SER-Texas: Part-Time Chapter Coordinator Position
 TxSER is seeking a part-time chapter coordinator to manage its business/clerical aspects.

SER-Midwest-Great Lakes: 4th Annual Meeting-May 4-6

New York: Marine Meadows Program Workshop-May 6, May 12, June 2, June 8
Cornell Cooperative Extension program will offer FREE workshops on the repair of marine meadows on the North Fork in Greenport. Participants will weave eelgrass shoots harvested from healthy donor meadows in local waters into burlap planting discs.

Colorado: Boulder County Native Plant Monitors Needed- Due May 10
Boulder County is looking for native plant monitors to visit scenic properties and collect ongoing scientific data in the field. Applications are due by May 10, 2012.

Restoration 2012: Beyond Borders-May 15-18
Four of the Northwest's premiere ecological restoration and fisheries organizations are coming together to present Restoration 2012 : Beyond Borders, May 15-18 in Victoria BC.

New York: Urban Ecology Lecture Series-First Lecture May 23
A new series of lectures on ecological issues relevant to NYC and the Gowanus Canal Watershed.

Massachusetts: Hands-On Wetlands Creation Workshop for Professionals - May 22-24

Missouri: Ozark Summit 2012: Restoration in the 21st Century - June 12-14

SER-Great Basin: Post-Fire Land Restoration Workshop & Field Trip - July 12-13
The workshop will be held July 12-13, 2012 at the Best Western Airport Plaza in Reno, Nevada.

Utah: Field Tour and Summer Meeting-SER Great Basin -June 18-20
SER-Great Bain and The Utah Chapter of the Society for Range Management will hold a combined meeting and field tour on June 18-20, 2012 in Ephraim, Utah.

SER-Texas: 2012 Annual TxSER Conference- Call for Papers - Due Aug 31
TxSER will hold their annual conference from Nov. 2-4, 2012 in Weslaco, Texas.

Sustainability- Special Issue Terrestrial Ecosystem Restoration-Call for Papers- Due Aug 31
Open access journal, Sustainability, is calling for papers to be submitted to a special issue entitled Terrestrial Ecosystem Restoration, due August 31, 2012.

SER-Europe: The 8th European Conference on Ecological Restoration-Sept 9-14

 Cascais World Forum 2012: Soilbioengineering & Land Management -Call for Papers- Sept 19-22

EcoSummit 2012-Ecological Sustainability- Sept. 30- Oct. 5

6^th Annual Conference on Coastal and Estuarine Habitat Restoration- Oct. 20-24

Florida: Creation and Restoration or Wetlands Workshop- November 8-10

SER-Australasia: Inaugural Conference- -Nov 28-30

2012 Conference Listing on the Global Restoration Network (GRN)
Check out our 2012 conference listing for a full year view of upcoming conferences and events

SER Members receive 25% off Island Press book purchases. Contact caroline@ser.org for details!

Haiti: Coming Together For Environmental Restoration In Haiti
In honor of Earth Day, we run an interview with Yves-André Wainright, who discusses ways that poor governance and the role of foreign donors have contributed to the country's environmental catastrophe. He also lays out a blueprint for what could turn the situation around, effectively mobilizing both government and the population to begin restoring the environment.

Walton Family Foundation Invests $71.4 Million in Conservation Initiatives in 2011
Today the Walton Family Foundation announced investments totaling more than $71.4 million in environmental initiatives in 2011. The foundation made grants to more than 160 organizations in the U.S. and other countries that work to protect natural resources while strengthening the local economies that depend on them.

US: Walmart Helps To Revitalize Urban Wildlife Habitats
Walmart's Acres for America program is conserving an additional 300 acres of land to protect and restore wildlife habitats in the heart of our nation's cities, including Bridgeport, Chicago, Portland, San Diego, and Washington, D.C.

US: (AUDIO) Environmental Outlook: "American Canopy" by Eric Rutkow
Today woodland acreage is down by about 25 percent - and much of it is populated with young trees. A new book tells the history of America through its trees. Like Dr. Seuss's environmental classic "The Lorax," it's a sad story, but one that's not without hope. In the next segment of our Environmental Outlook series - trees, forests and the making of a nation.

India: Tribal Farming Beats Climate Change
Tribal farmer Harish Saraka has rediscovered the key to sustainable farming in this rain-dependent hinterland of eastern Odisha state - mixed cropping. For Harish Saraka and other subsistence farmers in 70 Niyamgiri villages in Rayagada, adapting to changing conditions meant reverting to traditional farming methods such as mixed cropping, the use of organic fertilisers and trusted seed varieties.

El Salvador: Energy Forests, the Feminine Art of Reforesting
María Elena Muñoz industriously weeds a clearing in the forest and then digs several holes, where she and another four dozen women are planting plantain seedlings, to help feed their families in this poor farming area in El Salvador. The group is involved in an agroecology programme that has two main aims: achieve food sovereignty, and foment the development of energy forests, which provide local families with sustainable energy and help mitigate the impact of climate change.

North Korea: Agroforestry is not rocket science but it might save DPR Korea
There is more going on in DPR Korea than rocket science: local people in collaboration with natural resources scientists are taking control of their food supply through agroforestry. This is according to a report published in Agroforestry Systems journal. The report, notes that in DPR Korea a bottom-up participatory process of developing locally appropriate agroforestry has been a revelation to many and is helping to reverse the chronic food shortages and land degradation of the 1990s.

Amazon: Ancient farming method may help conserve savannahs
A fire-free farming method practiced by early inhabitants of the Amazonian savannahs could help inform efforts to conserve and rehabilitate these important ecosystems around the world, a study has found. This latest study, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (9 April), found that 800 years ago, prior to European settlement of Latin America, indigenous farmers had developed a technique known as 'raised-field' farming to manage land sustainably without using fire.

Pacific islands may become refuge for corals in a warming climate, study finds
Scientists have predicted that ocean temperatures will rise in the equatorial Pacific by the end of the century, wreaking havoc on coral reef ecosystems. But a new study shows that climate change could cause ocean currents to operate in a surprising way and mitigate the warming near a handful of islands right on the equator. As a result these Pacific islands may become isolated refuges for corals and fish.

"Warming hole" delayed climate change over eastern United States
Climate scientists at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) have discovered that particulate pollution in the late 20th century created a "warming hole" over the eastern United States-that is, a cold patch where the effects of global warming were temporarily obscured.

The Change in Ocean Salinity
In a paper published Friday (April 27) in the journal Science, Australian scientists from the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory reported changing patterns of salinity in the global ocean during the past 50 years, marking a clear symptom of climate change.

Texas: Scientists to test new acoustical hydrophones on Trinity River
Acoustical hydrophones are microphones designed for underwater recording or listening. During the upcoming peak of the restoration releases in early May, a group of scientists will be testing acoustical hydrophones as a potential tool for monitoring sediment transport in rivers.

New Zealand: Planting natives along the Waikato part of huge step to clean up river
The authority yesterday announced $4.7 million in funding for projects to restore the Waikato River. Twenty-two projects have been earmarked as part of the authority's inaugural funding round. The authority was formed in 2010 to oversee the allocation of the restoration fund, with the Government committing $210m over 30 years.

Wisconsin: Wild Side: Hot time on the prairie
Fire has played a key role in development of North American grassland ecosystems. The combination of droughts, dry vegetation and strong winds made fires on the prairie frequent disturbance events. In addition to fires naturally ignited by lightning strikes, Native Americans often started grassland fires to drive game and to alter habitat conditions.

Indonesia: (AUDIO) Drama Amid Indonesia's Disappearing Mangroves
Indonesia has one-quarter of the world's mangrove forests, but it's losing them at an alarming rate of 6% a year. The world as a whole is estimated to have lost half of its mangroves in the past half-century. The villagers used to cut down the trees for firewood, timber and to make shrimp ponds. But two decades ago, farmer Kamal Amani and other villagers began to replant them.

Florida: Fixes bring McKay Bay to life
McKay Bay is under renovation. When the work is complete, the drab reminder of reckless 1960s development again will provide suitable habitat for fish and wading birds. The recontoured shoreline, with a new skirt of native grasses and mangroves, will help cleanse runoff headed from Palm River into the bay.

Montana: As Bison Return to Prairie, Some Rejoice, Others Worry
Sioux and Assiniboine tribe members wailed a welcome song last month as around 60 bison from Yellowstone National Park stormed onto a prairie pasture that had not felt a bison's hoof for almost 140 years. Many farmers and ranchers fear that bison, particularly those from Yellowstone, might be mismanaged and damage private property, and worry that they would compete for grass with their own herds.

Minnesota: Northland projects included in latest round of Legacy funds
Several fish and wildlife projects across Northeastern Minnesota are included in the latest Legacy Amendment appropriations. Funds for trout streams, moose habitat, sharp-tailed grouse habitat and the lower St. Louis estuary all are included in the $99 million appropriation. The money comes from sales taxes that were approved by voters in a constitutional amendment in 2008.

US & Canada: Wildlife Conservation Society and Partners Increase Habitat for Sprague's Pipit 
The Wildlife Conservation Society, in partnership with the American Prairie Reserve, World Wildlife Fund-US, Nature Conservancy Canada, and The Nature Conservancy, has been awarded funding by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to maintain and restore critical habitat for the Sprague's pipit in northern Montana, North Dakota, and southern Saskatchewan.

Canada: 2012 Marks 25 Years of Wild Turkey Hunting in Ontario
The restoration of wild turkeys to Ontario is one of the province's most successful wildlife recovery stories. Prior to the first release, the eastern wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) had been extirpated from Ontario for nearly a century because of unregulated market hunting and habitat loss. Hunters and other conservationists lobbied for the restoration of wild turkeys in the early 1980's, and as a result, from 1984 through 1987 approximately 4,400 wild turkeys were released at 275 sites across Ontario.

Arizona: Phoenix-based Mining Firm To Pay $6.8M For Damages
Phoenix-based mining firm Freeport-McMoRan has agreed to pay nearly $7 million to settle federal and state natural resource damages claims involving the Morenci copper mine in southeastern Arizona.

Montana looking for fishery damage from oil spill in Yellowstone River
Workers captured rainbow trout and shorthead redhorse suckers on Wednesday downstream of Laurel where the company's pipeline beneath the river broke last July, resulting in an estimated 63,000 gallons of oil entering the river. Less than 1 percent was recovered. The cleanup of the spill last summer cost an estimated $135 million after pipeline repairs were factored in.

Florida: Taming the lionfish
Four years ago, lobster fisherman Gary Nichols had never laid eyes on a lionfish, but today his traps are full of them. He says he catches so many lionfish now (up to 200 pounds every day) that he's started to sell them. But where his lobsters sell for $16 per kilogram, lionfish only make him $12. With no natural predators in the Atlantic and an ability to reproduce year-round, their numbers have risen unabated.

Gulf of Mexico: Scientists see increase in tiger prawn sightings
A rise in sightings of a giant, invasive shrimp has government scientists working to determine the cause and possible consequences for native fish and seafood in the Gulf of Mexico. In 2010, there were 32 reported sightings of the Asian tiger prawn in Gulf and Atlantic waters in 2012, those reports jumped to 331.

Vermont: Flooding disperses invasive plant, fish species
Last year's hurricanes and flooding not only engulfed homes and carried away roads and bridges in hard-hit areas of the country, it dispersed aggressive invasive species as well, Japanese knotweed.

China: Green Roofs Are Changing Architecture: Kowloon Rail Terminus
It used to be that roofs were up top where nobody could see them, covered in gravel and full of mechanical equipment. Not anymore; green roof technology is making roofs into habitable architecture, and changing the way architects think of buildings. The Express Rail Link - West Kowloon Terminus by Aedas will connect Hong Kong to the National High Speed Rail Network. The terminal's roof is a series of ribbons that meet ground level, turning the building into a big walkable (climbable?) hill.

Can Nature's Beauty Lift Citizens From Poverty?
Using nature's beauty as a tourist draw can boost conservation in China's valued panda preserves, but it isn't an automatic ticket out of poverty for the humans who live there, a unique long-term study shows. The truly impoverished have a harder time breaking into the tourism business, according to the paper, "Drivers and Socioeconomic Impacts of Tourism Participation in Protected Areas," published in the April 25 edition of PLoS One.

Florida: Longleaf Legacy Private Landowner Incentive Program- Due May 11, 2012
 The primary objective of the Longleaf Legacy Private Landowner Incentives Program is to increase the acreage of healthy Longleaf pine ecosystems in the panhandle of Florida by helping non-industrial private forest (NIPF) landowners to make the long term investment required to establish and maintain this valuable ecosystem. Toward this end, the program offers NIPF landowners technical guidance and incentive payments for conducting certain approved forest management practices that help establish or improve longleaf pine stands.

Great Lakes Restoration Initiative: 20 Million Available from EPA- Due May 24, 2012
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today announced that it is requesting applications from states, municipalities, tribes, universities and nonprofit organizations for new projects to restore and protect the Great Lakes. EPA will distribute approximately $20 million through the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative grant program during Fiscal Year 2012.

New Hampshire: Grant Funding for Wetlands Restoration and Drinking Water Protection
The Aquatic Resource Mitigation Fund grants are available for eligible wetland restoration, land protection or habitat improvement projects; and drinking water supply protection grants are available for lands in the southern I-93 corridor and Lake Massabesic Watershed. Aquatic Resource Mitigation (ARM) Fund payments are collected according to nine service areas.

US: Emergency Forest Restoration Program
USDA Farm Service Agency's (FSA) Emergency Forest Restoration Program (EFRP) provides payments to eligible owners of nonindustrial private forest (NIPF) land in order to carry out emergency measures to restore land damaged by a natural disaster.

Earth Island Institute: Supporting community-based wetland restoration initiatives
Through the Small Grants Program, Earth Island Institute has been able to support locally based restoration efforts to do just that. Small grassroots efforts to restore the coastal habitats of Southern California, which have been depleted by an astounding 98%, have been slowly working to bring our wetlands back from the brink of extinction. By supporting and empowering the new restoration leaders, we ensure our collective success in restoring some of the earth's most fragile ecosystems.

The Gulf of Mexico Foundation's Community-based Restoration Partnership has reached a milestone by providing grants for now more than 80 different projects in coastal areas throughout the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea. Restoring a total of more than 15,000 acres over the past decade, these CRP projects have improved a wide variety of habitat types, including coastal dunes, coral reefs, oyster reefs, marshes, seagrass beds, mangrove forests and artificial reefs. Funding from NOAA and EPA help make it possible for the GMF to provide more than $3 million to projects, leveraging an additional $5.5 million in non-federal support from project partners. The GMF will be offering a new round of CRP funding for 2012. Visit our website for more information on the upcoming funding opportunity.

 Terra Viva Grants develops and manages information about grants for agriculture, energy, environment, and natural resources in the world's developing countries. 

 California: Ecosystem Restoration on Agricultural Lands (ERAL)
 Grant funding applications are accepted on a year-round basis. The WCB meets four times each year, normally in February, May, August, and November to consider approval of funding for projects.

 Tamarisk Related Grant Opportunities
 The Tamarisk Coalition has developed a list of available Grant Opportunities to address tamarisk issues and riparian restoration. This list was revised as part of the Colorado River Basin Tamarisk and Russian Olive Assessment.