Growing Returns

Selected tag(s): endangered species

California’s new water law a win for agriculture and the environment

By Ann Hayden / Bio / Published: December 3, 2014

Now that voter passage of a $7.5-billion water bond is firmly set in California’s rear-view mirror, it’s time to look forward and map out the road before us. How will the money be spent, and where will it drive change?

Beneficiaries of the new law will be vast, to be sure, but a good chunk of change is slated to support farm communities while restoring habitat and freeing water up for the environment. Here’s how:

$900 million for groundwater sustainability

This funding has the potential to improve the quality and reliability of groundwater resources that many agricultural communities across the state depend on. It is designed to ensure that projects are prioritized based on several criteria, including how the project will prevent the spread of groundwater contamination into storage areas, how the project will impact local water supply reliability, and whether the project can recharge vulnerable and high-use groundwater basins.

Posted in Habitat Exchange / Also tagged agriculture, california, Chinook salmon, conservation, ecosystems, groundwater, habitat exchange, sustainable agriculture, Swainson's hawk, water bond, water use, Western Farm Press, western water | Comments are closed

A cattleman’s quest to save a bird and help ranchers thrive

By David Wolfe / Bio / Published: October 29, 2014

Terry Fankhauser, Executive Vice President of Colorado Cattelmen’s Association

Terry Fankhauser is a rancher and executive vice president of the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. He is also a board member and executive director of Partners for Western Conservation, which seeks to implement market-based conservation services that benefit wildlife and the economy.

Terry joined me and other conservation colleagues last week in Washington, D.C., to discuss habitat exchanges at the National Workshop on Large Landscape Conservation. I asked him to give us a recap of the discussion and to tell us why he got involved in the development of exchanges.

Why were you in D.C. last week?

I took the opportunity to travel to Washington to convey the message that agriculture producers are investing time and resources into developing conservation markets like the Colorado Habitat Exchange. We are just as interested as other parties in addressing conservation concerns, regulatory challenges and the ongoing need for viable businesses that drive our economies.

Wyoming ranchers steward land, cattle and the greater sage-grouse

By Sara Brodnax / Bio / Published: October 9, 2014

Cattle ranching and greater sage-grouse can not only coexist, but thrive.

Ranchers and other private landowners have a critical role to play in conserving wildlife like the greater sage-grouse, which could face listing under the Endangered Species Act in 2015.

Home to nearly half of the greater sage-grouse’s remaining habitat, Wyoming is a landscape critical to the recovery of the species. A full 40 percent of the bird’s habitat in the state is privately held. Therefore, common sense solutions are needed to reward ranchers and other private landowners for conservation actions that protect vital habitat.

A rural, working landscape

Private lands in the West are often found near water, as ranches and other homesteaders put down stakes where they had ready access to water. For similar reasons, these areas are also critically important to wildlife.

Posted in Habitat Exchange, Wildlife Protection / Also tagged agriculture, ecosystems, ESA, greater sage-grouse, habitat, Jonah Field, Partnerships, Pinedale Anticline, ranching, sage grouse initiative, Sublette County Conservation District, Upper Green River Conservation Exchange, wildlife, Wyoming, Wyoming Association of Conservation Districts, Wyoming Association of Stock Growers, Wyoming Conservation Exchange | Comments are closed

New federal framework provides path forward for landowners and sage-grouse

By Eric Holst / Bio / Twitter profile / Published: October 3, 2014

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service faces a difficult decision on the listing of the greater sage-grouse. On the one hand, populations are in steady decline across the range and the Service has already indicated that the bird’s condition will likely warrant protection under the Endangered Species Act. On the other hand, a listing would pit the Service against powerful economic interests – including energy and agriculture – and against most of the political apparatus of the 11 Western states that harbor the imperiled bird.

But the Service just did itself and all sage-grouse stakeholders a big favor.

Earlier this month, the Service released the Greater Sage-Grouse Range-Wide Mitigation Framework – a guidance document intended to help states and private sector interests design solutions for the bird that, if implemented quickly and effectively, would be taken into account when the Service makes its final listing determination in 2016.

Posted in Habitat Exchange, Wildlife Protection / Also tagged agriculture, ecosystems, ESA, federal policy, greater sage-grouse, habitat exchange, mitigation heirarchy, Partnerships, ranching, range-wide mitigation framework, sagebrush, USFWS | Read 1 Response