A key aspect to successful conservation delivery is listening to the needs of partners and shaping strategy around those conversations. Two recently funded projects to address declining aquifer levels in Kansas are based on this kind of collaboration. This past year, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) announced it is investing $1.4 million in a […]

Conserving vast grassland landscapes is a large task; one that requires partnership, an ability to identify priority areas and a commitment to increasing capacity for habitat conservation. The PLJV ConocoPhillips Capacity Grant Program is helping to build that capacity by investing in organizations that are protecting grasslands. As the most recent PLJV ConocoPhillips Capacity Grant […]

Despite some setbacks related to the Covid-19 pandemic, Ranchland Trust of Kansas (RTK), last year’s recipient of the PLJV ConocoPhillips Capacity Grant, continues to expand its footprint of grassland habitat conservation throughout Kansas. “The priority is exactly the same and we haven’t had a shift in what we want to see as the outcome,” said […]

The last week in February, a group of landowners gathered in Roosevelt County, New Mexico to watch fire management teams burn 1,700 acres of land. The event was part of a prescribed burn in the area, meant to mitigate the effects of wildfires while also creating ideal habitat for Lesser Prairie-Chicken and other grassland birds […]

With about 23,000 playas in the Southern High Plains of Texas, the state is undoubtedly an important place for playa restoration and conservation. But, despite their abundance and ability to support aquifer recharge, they often go unnoticed or underappreciated. As a solution to this, a number of conservation organizations came together in 2015 to form […]

Ducks Unlimited was recently awarded three standard NAWCA grants for projects located in the PLJV region: Kansas Prairie Wetlands VI in Kansas, North Platte River Wetlands III in Nebraska, and Platte River Wetlands Partnership V in Colorado. The projects will restore, enhance and protect riparian habitat as well as playa wetlands. Kansas Prairie Wetlands VI […]

In 2013, Matt Hough wrote his first North American Wetland Conservation Act (NAWCA) grant proposal while working as an intern at Ducks Unlimited (DU) in Nebraska. Now, seven years later, as manager of conservation programs for Kansas at DU, writing NAWCA grants is an integral part of his everyday work. Projects that Hough and the […]

Understanding the ways various decisions could change the habitat and livelihood of birds is always an important aspect of a project, no matter the scale. For habitat projects within the PLJV region, there is an online tool that can provide that type of information to conservation planners and project managers. The Rocky Mountain Avian Data […]

To help better understand potential uses of the Rocky Mountain Avian Data Center, we’ve put together a query to illustrate how the database can be used and act as a gateway to exploring it. In 2019, PLJV used IMBCR grids to evaluate how grassland birds respond to increasing percent cover of shrubs, particularly mesquite. Preliminary […]

The Texas panhandle provides valuable resources for developing wind energy and, simultaneously, hosts thousands of playas, an important wetland habitat for migratory birds. When working on creating wind energy farms in this area, considering these valuable habitats is an important step in the development process, but avoiding playas can be difficult in places like Texas […]