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 is your trusted resource for current events, reliable science, conservation success, emerging challenges, best practices, and achievements of those who work daily to preserve natural areas.

NASA is interested in how satellite observations of Earth can be used for natural resource management. As part of this work, NASA and researchers worked to measure the impact of beavers, one of the world’s most powerful ecosystem engineers, as they were reintroduced to Idaho landscapes.

Armed with new technology, botanists are proposing what was once thought impractical: reviving long-lost plant species by using seeds from dried specimens in collections. The challenges remain daunting, but researchers are now searching for the best de-extinction candidates.

Photo courtesy of Hawaii Dept. of Land and Natural Resources

A unique plant first seen in the high forests of west Maui in 2020 has now been officially recognized as a new Hawaiian species. The plant (Clermontia hanaulaensis) was found during routine surveys by botanist Hank Oppenheimer of the Plant Extinction Prevention Program.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced it will list the Lassics lupine (Lupinus constancei), a plant species found only in northern California, as endangered under the Endangered Species Act. This final rule will also include a critical habitat designation.

Potential Operational Delineations (PODs) is a collaborative, risk-based framework that draws from spatial analytics and local expertise. PODs work to identify where to best suppress fire, and also where opportunities exist to leverage fire to support fire-adapted landscapes and reduce future risk.

Endangered species across the U.S. are edging closer to extinction at alarming rates, and critical genetic information could vanish with them. In a new initiative, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is working with partners to create a “genetic library” of the country’s endangered species.

Funding Opportunities

2024 Keep Maryland Beautiful Grants

Deadline: Nov. 15, 2023

Natural Areas Research Grant in Ohio

Deadline: Feb. 1, 2024

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