The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), Midwest Region, intends to issue a Single Source Cooperative Agreement Award without competition to the Midwest Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (MAFWA) to support a coordinating Position (State Monarch Conservation Liaison) for monarch butterfly planning and conservation primarily occurring across the MAFWA region (thirteen states and three Canadian provinces). In conjunction with its Species Status Assessment process, the Service has recently identified monarch butterfly conservation units for the U.S., including both North Core and South Core Conservation Units for the eastern monarch population. This is a new focus on those priority conservation areas and includes the need for a coordinated and expanded approach to regional monarch conservation planning and implementation in those identified priority units.
The USGS is offering a funding opportunity to a CESU partner for research into the relationship of the imperiled monarch butterfly to patch- and landscape-level characteristics. Prioritization of conservation effort is essential in todayâ¿¿s resource-limited environment. Given the immediate and serious need for conservation action, the fact that many entities are engaging in conservation, and the fact that the seeds needed for restoration of monarch habitat often have limited availability, it is important that conservation actions are undertaken strategically. This means that landscape-level considerations, at many spatial scales, must be included in the selection of areas to restore. The Monarch Conservation Science Partnership has identified regional and land-cover types to target. However, there is still little understanding of the importance of connectivity, patch size, edge effects, and surrounding land-cover categories on monarchsâ¿¿ ability to find a habitat patch, decisions to remain in a patch, and egg and larval survival. This research will address these gaps in our knowledge, and inform ongoing monarch conservation efforts by adding empirical findings to previous attempts to address these questions using movement models with limited basis in data. Additionally, the location of this study in the St. Croix WMD takes advantage of ongoing FWS habitat restoration work, and will be broadly applicable to the Upper Midwestern region that is key to the monarch population.
The objective of this research is to develop and validate a methodology for transportation practitioners to determine if roadway corridors are sources or sinks (beneficial or detrimental) to the monarch butterfly and how to maximize the beneficial aspects and minimize the detrimental impacts.
The NRCS - Texas State Office, an agency under the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), is seeking support from and opportunities to partner with like minded natural resource conservation partners. The overall intent of this solicitation is to solicit partnerships to help enhance the implementation of key conservation objectives and priorities outlined further in this document.Proposals will be accepted from eligible entities for projects located in Texas. NRCS anticipates that the total amount awarded under this announcement in Federal fiscal year 2018 will be approximately $150,000. Proposals are requested from eligible non- profit organizations, independent school districts, institutions of higher education, and federally recognized Native American tribal governments for competitive consideration of grant awards for one year in duration.The Texas NRCS Urban Conservation Project is an effort to challenge community organizations, educational institutions and Indian tribes to establish community and school gardens across Texas. The simple act of planting a garden can help unite neighbors in a common effort and inspire locally-led solutions to challenges facing our state. Challenges that can be addressed with locally-led solutions can be diverse in an urban setting. Addressing hunger with an urban garden can bring communities together and initiate other positive outcomes for people. Pollinator habitat planned with urban gardens can provide an increase in harvest potential while providing food and habitat for declining insect communities in Texas.As part of the USDA's Urban Agriculture toolkit, the Texas NRCS Urban Conservation Project will provide technical and financial assistance to eligible entities to establish gardens for food production and for attracting and maintaining monarch butterflies and the establishment of seasonal high tunnels to extend the growing season of fruits and vegetables.
Group items tagged 
