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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 or can be subscribed to for only $20/year by visiting: www.ser.org/content/restoration_network.asp. Please send your news stories and articles to the RESTORE editor at info@ser.org. |
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Get Involved / Community-Based Restoration
Attention SER Members
In 1981, the journal Ecological Restoration broke new ground with writings about the work of restoring the environment when William Jordan III began publishing Restoration & Management and Notes. The history of this journal, which is sponsored by the University of Wisconsin Arboretum and published by University of Wisconsin Press, thus tracks the emergence of the science and practice of ecological restoration. This history has just been made available online (previously only issues since 2002 were digitized), thanks in part to a gift from funds provided by the Society for Ecological Restoration International in memory of Katherine Louise Schuetz Jordan and William R. Jordan, Jr. This gift recognizes the legacy of Mrs. Jordan, who taught English for many years at both high school and college levels, and Mr. Jordan, who was a forester with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources from 1949-1978. Mr. and Mrs. Jordan were the parents of William R. Jordan III, a founding member of the Society. The back issues are accessible through the Ecological Restoration website ( http://er.uwpress.org/) along with the currently available content published since 2001.
Discount on Wiley-Blackwell Products: Code is SDP18
http://www.wiley.com
Discount on Island Press/SER Book Series: Code is 2SER
http://www.islandpress.org/ser/index.html
Get Involved/Community-based Restoration
New Zealand: Island Bay Coast Care
For the past seven years, the Island Bay Coast Care group, a collection of enthusiastic local residents, has been involved in restoring the sand dunes at the western end of Island Bay. Each winter the group plants native foredune plants such as pingao, spinifex, nihinihi and New Zealand ice plant. The plants trap the sand that would otherwise be lost due to wind erosion, and build up the dunes. As a result the level of the beach rises, which gives protection to the coastline.
http://wellington.govt.nz/news/display-item.php?id=3877
Canada: Project Encourages Environmental Stewardship
They are only small seeds, but one day they will reforest tracts of park and agricultural land. Huron Park Secondary School students had a chance to get their hands dirty on Thursday planting acorns and other seeds as part of the Forests for Life program. The seed planting was the beginning of a multi-stage process of the ongoing social and environmental rehabilitation project that produces trees for community reforestation projects.
http://www.oxfordreview.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2468499
Illinois: Volunteers Make Grasslands 'Grow'
Sally Baumgardner lives next to, and sometimes for, the Nachusa Grasslands. The 2,826-acre facility surrounds her home, and she's one of the volunteers who works to preserve and restore the area. She hopes the golden eagle sighting earlier this month will raise interest in the Grasslands, and perhaps increase the roster of volunteers. "Just come to the open space and enjoy it," Baumgardner said. "We have a lot of grasslands birds that are really neat. They may not be as exciting as a golden eagle going after a deer, but they are very special, too.
http://www.saukvalley.com/articles/2010/02/27/66746552/index.xml
Washington: Citizens are Invited to Participate in Restoration of the Calawah Watershed
The U. S. Forest Service's Pacific Northwest Region recently designated the Calawah watershed, located on the west side of the Olympic Peninsula, as a focused watershed. As a result, this emphasis area will receive priority funding for restoration projects. Olympic National Forest must now develop an action plan that outlines long term restoration goals in cooperation with citizens who have an interest in the watershed.
http://kbkw.com/modules/news/article.php?storyid=1412
Conferences & Workshops
7th European Conference on Ecological Restoration - SER Avignon 2010
The deadline to submit an abstract of oral presentations and posters has been extended until March 22, 2010. More information at:
http://www.seravignon2010.org/Proposal/Proposal-and-abstract-submission
Colorado High Altitude Revegetation Workshop - March 3-4, 2010
http://www.highaltitudereveg.org/
A Joint Meeting of SE-EPPC and the SER Southeast Chapter - May 11-13, 2010
http://www.se-eppc.org/2010/
San Francisco Wetland Restoration Monitoring Techniques - May 21, 2010
A one day course focusing on field based tools and techniques to properly monitor wetland restorations. This course will provide resources and methods for monitoring and assessing restoration success. In addition we will address restoration management all with an emphasis on salt marshes in the SF bay area.
http://www.sws.org/training/details.mgi?Session=2107
Workshop on "River Restoration: Fluvial Geomorphic and Ecological Tools" - June 7-11, 2010
http://institutbeaumont.com/
International Symposium on Sustainability Science - October 25-27, 2010
https://www.ser.org/pdf/ISSFlier.pdf
Full 2010 Conference Listing Available on the GRN
http://www.globalrestorationnetwork.org/conferences/ |
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People in the News
M. Gordon Wolman Dies; Professor a Pioneer in River Research
Known as "Reds" for his shock of carrot-colored hair, Dr. Wolman studied whether a river is shaped more by rare, catastrophic floods or everyday currents, eventually concluding that intermediate flows -- regular, once-a-year floods -- do most of the work in sculpting a channel. That magnitude-frequency theory, as well as later studies on the effects of human activity on rivers and the downstream impacts of dams, made Dr. Wolman's work a foundation for water-resource management and river restoration and engineering.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/01/AR2010030103615.html |
| New Books & Articles
Study Finds Post-Restoration Wetland Succession Highly Variable
A new study from researchers at the University of Illinois has looked at wetland restoration projects across the state and found that successional trends vary substantially from one site to another. The study findings have implications for the Clean Water Act and its ability to meet its mandate of enforcing no net-loss of wetland area or function in the United States.
http://www.conservationmaven.com/frontpage/study-finds-post-restoration-wetland-succession-highly-varia.html
Civic Ecology: Linking Social and Ecological Approaches in Extension
The environmental philosopher Andrew Light describes an emerging civic environmentalism, in which urban residents engage in restoring nature in cities. Local groups enhancing the Bronx River watershed or the forest canopy in New Orleans provide examples of this movement. Unlike traditional environmentalism, which focuses on preserving pristine wilderness, civic environmentalism regards humans as an integral part of ecosystems (Light, 2003). Whereas Light talks about an environmental movement, we propose the term "civic ecology" to reflect the linked social and ecological systems implications of participatory environmental restoration and management initiatives in cities and elsewhere.
http://www.joe.org/joe/2010february/iw1.php
Planning for Ecosystem Service Markets
Market mechanisms are emerging as means of offsetting the environmental effects of growth. Unfortunately, formal regulation of ecosystem markets is often separated from broader planning for urban development, resulting in offsets that are unsustainable in the face of future urban growth. We aimed to assess how 2008 federal regulations that actively promote aquatic resource markets and encourage watershed planning to restore wetlands and streams damaged during development will affect reputedly efficient existing wetland and stream ecosystem markets in North Carolina.
http://gisandscience.com/2010/03/02/planning-for-ecosystem-service-markets/ |
| Biodiversity & Climate Change
Idea of Restoring 'Natural Systems' Misses Mark as Response to Climate Change Challenges, Expert Argues
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California: Emerging from the Ashes: Carbon Finance and Public Forest Restoration
Six years after the worst fire in California's recorded history, the state is trying out carbon financing to help restore one of its struggling forests. The project raises - and perhaps answers - several serious questions about enrolling public lands in offset programs, but the elephant in the room - US federal land - continues to loom largely unaddressed.
http://www.ecosystemmarketplace.com/pages/dynamic/article.page.php?page_id=7469§ion=news_articles&eod=1
Ghana: NGO Calls for the Restoration of Weto Biodiversity
Mr Ken Kinney, Executive Director of Development Institute (DI), an environment and human security non-governmental organization (NGO), has called for collaboration among relevant agencies in the Volta Region to restore the biodiversity and ecosystem of the Weto Gbeka Range. Mr Kinney said the Weto range comes next to the Western Region in terms of richness in biodiversity. He said the restoration of the Range's ecosystem and biodiversity required a comprehensive action plan and funding.
http://news.peacefmonline.com/social/201002/39253.php
Bangladesh: Chunati Forest to be Regenerated
The government has approved the first public sector project under Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) to regenerate degraded reserve forest in Chunati under Cox's Bazar district. About 7,764-hectare area of degraded forest would be reforested under the Chunati Reforestation Programme, State Minister for Environment and Forests Hasan Mahmud told a seminar here yesterday. It will be the second CDM project in the country to tap opportunities of global carbon market as the government is looking for promoting the system for country's development as well as making its economy more green and carbon neutral.
http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=128185 |
| Wetland Restoration
Texas: Leon County Landowners Realize Benefits of Wetlands Reserve Program
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River & Watershed Restoration
Oregon: Landmark Klamath River Restoration and Dam Removal Agreements Signed
The world's largest river restoration and dam removal effort kicked off in a spirit of celebration inside the grand rotunda of Oregon's Capitol Feb. 18. The Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement aims to restore a mountainous land of rivers, tributaries and wetlands spanning the Oregon-California border. Its sister Klamath Hydroelectric Settlement Agreement, contingent on full funding and scientific study, will open hundreds of miles of the Klamath River closed to salmon for a century.
http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/living/85046697.html?m=y
Washington: Man-Made Log Jams Planned to Help Salmon in Skokomish River
For years, long segments of the Skokomish River have suffered in a naked condition, lacking fallen trees and woody debris that constrain the riverbanks and create salmon habitat. That condition will change this summer, when crews push over as many as 2,500 trees in upland forest areas, move them by helicopter and bury them in the riverbanks with their roots sticking out. "We are adding complexity with large wood to increase fish habitat," said Marc McHenry, project manager for Olympic National Forest, where the man-made log jams are proposed. "Over time, this will also create protected areas where trees can grow."
http://www.kitsapsun.com/news/2010/feb/26/man-made-log-jams-planned-to-help-salmon-in/
Wisconsin: Pecatonica River Provides Scientific Basis for Future Restoration Projects
Environmental groups annually spend upwards of $1 billion on projects aimed at restoring streams and former wetland ecosystems to their native states. Yet, there is little solid science to guide these efforts, says Steven Loheide, a University of Wisconsin-Madison assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering. "We would like to be able to improve the practice of restoration by allowing people who are designing restoration projects to be able to predict what the hydrologic change will be and how that will affect the distribution of vegetation across the flood plain," says Loheide.
http://www.news.wisc.edu/17700 |
| Grassland Restoration
Minnesota: Snow Seeding to Restore Native Plants to the Prairie
On a recent day, Dunnette showed a group of 30 volunteers how to spread seed over 40 acres. He poured native prairie seeds into an oversized garbage bin full of sawdust. Seeding a prairie like this one in southeastern Minnesota is usually done in spring or fall, before the snow falls, said Dunnette, who wore heavy-duty snow boots and thick, brown gloves as he worked. But the group he led spread 80 species of seeds on snow-covered ground to accelerate the restoration of Weaver Dunes, the state's largest barrens prairie. The prairie is located where the Zumbro and Mississippi rivers meet and includes a sand terrace. The area also is home to wetlands, including open water marshes and wet flood plain forests.
http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2010/02/24/snow-seeding/
UK: Culm Grassland Seedlings Shooting Up at Devon Wildlife Trust Reserve near Holsworthy
Restoration of traditional Culm Grassland pastures at a north Devon nature reserve has come a step closer as seedlings start to appear in seven fields sown in the autumn. Vealand Nature Reserve, near Holsworthy, is owned by Devon Wildlife Trust. The restoration work began last year thanks to funding from GrantScape which is helping the charity restore and improve many of its north Devon sites in the Culm Measures as part of the Working Wetlands project.
http://www.bidefordpeople.co.uk/news/Culm-Grassland-Seedlings-Shooting-Devon-Wildlife-Trust-Reserve-near-Holsworthy/article-1867110-detail/article.html |
| Lake Restoration
Illinois: Preserve Offers Glimpse into Lakeshore's Past--And Future
Gerould Wilhelm, botanist and author of "Plants of the Chicago Region," has had a 30-year love affair with the unique ravine ecosystems along Lake Michigan's western shore. It's no surprise then, that when Openlands, one of the nation's oldest metropolitan conservation organizations, decided to restore one of these areas, Wilhelm came on board as a consultant.
http://news.medill.northwestern.edu/chicago/news.aspx?id=158850 |
| Coastal & Marine Restoration
Congressional Testimony: Restoring Coastal Habitats Creates Jobs
A panel of six national experts will discuss the economic value and job creation potential of coastal and estuary habitat restoration during a Congressional briefing at 2 p.m. today (Tuesday) in the U.S. Capitol Visitor Center's South Congressional Meeting Room. The hour-long briefing, "Restoring Habitats, Revitalizing Economies," is being co-hosted by the environmental nonprofit Restore America's Estuaries and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Restoration Center. The briefing will focus on the need for increased capital investment in infrastructure to support coastal economies and restore coastal ecosystems.
http://www.dukenews.duke.edu/2010/03/coastal_testimony.html
California: Smashing of Levee to Reunite Marsh, Ocean
Construction workers plan to punch through a flood-control levee Friday morning in Huntington Beach, unleashing full-strength ocean tides into a coastal wetland for the first time in a century and wrapping up a $3.3 million restoration project. Soon, chattering birds and other wildlife should reclaim the 41-acre Magnolia marsh as their own - the last in a chain of marshes to be restored along the Huntington coast.
http://greenoc.freedomblogging.com/2010/02/25/smashing-of-levee-to-reunite-marsh-ocean/20367/ |
Wildlife Restoration
Bringing Bison Back to North American Landscapes
The next 10 to 20 years could be extremely significant for restoring wild populations of American bison to their original range, including the Canadian Rockies; but for this to happen, more land must be made available for herds to roam free, government policies must be updated and the public must change its attitude towards bison, according to a new international study on the species co-authored by University of Calgary experts.
http://www.scienceblog.com/cms/bringing-bison-back-north-american-landscapes.html
Australia Moves Mammals from Safe Haven to Habitats of Doom
In one of the biggest wildlife relocation projects ever to take place in Australia, nearly 1,000 mammals are being moved from Barrow Island to Lorna Glen, Cape Range National Park and Hermit Island. Why are these animals being booted from their Garden of Eden into a world of danger? That's not entirely clear. It seems to be an effort to repopulate areas that had once become overrun with predators, but there's also more than a dash of industry involved.
http://animals.change.org/blog/view/australia_moves_mammals_from_safe_haven_to_habitats_of_doom |
| Urban Restoration
New York: New York City Will Halve Nitrogen Pollution to Jamaica Bay
An agreement to improve the overall water quality and restore marshlands in New York's Jamaica Bay through new investments worth $115 million was reached Thursday after months of intensive negotiations among the city, state, and environmental groups.
http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/mar2010/20100inhtml |
| Funding Opportunities
NOAA Announces Estuary Habitat Restoration Project Funding - Closes March 16, 2010
The Estuary Habitat Restoration Council is soliciting project proposals for estuary habitat restoration projects. The Council is seeking projects that achieve cost-effective restoration while promoting partnerships among agencies and between public and private sectors. Projects will be evaluated for their support of the Estuary Habitat Restoration Strategy.
http://cheqbaypartners.wordpress.com/2010/01/20/noaa-announces-estuary-habitat-restoration-project-funding/
Almost $2 Million Available to Help Endangered, Threatened Species in Great Lakes Region - Closes March 22, 2010
Michigan is home to about 17 threatened or endangered species, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Those bats, beetles, bugs, birds, snakes and wolves could be helped by up to $1.85 million in federal grants. The Fish and Wildlife Service has announced a request for project proposals to protect, restore and enhance Great Lakes endangered species under the Endangered Species Great Lakes Restoration Initiative. Up to $1.85 million in grants is available for projects that benefit federally endangered, threatened, candidate or at-risk species.
http://www.mlive.com/mudpuppy/index.ssf/2010/02/almost_2_million_available_to.html
Montana: Funding for Conservation and Restoration projects - Closes April 2, 2010
After a one-year funding hiatus, nearly $1 million is available once again for restoration and conservation projects through the Montana Fish and Wildlife Conservation Trust. Of that amount, $515,500 must be spent on projects between the Upper Missouri River basin and Holter Dam, according to the legislation that created the trust.
http://www.helenair.com/news/local/article_1982c29a-193a-11df-b2140in4c002e0.html
California: Watershed Restoration Grant Proposals Now Being Accepted - Closes April 8, 2010
The California Department of Fish and Game (DFG) is accepting proposals for fisheries restoration projects in California's coastal watersheds through April 8, 2010. Approved projects will propose measures consistent with DFG's Steelhead Restoration and Management Plan for California and the Recovery Strategy for California Coho Salmon, and NOAA's Southern California Steelhead Recovery Plan Public Review; Draft Version.
http://yubanet.com/california/Watershed-Restoration-Grant-Proposals-Now-Being-Accepted.php
Montana: Applications Available for Clark Fork Restoration Grants - Closes April 9, 2010
Applications for grant proposals to restore the Upper Clark Fork River Basin are now available. We are starting the eleventh year of the grant program aimed at returning the Basin to a healthy ecosystem. This year, $7.5 million is available to fund grant projects approved by the governor. Grant applications for over $25,000 must be received by Friday, April 9, 2010. Grant applications for $25,000 or less may be submitted on a continuous basis throughout the year. Applicants requesting more than $25,000 must use a long-form application, and there is a short-form application for applicants requesting $25,000 or less.
http://www.clarkforkchronicle.com/article.php/20100212214329156
Australia: River Prize - Closes May 14, 2010
Nominations are sought from individuals and organisations engaged in best practice river
and catchment management and restoration from across Australia. (Australian river and
catchment management groups may enter both the national and international Riverprize
awards). Previous entrants are encouraged to apply again.
http://www.riverfoundation.org.au/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=29&Itemid=47 | |
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