the community of practice for practitioners advancing collaborative, cross-boundary conservation as an essential approach to protect nature, culture, and community in the 21st Century.
Contributions of news, upcoming events, resources, and job postings for future Bulletins are welcomed. We also welcome inquires for potential future "Perspectives: Landscapes Conservation in Action" stories; please be in touch if you are interested in sharing stories and insights from your work.
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The Network for Landscape Conservation is a fiscally sponsored project of the Center for Large Landscape Conservation, P.O. Box 1587, Bozeman, MT 59771
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