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.

Photo courtesy of Gary Peeples/USFWS, Public Domain

Native Carolina Plant removed from Endangered Species List due to recovery

After decades of partnership-driven recovery efforts, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is removing the dwarf-flowered heartleaf (Hexastylis naniflora) from the federal list of endangered and threatened plants. Documented populations have increased to 119 across North and South Carolina.

White House set to roll back protections for nearly 60 million acres of national forests

The Trump administration is rolling back protections for nearly 60 million acres of National Forest. Environmental groups denounce the plan, but the administration called the move common sense and said it would jump-start timber production and aid in fire prevention.

Baltimore’s wetland restoration project pushes ahead despite federal funding setbacks

A project launched last year in Baltimore to breathe ecological life back into a river battered by decades of industrialization and urban neglect. This spring, FEMA alerted project managers that they would no longer provide construction funding. Since then, multiple other funding sources have filled the funding gap.

California conserves over one million acres of land and coastal waters in just one year

Governor Gavin Newsom announced California protected over one million acres of land and coastal waters in the last year, marking significant progress toward the state’s goal of conserving 30% of its lands and coastal waters by 2030. The amount of land and water protected is equivalent to the size of Glacier National Park.

In Other News

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Items that are italicized represent academic titles

Fighting Invasive Plants: The Ones We’ve Got and Those We Think Are Coming *

Mass layoffs can move forward, with devastating impacts for conservation and science*

Chesapeake and Atlantic Coastal Bays Trust Fund Provides $29 Million for Ecological Restoration Projects

Montana Conservation Corps and The Nature Conservancy Launch the Wildland Restoration Academy in the Blackfoot Watershed

Restored Prairie at the Heart of New 340-Acre Natural Area Opening Soon in Bay County, Michigan *

Missouri Prairie Foundation asks citizens to urge governor to sign invasive species bill

Baltimore’s Wetlands Restoration Pushes Ahead Despite Federal Funding Setbacks

Healing the land: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Quapaw Nation take first steps toward comprehensive assessment for land restoration

Esri introduces Global Environmental Hexagons

A new study looks at how to protect rare plants in snowy patches of Mount Washington as New Hampshire warms

New Insights Revealed About New 4,000-Acre Texas Natural Area

Revised wetlands protection laws in Louisiana, other states open door to development

Climate change outpaces trees: Forests face centuries-long lag in adaptation

The Native Seed Network (NSN) launches new website with essential tools and information for people working to add native plants back into the landscape

New University of Massachusetts Tool Helps Northeast Landscapers Choose Climate-Resilient Native Plants

Florida wildlife officials lead historic restoration efforts on Lake Kissimmee

Rewilding, One Plant at a Time*

Maryland Bill Would Ban Invasive Bamboo and Require Native Plants in New Development Landscaping

Common approaches to introduced species management face widespread acceptance problems in the United States

Climate Consideration in Environmental Effects Analyses on Federal Public Lands in the United States

Principles of Riverscape Health

Stabilizing effects of biodiversity arise from species-specific dynamics rather than interspecific interactions in grasslands

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Recent YouTube Releases

Miller, Sequatchie Cave Riparian Restoration | Tennessee Dept. of Conservation

July 11, 2025

Process-based Stream Recovery Strategies

July 4, 2025

Case Studies in Nature-Based Approaches to Restore Watersheds

June 27, 2025

Job Opportunities

Have a Job Opening? Please remember to post with NAA.
Need a Job? Be sure to stay in touch with the Job Board positions that are being updated regularly.

Funding Opportunities

NAA is open to strategic partnerships.

Consider including NAA in your BLM grant proposal.

Protecting land and water biodiversity requires quality science to inform practices on the ground. NAA curates and shares relevant and timely programs and resources with practitioners who are responsible for the ecological resilience and protection of natural areas in perpetuity. It was this truth that established Natural Areas Association (NAA) in the early 1970’s and it remains NAA’s mission today.

If you are working on proposal and would like to consider partnering with NAA to ensure that what is learned is shared with the practitioner community, please contact us at info@naturalareas.org.

Bureau of Land Management Funding Opportunities

Bureau of Land Management Forest and Woodlands Resource Management

Deadline: July 23, 2025

Bureau of Land Management Invasive and Noxious Plant Management

Deadline: July 23, 2025

Bureau of Land Management Plant Conservation and Restoration Management

Deadline: July 23, 2025

Bureau of Land Management Fuels Management and Community Fire Assistance

Deadline: July 23, 2025

Bureau of Land Management Environmental Quality Protection

Deadline: July 23, 2025

Bureau of Land Management Rangeland Resource Management