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 RESTORE is a weekly e-bulletin, published by SER International, linking you to the latest, breaking news stories from around the world keeping you up-to-date on a wide variety of topics related to ecological restoration including the latest funding opportunities. RESTORE is free to SER International members and can be subscribed to for only $20/year by visiting: www.ser.org/content/restoration_network.asp. |
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Get Involved / Community-Based Restoration
Florida: Web Site Teaches about Lagoon
The St. Johns River Water Management District has launched a new section of its Web site designed to teach children about the biology, and various habitats and species of the Indian River Lagoon, the most diverse estuary in North America. Visitors can learn about the lagoon's various seagrass species, explore a map of the lagoon, download pages to color, or color on-screen and read about Sebastian's life cycle and habitat.
http://www.floridatoday.com/article/20081221/SPORTS05/812210331/1002/SPORTS
California: Ecology Center Caught in State Budget Cuts
The Sonoma Ecology Center (SEC), a local non-profit environmental organization, learned late Friday, Dec. 19, that all work funded by state bonds had been ordered to cease immediately. The edict came down from California's Department of Finance and is devastating news to the SEC, which has several such grants funding more than half the work done by its staff of 27, many of whom live in Sonoma Valley.
http://sonomasun.thmm.com/?p=5937
Conferences & Workshops
Texas: Watershed Planning Short Course to be Offered January 12-16 in Bandera
The Texas Water Resources Institute of Texas A&M AgriLife will be presenting a Texas Watershed Planning Short Course from Jan 12-16 in Bandera. "The course will benefit those involved or interested in watershed restoration and protection projects to improve the water quality of the state's rivers, streams and estuaries," said Aaron Wendt, the soil and water board's state watershed coordinator.
http://agnews.tamu.edu/showstory.php?id=869 River Restoration Northwest, 9th Annual Stream Restoration Design Symposium - February 2, 2009
This conference focuses on stream restoration questions of concern to project planners, designers, engineers, biologists, hydrologists, geomorphologists, regulators, and land managers. RRNW has become recognized as one of the premier restoration organizations in North America. Confirmed invited speakers include Doug Shields, Mary Power, and Karen Campbell with four special short courses by Scott Wright and Troy Brandt, Thom Hardy, Susan Firor and Michael Love, and Sue Niezgoda.
http://www.oregonwatersheds.org/events/upcomingevents/skamaniarestorationsymposium
Florida: Mangrove Ecology, Management and Restoration Training Course - March 4-6, 2009
http://www.mangroverestoration.com/index.html
Our Living Rivers: The 6th Canadian River Heritage Conference
The 6th Canadian River Heritage Conference, "Our Living Rivers: Linking Nature, People and Places through Time," will be held at the Government of Canada Conference Centre, in Ottawa, Ontario, from June 14-17, 2009. Hosted by Parks Canada and various partners, this flagship conference will showcase successes, innovations, needs and challenges in river heritage conservation, as well as management, restoration, education, tourism, recreation and community leadership.
http://www.riversconference.ca/ |
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People in the News
Obama Picks OSU Professor to Head Science Agency NOAA
Oregon State University professor Jane Lubchenco, an internationally known marine ecologist who is deeply concerned about climate change and overfishing, has been picked by President-elect Barack Obama to head the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
http://www.oregonlive.com/news/index.ssf/2008/12/obama_picks_osu_professor_to_h.html
New Mexico: Ogden Honored for Range Restoration
A Carlsbad woman has been honored for her efforts in restoring rangelands on her family's two ranches in Eddy County and for enlisting other ranchers to do the same on their rangeland.
http://www.currentargus.com/ci_11266616 |
| New Books & Articles
The National Coastal Condition Report III (December 2008)
The NCCR III is the third in a series of environmental assessments of U.S. coastal waters and the Great Lakes. This series of reports contains one of the most comprehensive ecological assessments of the condition of our nation's coastal bays and estuaries, encompassing 100 percent of the estuaries in the contiguous 48 states and Puerto Rico.
http://www.epa.gov/owow/oceans/nccr3/downloads.html
The Unknown Trajectory of Forest Restoration: A Call for Ecosystem Monitoring
Ecological restoration of forests is an increasingly common activity on our nation's forests. However, monitoring after forest restoration activities is a costly process. This brief provides a synthesis of how we might accomplish forest restoration monitoring in light of limited federal budgets, thereby allowing for adaptive strategies in the management of low elevation, dry forest ecosystems of the Northern Rocky Mountains. While this report is focused on restoration and monitoring in the Northern Rocky Mountains, the general message is applicable across restoration imperatives and landscapes.
http://wilderness.org/content/unknown-trajectory-forest-restoration
Post-Pandemic Reforestation in New World Helped Trigger Little Ice Age, Stanford Researchers Say
The power of viruses is well documented in human history. Swarms of little viral Davids have repeatedly laid low the great Goliaths of human civilization, most famously in the devastating pandemics that swept the New World during European conquest and settlement. In recent years, there has been growing evidence to suggest that the effect of the pandemics in the Americas wasn't confined to killing indigenous peoples. Global climate appears to have been altered as well.
http://news-service.stanford.edu/pr/2008/pr-manvleaf-010709.html |
| Restoring Natural Capital (RNC)
USDA Announces New Office of Ecosystem Services and Markets
Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer today announced the intention to establish a new USDA Office of Ecosystem Services and Markets and the creation of a federal government-wide Conservation and Land Management Environmental Services Board to assist the Secretary of Agriculture in the development of new technical guidelines and science-based methods to assess environmental service benefits which will in turn promote markets for ecosystem services including carbon trading to mitigate climate change.
http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/!ut/p/_s.7_0_A/7_0_2KD?contentidonly=true&contentid=2008/12/0307.xml |
Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK)
Michigan: As Bees Die, Keweena Bay Indian Community Adults, Teens Actively Protect Pollinators
Keweenaw Bay Indian Community (KBIC) youth and Marquette teens spent this summer building the first of dozens of butterfly houses that will be created over the next three years. The white cedar butterfly houses were put up this fall in two U.P. counties (Marquette and Baraga counties). Lined with bark and slimmer than birdhouses, the shelters offer protection, rest and reproduction safety to Monarchs and other butterflies.
http://nativetimes.bizweb5.tulsaconnect.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=438&Itemid=34 |
| Agro-Ecology
UK: Natural England Green Farming Bonus for Farmers
Farmers and land managers across the country received an early Christmas present this month as Natural England announced it paid £98 million into the rural economy ten weeks ahead of target. The funding has been received by farmers taking part in 'Classic' agri-environment schemes. These schemes currently cover over 950,000 hectares of land across England and, alongside newer Environmental Stewardship schemes, provide funding to support a wide-range of environmentally-friendly farming practices.
http://www.stackyard.com/news/2008/12/environment/01_ne_green_farming.html
Missouri: CRP/SAFE Lets Farmers Make the Best of Their Worst Land
Every farm has marginal acres, land that produces less than surrounding acres year after year. Missouri farmers now can take some of those acres out of production, reduce their costs on production inputs and receive cash payments in return. This opportunity is the result of a new Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) practice. The practice, designated as CP38, is tailored to meet Missouri farmers' needs and benefit grassland birds.
http://freshare.net/exp/article/crp_safe_lets_farmers_make_the_best_of_their_worst_land/ |
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California: Oh Christmas Tree! Open Space District Chops Down Tree Farm to Restore Oak Woodlands
A Bay Area open space district has chopped down hundreds of Christmas trees along Skyline Boulevard in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Hold the tinsel and lights, however. The beneficiaries aren't kids looking for Santa, but frogs, snakes, deer and birds. In one of the more unusual environmental restoration projects of the year, the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District, based in Los Altos, is converting 14 acres of a former commercial Christmas tree farm on its Skyline Ridge Open Space Preserve to an oak forest.
http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_11260596?nclick_check=1
Malaysia: Action to Restore Ecology in Raja Musa Forest Reserve
All access roads into the Raja Musa Forest Reserve in Batang Berjuntai in Selangor will be closed by the first quarter of next year to prevent illegal access to the peat forest. According to Selangor Forestry Department director Dr Yunus Zakaria, the move is to prevent outsiders from going into the forest to conduct illegal activities. "At the same time, we will block the drains and canals in the area to contain the water and raise the water table. This will help prepare us for next year's dry season and reduce the chance of having another forest fire," he said.
http://thestar.com.my/metro/story.asp?file=/2008/12/19/central/2804978&sec=central
The UK's Ancient Woodland is Being Lost at a Rate Faster than the Amazon, a New Report Warns
Ancient woodland in Britain is being felled at a rate even faster than the Amazon rainforest, according to new research today. It shows that almost half of all woods in the UK that are more than 400 years old have been lost in the past 80 years and more than 600 ancient woods are now threatened by new roads, electricity pylons, housing, and airport expansion.
http://agoratalk.com/2008/12/the-uks-ancient-woodland-is-being-lost-at-a-rate-faster-than-the-amazon-a-new-report-warns/ |
| Wetland Restoration
New Jersey: Navy Restores Cedar Stands in Old Cranberry Bogs
This old cranberry bog has seen its last harvest, and sailors from Lakehurst Naval Air Engineering Station stretched 1,850 feet of plastic mesh fencing six feet high to keep deer from snacking on the newly planted crop: thousands of Atlantic white cedar seedlings.
http://www.app.com/article/20081221/NEWS02/812210357/1070/NEWS02
California: New Wetlands Plan Worries S.F. Bay Fishermen
When it's complete, it will be one of the largest wetlands restorations in U.S. history, a sprawling complex of critical habitat in the North Bay that scientists believe will benefit threatened and endangered species, provide a nursery for fish and even help ease the effects of global warming. Many within the San Francisco Bay's fishing industry and some environmentalists, however, see the ambitious plan as a potential threat to fisheries, bird species and the very health of the bay.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/12/21/MN4914Q1I0.DTL |
River & Watershed Restoration
Indiana: Nature Conservancy Restores Giant Cane along Wabash River in Posey County
The Indiana Chapter of The Nature Conservancy has started an unusual restoration in southwestern Indiana-to try and restore giant cane into a few locations in the region where it once fluorished.
http://www.nature.org/wherewework/northamerica/states/indiana/press/press3828.html?src=rss
Ohio: Two Restoration Projects Completed in 2008
The Huff Run Watershed Restoration Partnership (HRWRP) is proud to announce the completion of two major restoration projects this year at Belden and Fern Hill.
http://www.ruralrambler.org/2008/12/watershed-groups.html
Utah: Congress, Economy Slow Ogden River Restoration to a Trickle
One year after Robert F. Kennedy Jr., chairman of the international Waterkeeper Alliance, spoke at an Ogden River celebration -- also billed as a restoration kickoff -- there is still no grand plan for the river. Carey said the project is on hold pending both congressional action and revival of the economy.
http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_11280123 |
| Grassland Restoration
Arizona: Pima County's New Jewel is a Grasslands Bonanza
Desert grasslands that are Pima County's richest, biologically, are about to be bought and preserved. It's a 5,040-acre parcel located in Pima County's southeast corner, between the Santa Rita and Whetstone mountains, complete with landscapes that could have been taken right out of cowboy movies.
http://www.azstarnet.com/allheadlines/272751
Tennessee: Conservation Easement to Protect 920 Acres
Deer, quail and turkey will forever roam Gene Hartman's getaway farm, nestled in the shadow of Ten Mile Ridge. The Knoxville businessman on Thursday donated a permanent conservation easement on 920 acres to the Foothills Land Conservancy.
http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2008/dec/19/conservation-easement-to-protect-920-acres/ |
| Lake Restoration
Texas: University to Give Most of Spring Lake Back to Nature
The University will partner with the US Army Corps of Engineers to transform the Spring Lake peninsula to a more natural state. "Basically the project will restore the aquatic and terrestrial habitats throughout Spring Lake which have been degraded over the years by the construction and operations of the Aquarena Center," said Associate Vice President of Facilities Pat Fogarty of Texas State University.
http://newstreamz.com/2008/12/20/university-to-give-most-of-spring-lake-back-to-nature
California: Bill Introduced to Remove Clear Lake Levee
The project is located in the northwestern end of Clear Lake around the confluence of Middle Creek and Scotts Creek. By removing the substandard levee system, this project will reconnect 1,650 acres of former wetland and floodplain to Clear Lake, thereby eliminating flood risk to 18 residential structures and numerous outbuildings and restoring more than 1,400 acres of lake bottom and wetlands. In addition to the flood and habitat benefits, it is estimated the project would remove up to 40 percent of phosphorus entering Clear Lake from the two creeks.
http://www.ukiahdailyjournal.com/ci_11251237 |
| Coastal & Marine Restoration
Philippines: Palace to Comply with Bay Cleanup Order
Malacañang said Friday the government will clean up Manila Bay as ordered by the Supreme Court in a ruling hailed by environmentalists as nothing short of revolutionary in environmental protection. "We can all look forward to the restoration of the apex of the epicenter of marine biodiversity on Earth,'' environmental lawyer Antonio Oposa, the main petitioner in the case, said in a phone interview.
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/metro/view/20081219-178921/Palace-to-comply-with-bay-cleanup-order
Florida: Sarasota Cuts Back on Spoil Island Project
Just last year, Sarasota County said it would spend $10 million over the next 15 years to restore spoil islands, largely created in the 1960s during construction of the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway. But residents worry that between the time the pines are cut down and the mangroves grow to adulthood, the islands off Siesta Key will look like unsightly bumps.
http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20081222/ARTICLE/812220330/-1/NEWSSITEMAP |
Wildlife Restoration
New York: New York City Beaver Returns
The Wildlife Conservation Society announced today that New York City's most famous beaver, José, has come home for the holidays! After a year-long hiatus, José - the first wild beaver to return to New York in at least two centuries - is back at the zoo and has even cut down his own Christmas tree, which he is now using to construct a new lodge on the Bronx River.
http://www.newswise.com/articles/view/547491/
Washington: Restoration of Native Mammal Continues in Olympic National Park as Biologists Prepare to Reintroduce 15 Fishers This Weekend
At least 15 fishers will be released at remote sites within the Elwha, Sol Duc and Hoh valleys of Olympic National Park this weekend, adding to the fisher population that was reintroduced last winter and moving closer to the goal of establishing an initial population of 100 animals. Fishers are about the size of a cat and are members of the weasel family, related to minks, otters and martens. A total of 18 of the animals, each fitted with a tiny radio transmitter, were released in Olympic National Park last January and March, in Washington State's first reintroduction of the species.
http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/article.asp?ID=2093
Canada: Balding Paradise?
The Royal Botanical Gardens hopes to be home to the first bald eagle nest on the north shore of Lake Ontario in more than half a century. Tys Theysmeyer, acting head of conservation, says it could happen as soon as next spring. The big birds, with a wingspan of up to 2.4 metres, disappeared from southern Ontario and faced extinction across much of Canada and the United States after the pesticide DDT started causing their eggs to break in the mid-1900s. But the population is now recovering.
http://restorecootes.blogspot.com/2008/12/balding-paradise.html |
| Urban Restoration
Kansas: Sand Creek Project Continues on Time
Progress continues on the Sand Creek environmental restoration project, which is still on schedule for completion in summer 2009, according to a news release from the city of Newton. Along with bank restoration, the project includes a 35-acre wetland west of the wastewater treatment plant and two hardwood tree plantings along the creek south of the dam and upstream of the Union Pacific Railroad trestle in Centennial Park.
http://www.thekansan.com/news/x415872487/Sand-Creek-project-continues-on-time |
| Funding Opportunities
Oregon: Nature in Neighborhoods Restoration and Enhancement Grants - Closes January 7, 2009
Metro (Portland, Oregon) is accepting grant applications for projects that connect citizens to their watershed through hands-on restoration activities and environmental education. Metro's restoration and enhancement grants support individual, non-profit and government sponsored restoration, enhancement and education and efforts in regional watersheds. These grassroots, community-minded projects create new connections and improvements to neighborhoods, natural areas, backyards and beyond.
http://www.graphicdesignbasics.com/2008/nature-in-neighborhoods-restoration-and-enhancement-grants.html
Wisconsin: Beautification/Restoration Projects - Closes January 15, 2009
The Natural Resources Foundation of Wisconsin is accepting applications for the 2009 C.D. Besadny Conservation Grant Cycle. Named after former Department of Natural Resources Secretary, "Buzz" Besadny, this grant program provides matching grants of up to $1,500 to private and public organizations and government agencies in support of small scale conservation projects that promote the responsible stewardwhip of Wisconsin's natural resources at the local level. Since the program's inception, the Natural Resources Foundation has contributed over $290,000 to 390 projects throughout every county in Wisconsin.
http://www.mainstreetoshkosh.com/2008/11/beautificationrestoration-projects.html
Great Lakes Fish and Wildlife Restoration Act - Closes January 23, 2009
This program provides federal grants on a competitive basis to states, tribes and other interested entities to encourage cooperative conservation, restoration and management of fish and wildlife resources and their habitat in the Great Lakes basin. The projects are funded under authority of the Great Lakes Fish and Wildlife Restoration Act of 2006. The amount of funding available this year is subject to final Congressional appropriations for Fiscal Year 2009. Funds may be used for approved Tribal and State sponsored projects which benefit Great Lakes fish and wildlife restoration.
http://www.grants.gov/search/search.do?mode=VIEW&flag2006=false&oppId=44170
California: Land Grant Opportunities Available - Closes January 30, 2009
Land funding opportunities exist for property owners, and public workshops will be held about land-related topics. Applications are being accepted through Jan. 30 for funding riparian restoration projects. Highest ranking is given to projects along the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers. Land must be privately owned and there is no cost-share requirement. The voluntary program provides funding to restore marginal or flood-prone farmland to riparian buffers. The program provides annual incentive funding to help with the cost of habitat management and the loss of income due to idling farmland. Technical assistance is also provided.
http://www.chicoer.com/news/ci_11047564
New York: Doctoral Program in Ecosystem Restoration - Closes February 1, 2009
The State University of New York at Buffalo (UB) encourages recent graduates of undergraduate or masters programs to apply to its new doctoral degree concentration in Ecosystem Restoration through Interdisciplinary Exchange (ERIE). The ERIE program provides Ph.D. students with the technical, professional and personal skills needed to become leaders in the emerging field of ecosystem restoration through its focus on innovative and interdisciplinary research in environmental science, engineering, and policy. The research at UB's ERIE program is rooted in a number of nationally-recognized Great Lakes watershed and stream restoration efforts occurring in western New York State.
http://www.erie.buffalo.edu/
Pennsylvania: Sinnemahoning Creek Watershed Restoration Grant Program - Closes
February 14, 2009
The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission (PFBC) has announced that approximately $3.6 million is available to develop and implement projects that benefit fishing, boating, and aquatic resources in Cameron, Elk, Potter and McKean counties, with primary emphasis on projects within the Sinnemahoning Creek Watershed upstream from the confluence of the First Fork of Sinnemahoning Creek.
http://www.fish.state.pa.us/promo/grants/sinn/00sinn.htm
Maine: Pollution Fine to Fund Gulf of Maine Restoration - Closes February 15, 2009
Funding for environmental restoration projects along the Maine coast will be awarded on a competitive basis, with individual grants expected to range between $35,000 and $300,000. The deadline for applications is Feb. 15, and the first grants are to be awarded this summer, according to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, a nonprofit organization created by Congress to distribute such grants.
http://news.mainetoday.com/updates/036926.html
US: Five Star Restoration Program - Closes February 16, 2009
The Five Star Restoration Program seeks to develop community capacity to sustain local natural resources for future generations by providing modest financial assistance to diverse local partnerships for wetland, riparian, and coastal habitat restoration. The National Association of Counties, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF), the Wildlife Habitat Council, in cooperation with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Southern Company, and our newest partner Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E), are pleased to solicit applications for the Five Star Restoration Program.
http://www.nfwf.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Search&template=/CM/HTMLDisplay.cfm&ContentID=10936
New Mexico: Collaborative Forest Restoration Program - Closes March 2, 2009
The Community Forest Restoration Act of 2000 (Title VI, Public Law 106-393) established a cooperative forest restoration program in New Mexico to provide cost-share grants to stakeholders for forest restoration projects on public land to be designed through a collaborative process (the Collaborative Forest Restoration Program). Projects must include a diversity of stakeholders in their design and implementation, and address specified objectives, including: wildfire threat reduction; ecosystem restoration, including non-native tree species reduction; reestablishment of historic fire regimes; reforestation; preservation of old and large trees; increased utilization of small diameter trees; and the creation of forest- related local employment.
http://www.fs.fed.us/r3/spf/cfrp/rfp/index.shtml
Oklahoma: Wetlands Reserve Program Applications Open
USDA and the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) are currently accepting applications for the Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP) according to Kenneth Hitch, District Conservationist with NRCS. Landowners interested in restoring and protecting wetlands that have been impacted or converted are encouraged to make application at their local NRCS office. The Wetlands Reserve Program's primary objective is to restore former wetlands, re-establish native wetland wildlife habitat, and retire marginal land from agricultural production.
http://www.pryordailytimes.com/agriculture/local_story_323092011.html?keyword=topstory
Ph.D. Opportunities in Plant Community Ecology, Grassland / Savanna Restoration at the University of Kansas
Graduate Research Assistantships in Plant Ecology (Ph.D. level) are available in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Kansas. We are seeking highly motivated students interested in plant community ecology, grassland/savanna biodiversity, experimental ecology and restoration. Research opportunities exist within the context of NSF- and Forest Service-funded projects evaluating alternative models of community assembly and restoration in Tall-grass Prairie and Pine-savanna Ecosystems.
http://www2.ku.edu/~eeb/admission/opportunities.shtml | |
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