Fish recovery in rivers depends on sufficient instream flows to maintain water quality and habitat. In many areas, water rights for agriculture present direct competition for these flows, and “use it or lose it” water rights provide little flexibility to landowners who may be able to contribute unneeded rights.
An...
Salmon recovery requires restoration of spawning habitat to improve egg-to-smolt survival. Private lands play a crucial role. Funds for restoration are available from both federal appropriations and legal settlements for dam mitigation. Federal agencies responsible for recovery are often limited in their ability to work on private lands however, not...
The Sun Ranch, located in the Upper Madison Valley, served as the pilot project for the Chicago Climate Exchange’s (CCX) Rangeland Soil Carbon Sequestration Offset Program, launched in 2007. The protocol for the new offset program was developed by a CCX Technical Review Team in consultation with former Sun Ranch...
This fact sheet series highlights innovative ways that family forest and ranch owners are prospering from protecting and enhancing ecosystem services on their land. Ecosystem services are the benefits people receive from nature like water quality, wildlife habitat, and carbon sequestration.
Landowners who want to restore and improve their land may be unsure of how to navigate the programs that are available to help them reach their goals. A ranch family in southern Oregon has tackled these barriers and successfully combined multiple projects, partners, and funding sources to improve ecological and...
Ecologically sound practices often cost landowners more than less environmentally friendly tactics. However, some consumers are willing to pay more for the assurance of production practices they value. Third-party certification is a way to acknowledge sustainable production practices beyond what is required by law.
The market for such products is...
The goal of this project is to recommend a broadly-acceptale efficient and effective methodology for characterizing streamside riparian attributes in forested settings at the site grain for regional monitoring. The authors consider monitoring design in the context of three interacting constraints: ecological functions, capabilities of technologies, and user needs. The...