AUTHORS: Megan Buchanan, The Nature Conservancy; Nate Muenks, Missouri Department of Conservation; Andrew White, Quail Forever Pheasants Forever; Ryan Gauger, The Nature Conservancy; Keith Summerville, Drake University
ABSTRACT: Landscape conservation requires us to work collaboratively, across property boundaries and throughout generations. The remnant prairies, working ranches, forests, woodlands, and numerous other habitats that stitch together Missouri’s unique landscapes are facing increasingly complex threats, and the long-term health and resilience of these landscapes depends on a long-term collective commitment from all of us. But collectively, we simply aren’t managing enough habitat acreage annually to keep up with succession, invasive species, and the life history needs of Missouri’s full suite of biodiversity. We have a critical need for more habitat and invasive species management. Missouri’s habitat strike teams were developed to bridge this gap, working collaboratively at the landscape scale.
The habitat strike teams are strategically positioned in Missouri Priority Geographies and Conservation Opportunity Areas: key landscapes that hold high potential for conserving our state’s diverse habitats and the plants and animals that depend on them. Within these landscapes, the mobile strike teams work across public and private land, providing basic habitat management such as prescribed fire, invasive species control, and forest stand improvements. These teams are integrated within the landscapes they serve, working alongside local conservation partners and developing relationships with private landowners. For public land management agencies, the strike teams add critical boots-on-the-ground habitat management capacity, especially important for maximizing acres managed during narrow treatment windows. Because the strike teams provide private landowners with initial habitat management services free-of-charge, they reduce the upfront cost barrier and better position landowners for continued conservation management through existing means, such as government cost-share programs. The habitat strike teams are also helping develop the future conservation workforce, providing college students with summer internships through partnerships with local Universities.
In this talk, you’ll hear the story of the Missouri habitat strike teams and partnering around a shared vision for collaborative landscape conservation.
