Photo: Playa restoration on Stevens’ playa (Dru Stevens) The New Mexico Department of Game and Fish (NMDGF) and PLJV are developing an overarching playa conservation strategy in eastern New Mexico that builds on many years of education and outreach efforts in Curry and Roosevelt counties. This strategy has already resulted in a large number of […]

Since the PLJV ConocoPhillips Capacity Grant Program is intended to support long-term conservation work on the landscape, PLJV likes to invest in organizations that are on the upswing and need a push to get over the hill. We looked back at four former grantees to see how their capacity for conservation work has grown since […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

A new enterprise to address declining aquifer levels will soon be available in Wichita and Greeley counties. USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) is investing $1.4 million in a partner-driven Groundwater Recharge and Sustainability Project (GRASP) to support local communities through its Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP). The project has an additional $1.5 million in […]

The executive director of Ranchland Trust of Kansas, PLJV’s recent capacity grant awardee, took time recently to discuss the organization’s project goals, what she hopes will come from the work, and her thoughts on capacity grants. (The interview has been edited for length and clarity.) PLJV: What made you think Ranchland Trust of Kansas (RTK) […]

PLJV’s 2019 annual report is now available, and we’d like to thank all of our partners! In addition to developing new tools for the benefit of our partnership and regional communities, such as an interactive playa map and landowner films, PLJV continued to work with partners on Playa Conservation Initiatives in Texas, New Mexico and […]