Growing Returns

The “dean of endangered species protection” on the past, present and future of America’s wildlife

By Eric Holst / Bio / Twitter profile / Published: July 18, 2017

Michael Bean is a prominent wildlife conservation expert and attorney. He is also the author of The Evolution of National Wildlife Law, a leading text on wildlife conservation law. Many consider Bean “the dean of endangered species protection.”

Few people know more about wildlife conservation in America than Michael Bean. A renowned expert in wildlife policy and programs, Michael is hailed as an innovative thinker who has consistently found effective ways to protect our nation’s endangered species, pioneering techniques like Safe Harbor agreements and Habitat Conservation Plans that have helped many animals at risk of extinction.

Michael started working at EDF in 1977 where he directed our wildlife conservation policy initiatives for several decades, during which I came on board and had the honor of working closely with him. In 2009, Michael went on to join the U.S. Department of the Interior as counselor to the Assistant Secretary for Fish, Wildlife and Parks, and later as the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary.

Today, we are fortunate to have Michael back as an advisor to EDF, and to have him share his insights on the current state of our country’s wildlife programs and policies. Read More »

Posted in Wildlife Protection / Tagged bald eagle, black-footed ferret, California condor, ecosystems, endangered species, endangered species act success stories, ESA, Michael Bean, Partnerships, red-cockaded woodpecker, Safe Harbor, Safe Harbor agreements, sea otter, wildlife, wildlife conservation, wildlife law | Comments are closed

Crops, water and habitat: This California farmer’s winning trifecta

By Ann Hayden / Bio / Published: July 6, 2017

Cannon Michael is the president of Bowles Farming Company.

During times of water scarcity, like California’s recent drought, it’s tempting to take on a binary view of the world. This was definitely the case with agriculture, which appeared to be at odds with everyone: farms vs. fish, farm vs. cities, farms vs. regulators. As a dominant water user in the state, they were easy targets.

But when one digs deeper, it’s obvious that many in the agricultural community want to move beyond this debate and do things differently. Yes growing food and fiber takes water, but there are plenty of farmers laser-focused on improving efficiency, maximizing multi-benefit solutions and striking a balance between growing crops and preserving the environment.

I recently visited with Cannon Michael, president of Bowles Farming Company, which oversees an 11,000-acre farm near Los Banos in California’s San Joaquin Valley. He is the great, great, great grandson of Henry Miller, “the Cattle King of California,” so farming is in his blood. He has senior water rights, and while he still had to make difficult management decisions during the drought, he ended up with more water than many of his neighbors and found ways to share it, a tremendous display of collaboration in the farming community. Read More »

Posted in Wildlife Protection / Tagged California agriculture, California drought, central valley habitat exchange, San Joaquin Valley, sustainable groundwater management act, water use, western water | Read 3 Responses

From testing to launch: A new program for monarchs takes flight

By Audrey Archer / Bio / Published: June 30, 2017

Audrey applies the Habitat Quantification Tool to a potential restoration site, counting the number of milkweed and wildflower stems within a transect.

This spring, my colleagues and I visited three ranches in Texas to begin piloting the Monarch Butterfly Habitat Exchange, an emerging program that will help agricultural landowners contribute to monarch recovery.

Elm Ridge Ranch, Wagley Ranch and Shield Ranch will be among the first restoration projects conducted this year to improve ranchlands and create valuable monarch habitat. We will continue to work closely with these landowners to hone the program and ensure it works for monarchs, pollinators and people alike.

Already, we’ve had the opportunity to gain valuable insights, including how to improve habitat quantification and how to inspire enrollment.

Also posted in Habitat Exchange / Tagged ecosystems, Elm Ridge Ranch, farms, habitat exchange, habitat quantification tool, milkweed conservation, monarch butterfly, monarch butterfly habitat exchange, monarch butterfly population, pollinators, ranches, Shield Ranch, Texas, Wagley Ranch | Read 3 Responses

How food companies can turn the pollinator emergency into a big opportunity

By David Wolfe / Bio / Published: June 20, 2017

The rusty patched bumblebee was listed as an endangered species in early 2017. [Photo credit]

Bees, beetles and butterflies are in big trouble.

Pollinators all over the world are experiencing dramatic declines in populations, with about 40 percent of all invertebrate pollinator species facing a very real threat of extinction. Just last October, several species of bees were added to the U.S. Endangered Species List for the first time. Monarch butterfly populations also face the potential threat of a future listing, with populations down by more than 90 percent in recent decades.

These stats are concerning because pollinator health is a strong indicator of an ecosystem’s overall health. Pollinator decline directly correlates with habitat loss, decreased plant diversity, and increased disease in the ecosystem.

This problem cannot be solved by any one sector. Restoration of pollinator habitats will require significant investment and collaboration between both public and private sectors – especially businesses with bottom lines directly tied to pollinator success. Read More »

Also posted in Habitat Exchange, Supply Chain / Tagged cheerios, ecosystems, monarch butterfly, national pollinator week. environmental defense fund, pollinators, rusty patched bumblebee, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, whole foods, Xerces Society | Read 2 Responses

Relationships and incentives: My secret ingredients for better resource management

By Ann Hayden / Bio / Published: May 22, 2017

Author Ann Hayden next to her family farm’s water source

Stewardship of our land and water resources has always played a central role in my life.

I grew up “out in the country,” as we call it, on a-five acre “farm” in Yolo County, California – large enough for raising pigs and sheep, which my older brothers and I would show at the annual 4-H Fair in nearby Woodland.

Living in the Central Valley, we could always count on very hot, dry summers and occasional consecutive dry years, which inevitably were followed by years of heavy rains and even flooding. From a very young age, I understood how important it was to be smart about how we managed our water supply and the surrounding landscape for people, wildlife and the environment.

Also posted in Habitat Exchange / Tagged 4-H, california, central valley, central valley habitat exchange, farmers, groundwater management, Partnerships, Peace Corps, sustainable groundwater management act, Tom Graff, water markets, water use, western water | Read 1 Response

What we’ve learned from 50 years of wildlife conservation

By David Festa / Bio / Twitter profile / Published: May 18, 2017

Wildlife conservation practices are helping protect our nation's treasured emblem: the bald eagle

Photo: © Holger Ehlers

When the first endangered species list was created 50 years ago, it started out with 78 animals. The grizzly bear and bald eagle were among American icons that made that first list.

Today, it counts 1,400 animals and 900 plants – an expansion that reflects more petitions for listings over time, but also the fact that threats to habitats and ecosystems have become more widespread and complex.

In the early days of the Endangered Species Act, we could more easily identify the threat and go straight to the source. When DDT was thinning egg shells, killing embryos and endangering multiple bird species, we worked to curb applications of the harmful pesticide. After a federal ban against DDT, the problem was solved.

Today, threats are more likely to come from broad landscape changes that occur when growing populations push housing and commercial developments outward, energy development and large-scale farming fragment and encroach on habitats, and climate change-related droughts and wildfires degrade entire ecosystems. Read More »

Also posted in Habitat Exchange / Tagged california, Chinook salmon, colorado, ecosystems, endangered species act success stories, ESA, greater sage-grouse, monarch butterfly, Nevada, Partnerships, Safe Harbor, Swainson's hawk, Wyoming | Comments are closed

We need to get creative to protect wildlife in the face of climate risk

By Dan Kaiser / Bio / Published: May 10, 2017

The Swainson's hawk will need to be protected from the effects of climate change

A pilot project for Swainson’s hawk is creating high-quality nesting habitat on a 4,000-acre farm in San Joaquin County.

Landowners and environmentalists both grapple with the same question: In the midst of uncertainty, what is the most effective way to reconcile short-term and long-term needs for wildlife habitat?

For example, it can be risky to invest in permanent conservation on a property vulnerable to climate change, but failing to protect existing habitat in the face of uncertainty is an existential threat to species like the Swainson’s hawk.

Fortunately, new habitat accounting tools are emerging that bring more certainty to conservation planning, which helps landowners make effective management decisions for their property, helps biologists design effective restoration plans and ultimately helps wildlife thrive. Read More »

Also posted in Climate Resilience, Habitat Exchange / Tagged AB 2087, adaptation, california, central valley, central valley habitat exchange, conservation easement, habitat quantification tool, NatureServe, Resource Conservation Investment Strategy, San Francisco-San Joaquin Bay Delta, San Joaquin County, Swainson's hawk | Comments are closed

Why Sonny Perdue should prioritize these 3 farm programs

By Callie Eideberg / Bio / Published: April 24, 2017

Sonny Perdue will now lead the United States Department of Agriculture The U.S. Senate will confirm the Secretary of Agriculture today, empowering former Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue to lead an agency with a $155 billion budget, some 100,000 employees and ultimate responsibility for our nation’s food security.

Over 80 percent of this budget goes toward farm programs, food stamps, school meals and other mandatory spending programs. The remainder goes to protect farmers’ livelihoods, rural economies and the environment – but according to the Administration’s budget proposals, this pot of funding could be cut by over 21 percent.

Retaining current funding levels for the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) – and conservation programs in particular – ensures that farmers can remain productive during periods of extreme weather, protects habitat for wildlife without sacrificing profitability and improves on-farm efficiencies.

Secretary Perdue will need to advocate on behalf of farmers to protect these programs – and he’ll need help from the private sector, since the federal government alone cannot maintain farming as a core industry in America, make sustainable agriculture the norm or feed a growing population.

Here are three programs that provide widespread benefits – and that should be a top priority for the new Secretary. Read More »

Posted in Wildlife Protection / Tagged agriculture, confirmation, confirmation hearing, conservation, Conservation Reserve Program, Conservation Stewardship Program, cover crops, ecosystems, Environmental Quality Incentives Program, farm bill, food production, NRCS, Partnerships, pollution, profitability, public-private partnerships, Secretary of Agriculture, Sonny Perdue, sustainability, sustainable agriculture, USDA, water quality, Working Lands for Wildlife | Comments are closed

To help the environment, we must first help people

By Audrey Archer / Bio / Published: March 27, 2017

Author Audrey Archer explores her natural surroundings and assesses need for conservation practices

Now living in Austin, Texas where diverse wildlands are numerous and easily accessible, Audrey takes any opportunity she can get to put on her hiking boots and explore her natural surroundings. She also volunteers with the City of Austin to give guided hikes on preserves. Credit: Rob Binder

I grew up in the high and dry panhandle plains of Texas, where trees are scarce, wind is always blowing, and the smell of feedlots lingers in the air. Needless to say, I was not overly inspired by my surroundings – at least not at the time I lived there.

Had I not traveled with my family growing up, I wouldn’t have known what I was missing. Throughout these travels, I became enraptured by the biodiversity and lushness of other ecosystems and felt compelled to learn as much as I could about them.

But the stark contrast between some of the natural ecosystems and working landscapes I was exposed to led me to develop a pretty pessimistic view of humans’ impact on the environment. Surely, there had to be a better way of balancing human needs for things like food, water and shelter with nature’s needs.

Determined to tackle this problem, I got my Master’s in Environmental Management from Duke University’s Nicholas School of the Environment and took a job at Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), where I had heard that scientists and economists were developing incentive programs for landowners to improve water quality, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and restore habitat for at-risk wildlife.

Little did I know my worldview was about to be turned upside down.

Putting people first Read More »

Also posted in Habitat Exchange / Tagged conservation, Duke University, ecosystems, environmental defense fund, farmers, habitat, habitat exchange, Kristin Weeks Duncanson, Minnesota, monarch butterfly, Nicholas School of the Environment, ranchers, Texas, wildlife | Read 2 Responses

Let’s make ESA listings extinct, not wildlife

By Eric Holst / Bio / Twitter profile / Published: March 3, 2017

The listing process for the lesser prairie-chicken was tumultuous, with a 2016 ruling that stripped the bird of its previous federal protections and sparked questions about ESA implementation, in addition to what moral obligation humans have to protect wildlife. Photo credit: USDA NRCS

Since the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works held a hearing two weeks ago to discuss the “Modernization of the Endangered Species Act (ESA),” a new public debate over the act’s effectiveness has begun, even if the arguments on each side haven’t changed much.

On one hand, reform proponents point to the fact that only 47 of 1,652 species have been removed from the Endangered Species List since 1973. On the other, the act’s defenders note that nearly every species on the list has been saved from extinction.

Yet those may be the wrong metrics. Instead, we may want to ask why those species end up on the list in the first place, and whether we are taking common-sense approaches to wildlife conservation before they do. Read More »

Also posted in Habitat Exchange / Tagged conservation, endangered species list, ESA reform, farmers, greater sage-grouse, habitat exchange, lesser prairie-chicken, modernization of the endangered species act, monarch butterfly, ranchers | Read 5 Responses