Over the past year, PLJV has had the opportunity to work with city leaders and prominent landowners in Clovis, New Mexico, on a visionary plan that features playa conservation as an important aspect of ensuring ongoing groundwater recharge and a sustainable future for their community. With more than 300 playas surrounding their town, the community […]

Ducks Unlimited was just awarded $859,500 from the North American Wetlands Conservation Act (NAWCA) standard grant program to conserve prairie wetlands, including playas on private lands, in Kansas. This project is a continuation of successful wetland conservation efforts by many partners including Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism, Pheasants Forever, Kansas Alliance for Wetlands […]

On June 22, 2016, PLJV celebrated 25 years of partnership with ConocoPhillips (Phillips Petroleum). PLJV was honored to have Don Hrap, president of ConocoPhillips Lower 48, and three of our ConocoPhillips board representatives (Kari Gibson, 2015-current; Eileen Dey, 2013-2014; and Tuss Erickson, 1997-2002) at the celebration. “The partnership between PLJV and ConocoPhillips is astonishing. I […]

As field biologists, many of us are innately observant. As field biologists conducting avian point counts, we are trained to take our observation skills to an entirely different level. In short, a point count begins with a rapid assessment of the habitat and surrounding vegetation, followed by six minutes of keen listening and observation. The […]

This year, the IMBCR bird monitoring effort expanded into the Southern Great Plains. To do that, Bird Conservancy of the Rockies needed to add more than 200 new survey locations and bring on additional field crew to finish the needed point surveys in the short bird-counting season. “We hired and trained 17 field technicians to […]

Last month, PLJV staff gave a presentation about the Playa Modifications Assessment citizen science project to middle school students at Mackintosh Academy in Boulder, Colorado. After talking about the importance of playas to both wildlife and people of the western Great Plains, GIS Director Alex Daniels taught the class how to classify playa imagery by […]

Earlier this year, Ducks Unlimited was awarded two $1 million grants for wetland habitat conservation and restoration in Colorado and Kansas from the North American Wetland Conservation Act (NAWCA) standard grant program. Both grants will help Ducks Unlimited and its partners continue providing important wetland and grassland habitat for migratory birds. “Water, especially, is a […]

In 1990, shortly after Playa Lakes Joint Venture (PLJV) was formed, ConocoPhillips joined the Management Board and helped to create the business foundation of our operations. Twenty-five years later, we celebrate this collaboration which has helped provide 68,000 acres of habitat throughout the region, benefiting 66 priority bird species including Whooping Crane, Greater and Lesser […]

Playas are a major source of recharge to the Ogallala Aquifer, contributing up to 95 percent of inflow of water to the aquifer and improving the quality of that water. For those who may have doubts, it was confirmed by 14 playa experts who participated in PLJV’s Playa Recharge Summit last November. The Summit was […]

In February, the North American Wetland Conservation Council approved four NAWCA small grants for wetland conservation projects within the PLJV region: Texas Playa Conservation Initiative, Southwest Nebraska Playa Restoration, South Fork Republican River and Kiowa Creek Ranch Wetlands. Together, the projects will restore or enhance 790 wetland acres, including nearly 500 acres of playas, in […]