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Artisan Cheese Makers Embrace Voluntary Conservation at Award-Winning Vermont Dairy

November 18, 2016 Amy Overstreet, USDA NRCS Vermont

The story behind Vermont’s Consider Bardwell could be the plot for a great movie. The lead characters are Russell and Angela, two New York City executives who decide in their fifties that they want to buy a farm, raise goats, and be artisan cheesemakers. The setting is a 300-acre dairy farm and...

Conservation

Restored Wetlands Provide Critical Habitat for Migratory Birds, Many Other Species

September 12, 2016 Amy Overstreet, Natural Resources Conservation Service, Vermont

Wetlands and wildlife – they’re made for each other. Wetlands provide critical habitat, shelter food and places to raise young. Landowners across the country are voluntarily restoring and protecting wetlands on private lands. This not only provides high-value wildlife habitat but provides many other...

Conservation

Saving the Nation's Wetlands

June 25, 2015 Andrew James, Natural Resources Conservation Service, National Program Manager for Wetland Easements

Wetlands are one of nature’s most productive ecosystems. They clean and recharge groundwater; reduce the damaging impacts of floods; enhance wildlife habitat; sequester carbon; and create diverse recreation opportunities such as hunting, fishing, birdwatching and canoeing. Thousands of landowners...

Conservation

Updated USDA Program Enables Farmers and Ranchers to Help Monarch Butterflies

June 19, 2015 Justin Fritscher and Jocelyn Benjamin, Natural Resources Conservation Service

An update to one of USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) key conservation programs will enable farmers and ranchers to aid the imperiled monarch butterfly. This year, NRCS updated its Conservation Stewardship Program to include incentives for farmers and ranchers who plant milkweed...

Conservation

Key Sage Grouse Habitat Protected in Colorado through a Conservation Easement Partnership

May 29, 2015 Petra Barnes, Natural Resources Conservation Service, Colorado

The recent conservation easement on the Yust Ranch in northwestern Colorado represents not only the preservation of a five-generation ranching entity, it also illustrates the vitality of partnerships that expand federal programs and initiatives aimed at protecting wildlife habitat, particularly for...

Conservation

Vanished Rabbit Reappears on Central California's Dos Rios Ranch

December 02, 2014 Dave Sanden, Natural Resources Conservation Service, California

Some exciting news recently came from a large wetlands restoration project now underway in Central California. River Partners, a nonprofit conservation organization, documented the first occurrence of a state and federally endangered rabbit on its habitat preserve at Dos Rios Ranch, a key piece of...

Conservation

At a Washington Ranch, It's for the Birds - and Elk

September 08, 2014 Jennifer Van Eps, Natural Resources Conservation Service, Washington

Most landowners would give up when faced with the challenges on Nine Pine Ranch near Chewelah, Washington, but not Glen Hafer. After trying for 40 years to farm his piece of land in the Colville River Valley, Hafer decided to convert it back to its original glory – wetlands. Historically, the land...

Conservation

Making Artisan Cheese, a Couple Preserves a Way of Life

August 04, 2014 Renee Bodine, Natural Resources Conservation Service, Florida

John and Nancy Mims never imagined they would be running a dairy when they met at the University of Florida and married 40-some years ago. He was going to be an architect and a pilot, and she was going to be a nurse. They were going to move to the Caribbean. But then John was drafted. After a six...

Conservation

Conservation Easement Enables Landowners to Restore Wetland, Help Protect Fish

March 24, 2014 Spencer Miller, Natural Resources Conservation Service

Through conservation easements, people like Dave Budeau are able to protect and restore important landscapes, like wetlands, grasslands and farmlands. Budeau wanted to restore and protect a wetland. When the wildlife biologist searched for a new home in 2003, his passion for wildlife and nature led...

Conservation
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