Natural Areas Association (NAA) is an association of scientists and practitioners focused on the management of ecologically significant natural landscapes with the intent to protect biodiversity for current and future generations. Natural Areas News is just one of the ways NAA shares reliable science, emerging challenges, best practices, and achievements of those who work daily to preserve natural areas.
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Photo courtesy of Thomas Meyer, WI DNR
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Remembering Clifford E. Germain, 1923 - 2022
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Clifford E. Germain, founding NAA member and the first George Fell Lifetime Achievement Award recipient, dies at age 99. NAA’s executive director Lisa Smith and Wisconsin DNR’s Thomas Meyer pay tribute to this important figure in natural areas conservation. Read More.
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Photo courtesy of the Michigan Natural Features Inventory
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MNFI Scientists Collect Important
Data In Michigan
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Michigan Natural Features Inventory ecologists and botanists recently conducted surveys on the Huron Islands in Lake Superior to obtain data on rare and endemic species and unique natural communities. Learn More.
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Photo courtesy of Bill Holimon
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Monarch Butterfly
Declared Endangered
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The monarch butterfly has officially been designated as endangered. Scott Black, executive director of the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation, and NAA member, discusses this devastating update.
Learn More.
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A Look Back At The 2022 Natural Areas Conference
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Conference chair, Judy Schulte,
Minnesota DNR, addresses attendees during the opening plenary
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Attendees listen to speakers during the opening plenary
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Conference attendees, including Ken McCarty, assemble at registration
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Practitioners arrived in beautiful Duluth, Minnesota, for NAA's 2022 Natural Areas Conference earlier this month. Themed Superior Visions: Navigating Complexity Amid Constant Change, NAA hosted more than 300 registrants.
Natural areas practitioners engaged in sessions with topics ranging from climate change, prescribed disturbances, invertebrate conservation, and conservation detection dogs, among others, and especially enjoyed hearing from keynote speaker Robin Wall Kimmerer during a live-streamed plenary titled Land Justice: Engaging Indigenous Knowledge For Land Care.
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Attendees pause to hear from the interpreter while participating in the St. Louis River Ravines Field Workshop.
Photo courtesy of Ann Gilmore
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A view of Gooseberry Falls on the Lake Superior North Shore Geology Field Workshop. Photo courtesy of Arika
McGraw
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Attendees observe the habitats of moths during the Biodiversity After Dark Field Workshop in Duluth. Photo courtesy of Justin Nooker
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2022 Natural Areas Association Awards
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NAA board president, Roger McCoy,
presents Ellen Jacquart with the 2022 Becker Stewardship Award
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NAA executive director, Lisa Smith, opens the 2022 NAA annual awards dinner
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NAA executive director, Lisa Smith, and board president, Roger McCoy, pose with award recipients from 2020, 2021 and 2022
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On Sept. 8, 2022, NAA celebrated conservation leaders in the natural areas field through its annual award ceremony. NAA honored these recipients as part of the evening's festivities:
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