Growing Returns

Monarchs still need milkweed, and farmers are growing it

By David Wolfe / Bio / Published: May 3, 2016

Rain builds over a field near Lubbock, Texas. Photo credit: Flickr user Craig O’Neal

I am watching the rain pour down outside my window as I write this blog. El Niño is once again giving central and north Texas a good drenching, which has brought with it some severe and deadly flood conditions. But the rains are a welcome sight to Texas farmers and ranchers who have become all too used to drought and wildfire conditions. And they aren’t the only ones benefitting from the heavy rains.

All this wet weather has resulted in a spectacular display of spring wildflowers, including vast expanses of milkweed and nectar plants that the iconic North American monarch butterflies need to survive and thrive.

Recent headlines suggest that milkweed loss is just one of several threats to monarch populations, with drought, habitat fragmentation and reduced availability of nectar plants also influencing the species’ decline. In reality, all of these threats are interconnected in a recipe that could spell disaster for the monarch. Read More »

Also posted in Climate Resilience, Habitat Exchange / Tagged conservation credits, Corn Belt, ecosystems, El Niño, environmental defense fund, Environmental Incentives, farmers, golden cheeked warbler, habitat conservation, habitat exchange, habitat fragmentation, milkweed, monarch butterflies, Monarch Lab, Partnerships, ranchers, revenue, Shield Ranch, Texas, University of Minnesota | Read 2 Responses

First-ever habitat exchange opens for business

By Eric Holst / Bio / Twitter profile / Published: April 19, 2016

Nevada rancher works to conserve sage-grouse

Nearly two dozen Nevada landowners have already submitted letters of interest to generate conservation credits for sage-grouse through the exchange. Read more >>

For the first time ever, ranchers are able to enroll in a habitat credit exchange program to earn revenue for activities that protect and enhance habitat for the greater sage-grouse.

The state of Nevada and federal agencies today announced the approved use of the Nevada Conservation Credit System to protect the grouse’s sagebrush habitat on public lands.

This program will create a robust mitigation market that will bring greater certainty and transparency to the state’s agriculture and energy industries, ultimately allowing both sage-grouse and the economy to flourish.

About the Nevada Conservation Credit System

The Nevada Conservation Credit System is an advanced approach to protecting habitat for the greater sage-grouse that ensures impacts are fully offset in a way that helps create net benefit. It does so by creating new incentives for industries to avoid and minimize impacts, and for private landowners and public land managers to preserve, enhance, and restore habitat. Read More »

Also posted in Habitat Exchange / Tagged colorado, Colorado Cattlemen's Association, Colorado Habitat Exchange, conservation, ecosystems, environmental defense fund, Governor Hickenlooper, governor sandoval, greater sage-grouse, habitat exchange, Nevada, nevada conservation credit system, ranchers | Comments are closed

Targeting conservation dollars makes good sense

By Karen Chapman / Bio / Published: April 15, 2016

Summer algae bloom in Lake Erie. Credit: NOAA

A University of Michigan study released late last month implies that in order to meet the U.S. and Canadian governments’ 40 percent phosphorous reduction target for Lake Erie by 2025, farmers will need to significantly ramp up their conservation efforts.

Some of the stories covering this study focused on the more drastic measures called for, such as converting thousands of acres of productive cropland to grassland. But I’m optimistic that we can indeed work with farmers to meet this goal by 2025, without having to impact production so drastically – we can do so through targeting.

Targeting refers to directing conservation dollars and practices to places on the landscapes where they’ll be most effective. In Ohio, that means targeting the areas delivering the highest amount of nutrients into Lake Erie.

Here’s the background on targeting, what the research says, and why targeting should be even more finely tuned and amplified at scale in order to accelerate on the ground environmental improvements. Read More »

Posted in Wildlife Protection / Tagged agriculture, conservation, ecosystems, environmental defense fund, farmers, farming, fertilizer, fertilizer runoff, funding, Lake Erie, nutrient efficiency, soil health, sustainability, sustainable agriculture, targeting, USDA, water quality, watershed, western water | Comments are closed

Lesser prairie-chicken numbers are up. Is it good conservation or just good weather?

By Eric Holst / Bio / Twitter profile / Published: April 12, 2016

2015 marked the end of a five year drought, bringing much needed relief to the parched prairie region. But climate impacts such as drought and wildfires are only expected to increase in duration and frequency in the future, so one wet year is not going to be sufficient to protect lesser prairie-chickens in the long run.

2015 marked the end of a five-year drought, bringing relief to the parched prairie region. But climate impacts like drought and wildfires are only expected to increase in the future, threatening lesser prairie-chicken recovery efforts. Credit: Lesser Prairie Chicken via photopin (license)

Recent media reports have touted population rebounds for the lesser prairie-chicken – up 25 percent from last year. That’s great news for the bird, which was nearly wiped out in recent years as booming oil and gas industries encroached on the bird’s range across Texas, Kansas, Oklahoma, Colorado and New Mexico.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service listed the bird as “threatened” in March 2015, at the same time that the five states embarked on a conservation plan of their own. The plan was officially assembled and endorsed by the five members of the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (WAFWA).

Now that bird numbers are up, WAFWA is claiming success – attributing the chicken’s rebound to effective implementation of their Lesser Prairie-Chicken Rangewide Conservation Plan (RWP). Certainly that program has provided some benefit, but the key question is whether the program has been a big enough boost to set the lesser prairie-chicken on a path to recovery. Read More »

Also posted in Habitat Exchange / Tagged Dan Ashe, ecosystems, EDF, greater sage-grouse, industry, lesser prairie-chicken, Lesser Prairie-Chicken Rangewide Conservation Plan, oil and gas, U.S. Fish and Wlidlife Service, WAFWA, Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, wildlife | Comments are closed

My two agricultural hats: scientist & advocate

By Eileen McLellan / Bio / Published: March 29, 2016

“It’s the hydrology, stupid!” a colleague once joked about the thrust of my career. I couldn’t agree more. I study what’s working and what’s not across agricultural landscapes — the Midwest corn belt is a current focus — and believe that the fundamental changes we’ve made to the land by draining it, removing native vegetation and altering the water flow have caused many of the environmental issues the region faces today.

I’m intrigued by agriculture, where people and nature intersect across vibrant landscapes to provide tangible benefits to individuals, local communities, and the surrounding ecosystem. My job, which allows me to indulge that fascination on a daily basis, requires me to simultaneously think like a scientist and an environmental advocate, a dual role that I first started to cultivate growing up in rural England. Read More »

Also posted in Climate Resilience / Tagged agriculture, climate change, conservation, corn, ecosystems, England, environmental defense fund, farmers, farming, farms, fertilizer, food production, Gulf of Mexico, hydrology, Mississippi, nitrogen, nutrient efficiency, runoff, sustainable agriculture, western water | Comments are closed

With help from farmers, the monarch butterfly will not go extinct

By David Wolfe / Bio / Published: March 22, 2016

Monarch butterfly lands on a flower. The monarch butterfly could face extinction if conservation efforts cannot reverse habitat loss.

The monarch butterfly could face extinction if conservation efforts cannot reverse habitat loss. Credit: Prepare for Docking via photopin (license)

A report released yesterday in the journal Scientific Reports found “substantial probability” that the eastern population of monarch butterfly could be wiped out in a “quasi-extinction” event in the next two decades.

The study attributed the increased likelihood of an extinction event to extreme weather, which has historically posed a threat to monarch populations. But the study also noted that the most recent declines have been primarily caused by the eradication of milkweed from farms in the United States.

Despite the results of this report, I am convinced that we can save the monarch.

That’s because all of the pieces will soon be in place to reverse habitat loss and make recovery a reality. Read More »

Also posted in Habitat Exchange / Tagged conservation, E&E, ecosystems, extinction, habitat exchange, monarch butterfly, scientific reports, study | Comments are closed

My life’s work: Building strategies for ag and industry to protect wildlife

By David Wolfe / Bio / Published: March 21, 2016

Could the monarch butterfly be the next passenger pigeon? Read more in Modern Farmer.

Could the monarch butterfly face the same plight of the passenger pigeon? Read more in Modern Farmer.

When I think about what motivates me as a conservationist, I often reflect on the bird species we’ve lost – the Carolina parakeet, the ivory-billed woodpecker, the passenger pigeon.

I remember these species when I work to create pathways to prevent extinction for today’s at-risk wildlife – the lesser prairie-chicken, the golden-cheeked warbler and the greater sage-grouse.

But it’s not just the birds that inspire me. It’s also the people.

My role as director of conservation strategy and habitat markets often requires me to cultivate partnerships with ranchers, farmers, oilmen and large multinational corporations. It’s incredibly satisfying to work with this diverse set of stakeholders to find common ground. Sure, we all have different interests driving us, but I am steadfast in my belief that we can protect natural resources, while at the same time enabling the responsible production of food, fuel and fiber. Read More »

Also posted in Habitat Exchange / Tagged conservation, david wolfe, ecosystems, golden cheeked warbler, greater sage-grouse, habitat exchanges, lesser prairie-chicken, monarch butterfly, Partnerships, passenger pigeon, Safe Harbor | Comments are closed

Butterfly numbers may be up, but they still need our help

By Eric Holst / Bio / Twitter profile / Published: March 4, 2016

Earlier this week, The Washington Post reported that the monarch butterfly, along with the manatee, is on a “big rebound.” It’s true that the iconic North American butterfly is in better shape today than this time last year. But it’s too soon to celebrate.

A sensitive species

The population of monarch butterflies has historically had drastic dips and spikes. That’s because the monarch is a sensitive species greatly impacted by extreme weather events.

In January 2002, the species experienced unprecedented and catastrophic mortality due to a rare freeze at its overwintering site in Mexico, killing an estimated 500 million butterflies. That’s more than two times the size of today’s population, even with this year’s boost.

Fortunately, the monarch is as resilient as it is delicate. This year’s bump in number proves that. It also shows that recovery is possible, that conservation efforts can make a difference. Read More »

Also posted in Habitat Exchange / Tagged agriculture, ecosystems, endangered species, farmers, habitat, habitat exchange, herbicides, milkweed, monarch butterfly, population, wildlife | Comments are closed

How California farmers can help salmon survive, and what’s in it for them

By Dan Kaiser / Bio / Published: March 2, 2016

California’s Chinook salmon are large fish that can grow up to 58 inches in length and weigh up to 129 pounds. But most salmon do not grow this large, especially in drought conditions, lacking sufficient habitat. (Credit: seafoodwatch.org)

Already an endangered species, California salmon populations have reached record lows.

Fisheries officials with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration found that just 3 percent of this generation of winter-run Chinook salmon survived in the Sacramento River. This is a record low survival rate – more than 10 times worse than the survival rate before the California drought.

How does drought affect salmon?

Salmon at any stage need cold water to survive, and severe drought conditions have put a chokehold on the state’s water supply, which relies on snow melt from the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Without this snow melt, there is less cold water flowing into California’s waterways, creating higher than normal water temperatures in the Sacramento River.

But it’s not just the lack of cold water that’s affecting salmon populations. They also lack sufficient habitat to grow and thrive. Even if the drought ended today, they would still be in peril without adequate habitat. Read More »

Also posted in Habitat Exchange / Tagged agriculture, california, central valley, central valley habitat exchange, Chinook salmon, drought, ecosystems, farms, habitat exchange, knaggs ranch, nigiri project, sacramento river, salmon, water use, western water | Comments are closed

Meet the farmer who helped make no-till the norm in north central Montana

By Suzy Friedman / Bio / Twitter profile / Published: February 24, 2016

Approximately 56 percent of all corn, soy, wheat, and cotton farms use strip-tillage or no-till on at least a portion of their land. No-till, as defined by experts at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, means “limiting soil disturbance to manage the amount and distribution of crop and plant residue on the soil surface year round.” Strip tillage, meaning soil disturbance occurs on 30 percent or less of the field, also qualifies as no-till.

No-till is a widely recognized conservation practice that can help growers maximize soil health. The practice works best when implemented year after year and combined with other conservation measures like fertilizer efficiency and cover crops (wherever geography permits). There are myriad benefits for farmers and the planet, but barriers still exist.

That’s why I’m so amazed by a no-till adoption rate of 90 percent in north central Montana.

I talked with Carl Mattson, Montana grain grower and an agricultural policy and conservation consultant, about why he made the switch to no-till, why he was an early adopter of the practice, why so many farmers in his region use no-till, and what he sees as other obstacles to the future of sustainable farming. Read More »

Also posted in Climate Resilience / Tagged agriculture, conservation, conservation tillage, cover crops, drought, ecosystems, environmental defense fund, farmers, farming, farms, fertilizer, food production, food security, no-till, NRCS, nutrient efficiency, soil health, stewardship, sustainability, sustainable agriculture, USDA, wheat | Comments are closed