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) […]

In the Kansas towns of Leoti and Tribune, community members and city officials are taking steps toward addressing the potential lack of water in future years. With a recently awarded $250,000 grant from the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) Climate Adaptation Fund, PLJV will continue to collaborate with the two communities to include playa restoration in […]

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 […]

These days, when Matt Poole and his team go out to survey the land at Matador Wildlife Management Area (WMA) in west Texas, they’re pretty happy with what they see. Where these areas of the Rolling Plains of Texas used to be overrun with invasive plants like mesquite, they are now seeing it return back […]

A group of precision agriculture students in Kansas are taking part in the conversation of how best to restore playas and use new technology to advance existing efforts. Educating the next generation of producers about playas is an important step to ensuring the continued conservation of these wetlands and the recharge value to the Ogallala […]

This past year, PLJV and the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish have been working together to develop funding for playa conservation in eastern New Mexico and now have nearly a million dollars to dedicate to restoration efforts. This will provide habitat for birds and other wildlife, and help the City of Clovis and […]

A recent Audubon North American Grasslands and Birds report highlights the need to not only protect our remaining grasslands but also to prioritize and direct our conservation efforts to areas that will support grassland birds now and into the future. Within the PLJV, one of the best ways we can do that is to remove […]

For years, PLJV has been looking for ways to make playa conservation relevant to the people who own or manage these temporary wetlands. Most playas are on private land and are often inconveniently located in the middle of farmland. So, there are many factors that go into the decision of what to do with a […]

The National Audubon Society recently released a report, North American Grasslands and Birds, that evaluates the sensitivity of grassland bird species to climate change and identifies which grasslands are strongholds against both climate change and land use conversion and which are vulnerable to those processes. PLJV collaborated on the chapter addressing the southern Great Plains […]