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 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.

Native grass used to cover 71 million acres of the southern high plains, but there has been a lot of change over the years. In Kansas, 80% of their grasslands have been lost to cropland, drought or invasive species. Conservationists and big businesses are now collaborating with cattle ranchers to save what's left of the country's native grasslands.

Conserving Plant Diversity in New England, a report resulting from a two-year collaboration between Native Plant Trust and The Nature Conservancy, sought to answer a critical question: After more than a century of land conservation in New England, have our efforts protected enough land in the right places to save the region's plant diversity and prevent extinctions? The short answer: Not yet.

As part of President Biden's Investing in America agenda, $7 million will go toward sagebrush restoration in the western states. The Department of Interior cites a 2022 U.S Geological Survey report that claims an average of 1.3 million acres of sagebrush have been lost or degraded each year over the last 20 years.

New York Governor Kathy Hochul announced a historic agreement to permanently protect more than 14,600 acres of ecologically rare and culturally significant natural resources in the Adirondacks through two conservation easements and a research consortium initiative with New York State.

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Funding Opportunities

Washington Wildlife and Recreation Grant Program | Habitat Conservation Projects

Deadline: March 1, 2024

*Applications open February 14, 2024

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