PLJV Helps Promote Joint Ventures on Capitol Hill
Over the past few years, representatives from joint ventures have been visiting federal agencies and congressional offices to promote the good work of joint ventures. This year the charge was led by representatives from the Central Valley, Playa Lakes, Rainwater Basin and San Francisco Bay Joint Ventures. The group visited approximately 60 congress members and staff, thanking them for past funding and briefing them on the continued partnership work of JVs. PLJV was represented by board members Ross Melinchuk of Ducks Unlimited and Barth Crouch of Pheasants Forever, and PLJV Coordinator Mike Carter.
PLJV Visits KS Partnership, Tours Project Sites
The Joint Venture staff took a road trip Feb. 18 to Cimarron, Kansas, to attend a meeting of the Kansas Alliance for Wetlands and Streams (KAWS) - a conservation coalition and PLJV partner. KAWS invited the PLJV to talk about the value of local partnerships and help drum up interest to form a new KAWS chapter in the Cimarron area. Currently, KAWS has 300 members in nine chapters covering nearly the entire state, and has completed about $1 million in wetland and riparian protection projects since 2001. Joint Venture staff toured a few project sites initiated by KAWS and the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks (KDWP). One of the projects visited was a protected playa on private land made possible through the KDWP's Playa Lake Habitat Improvement Project, a program funded in part by the PLJV that offers 10-year leases for playas and buffers on private land.
PLJV Takes on Business Approach in New Master Plan
Implementing habitat projects and conducting biological planning may be some of the most important roles of joint ventures, but they are certainly not the only ones. The PLJV laid out the full scope of its responsibilities in its new Master Plan which was approved at the PLJV board meeting Jan. 16. Not to be confused with an implementation plan, the Master Plan is more like a business plan for bird conservation – covering communication, education and fundraising as well as conservation delivery and biological planning. More detailed implementation and evaluation plans will be developed by the end of 2004. Contact the PLJV office at (303) 926-0777 for a copy.
Over the past few years, representatives from joint ventures have been visiting federal agencies and congressional offices to promote the good work of joint ventures. This year the charge was led by representatives from the Central Valley, Playa Lakes, Rainwater Basin and San Francisco Bay Joint Ventures. The group visited approximately 60 congress members and staff, thanking them for past funding and briefing them on the continued partnership work of JVs. PLJV was represented by board members Ross Melinchuk of Ducks Unlimited and Barth Crouch of Pheasants Forever, and PLJV Coordinator Mike Carter.
PLJV Visits KS Partnership, Tours Project Sites
The Joint Venture staff took a road trip Feb. 18 to Cimarron, Kansas, to attend a meeting of the Kansas Alliance for Wetlands and Streams (KAWS) - a conservation coalition and PLJV partner. KAWS invited the PLJV to talk about the value of local partnerships and help drum up interest to form a new KAWS chapter in the Cimarron area. Currently, KAWS has 300 members in nine chapters covering nearly the entire state, and has completed about $1 million in wetland and riparian protection projects since 2001. Joint Venture staff toured a few project sites initiated by KAWS and the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks (KDWP). One of the projects visited was a protected playa on private land made possible through the KDWP's Playa Lake Habitat Improvement Project, a program funded in part by the PLJV that offers 10-year leases for playas and buffers on private land.
PLJV Takes on Business Approach in New Master Plan
Implementing habitat projects and conducting biological planning may be some of the most important roles of joint ventures, but they are certainly not the only ones. The PLJV laid out the full scope of its responsibilities in its new Master Plan which was approved at the PLJV board meeting Jan. 16. Not to be confused with an implementation plan, the Master Plan is more like a business plan for bird conservation – covering communication, education and fundraising as well as conservation delivery and biological planning. More detailed implementation and evaluation plans will be developed by the end of 2004. Contact the PLJV office at (303) 926-0777 for a copy.
Playa Post ©2003 Playa Lakes Joint Venture. Submission deadlines are the 15th of each month for publication on the following month. Send press releases, comments and subscription inquiries to Debbie F. Slobe.
States Awarded $6.3 Million for Conservation on Private Land
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service granted $6.3 million to four PLJV states for programs to assist private landowners in conserving habitat for endangered and at-risk species. The Landowner Incentive Program (LIP) grants were awarded to Texas Parks and Wildlife ($1.45 million), the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission ($1.7 million), Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation ($1.5 million) and Colorado Division of Wildlife ($1.7 million). Texas will match its award with $100,000 in state funds and $350,000 in private landowner dollars. Nebraska will use part of its award to hire four private lands biologists, and use $1.6 million for incentives for private lands projects in tall grass and shortgrass prairie and statewide for at-risk wildlife. Oklahoma will match the LIP award with $580,000 in state funds for private lands projects in native shortgrass and mixed grass prairie habitats. In Colorado, the Division will match the grant with $1.74 million and funnel funds through the Colorado Species Conservation Partnership (CSCP), a new CDOW program that provides landowners financial and technical assistance to protect the state's critical wildlife habitats. The CSCP program has helped protect many playas on private lands.
Big Showing by PLJV at Kansas All-Bird Workshop
PLJV partners joined Coordinator Mike Carter in presenting a talk on the "Joint Venture Tool Box" at the Kansas All-Bird Workshop March 3 - 6. Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks (KDWP) hosted the event, which brought in about 90 participants from around the state to learn more about the different national bird plans and initiatives, and hear presentations from bird conservation groups. The PLJV's "tool box" presentation focused on Joint Venture resources available to partners. "Most people think that the JV's only 'tools' for partners are federal grants," Carter said. "I wanted to show that it is much more." So Carter enlisted the help of PLJV partner representatives to talk about other resources, such as communications services, project development and other funding programs facilitated by the Joint Venture. PLJV partners that formed the panel were a mix of state, federal and NGO representatives from the Kansas Dept. of Wildlife and Parks, Pheasants Forever, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Kansas Alliance for Wetlands and Streams. "Kansas is a great partner is so many ways, such as having so many different types of partners involved in this workshop," Carter said. "This makes PLJV's job very easy."
PLJV partners joined Coordinator Mike Carter in presenting a talk on the "Joint Venture Tool Box" at the Kansas All-Bird Workshop March 3 - 6. Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks (KDWP) hosted the event, which brought in about 90 participants from around the state to learn more about the different national bird plans and initiatives, and hear presentations from bird conservation groups. The PLJV's "tool box" presentation focused on Joint Venture resources available to partners. "Most people think that the JV's only 'tools' for partners are federal grants," Carter said. "I wanted to show that it is much more." So Carter enlisted the help of PLJV partner representatives to talk about other resources, such as communications services, project development and other funding programs facilitated by the Joint Venture. PLJV partners that formed the panel were a mix of state, federal and NGO representatives from the Kansas Dept. of Wildlife and Parks, Pheasants Forever, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Kansas Alliance for Wetlands and Streams. "Kansas is a great partner is so many ways, such as having so many different types of partners involved in this workshop," Carter said. "This makes PLJV's job very easy."