Partnerscapes board member Jim Faulstich knows firsthand how a change in approach can open up new and lucrative opportunities for a decades old ranch. He has managed Daybreak Ranch, a 10,000+ acre grass-based cow/calf operation and no-till farm in South Dakota, since 1973.
How Partnerscapes board director, Gary Price, has been able to benefit from a variety of partnerships throughout his 40+ years of ranching as well as share information on a new ecosystem services market that plans to open in 2022 that may provide new opportunities for landowners.
The pandemic and pandemic response has made for a tough seven months for natural resource-focused organizations and agencies. It has been very tough on an organization like Partnerscapes that does its best work face-to-face and across the kitchen table. Like individuals and organizations across all sectors, we are doing our best to rise to the challenge and look for new ways to do the work we do. So far Partnerscapes (Partners for Conservation) has hosted three webinars on a series of topics critical to public-private conservation partnerships and collaborative conservation.Our latest effort was a panel on October 7th examining the importance of landowner leadership in the practice of collaborative conservation. Partnerscapes has two more Zoom events scheduled for October. On October 23rd at noon Mountain Time we will be hosting an event providing initial results from a survey of collaborative conservation efforts in the West that we conducted this summer, which will include a panel of three survey respondents to discuss their work. The following week on October 29th also at noon Mountain Time we will host a Zoom event providing a brief preview of Private Lands Partners Day 2021 (Oregon) and Private Lands Partners Day 2022 (Arkansas) which will feature a few members of the planning teams for both states. Like all of our Zoom events, registration is required but there is no cost associated with the registration. Registered attendees will also receive a link to a recording of the [...]
On August 12, Partners for Conservation Board Directors Jim Stone (Montana), Russell Davis (Colorado), Jay Tanner (Utah), Tom McAvoy (Connecticut) and Reese Thompson (Georgia) shared their experience working in partnership with conservation organizations and public agencies on efforts related to the conservation of sensitive wildlife species, or species that have a potential, pending or existing regulatory status. The panelists all have experience working collaboratively on these species on their private lands and in their landscapes. The experiences shared included not only a diverse set of states but also a diverse set of species, from bull trout to New England cottontail and from greater sage-grouse to gopher tortoise. The hour-long panel was followed by 30 minutes of questions. If you missed the live presentation but would like to see a video recording of the event it can be accessed at this link using the password Partners1!. Look for an email in the next few weeks inviting you to our next Zoom panel in September!
In July 8th Partners for Conservation held its first virtual panel on conservation partnerships and the origins of Partners for Conservation using the Zoom platform. Those that know us well, know that we are first and foremost an in-person, ideally across-the-kitchen-table type of outfit! However using our tried and true method of sharing landowner knowledge and experience in public-private conservation partnerships has not been possible during the current pandemic. Different times call for different methods and after some discussions we decided to try something different and four of the founding landowner directors agreed to spend some time on Zoom with what we thought might be at best several dozen interested partners. The interest was somewhat more than we expected! With just a bit of outreach primarily with and through the U.S. Fish and Wildlife – Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program, over 100 biologists, landowners and voluntary conservation partners RSVPed for the event. Of those that RSVPed over 80% were able to attend, even during the height of the busiest season for many landowners and conservation partners across the country. Even with the ability to work in the field with partners still constrained in many areas due to pandemic restrictions, we were heartened and humbled by the interest. The panel of four landowners spoke for about an hour and we reserved 30 minutes for questions and answers. Due to technical difficulties (read as operator error) the video of the event [...]
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