PSEG’s Post

As #ClimateChange forces #coastal #wildlife to migrate to cooler waters, how do we adapt to these sudden new ecosystems? Safina Center Fellow Marlowe Starling addresses this question and more on our blog: https://lnkd.in/eTZvkURE

"Aquatic plants are a crucial component to ecosystem functioning and provide many benefits to aquatic environments. They provide food and shelter for waterfowl and fish, improve water quality and clarity by preventing the re-suspension of bottom sediments, protect shorelines and lake bottoms from erosion, and more." ✍ Ava Schimnowski, Aquatic Plant Management Specialist Individual Placement /AmeriCorps member at Minnesota Department of Natural Resources Division of Fish and Wildlife https://lnkd.in/gvvTuSAE #EnvironmentalCareers #ConservationCareers #ServiceYear #CareerExperience #YearOutdoors #ServeOutdoors [Image Description] An aquatic plant. Text on the side reads "New Blog Post"

One of my favorite things about aquatic plant management is how dynamic it is. The plant species are always changing as well as the sites. Brett Hartis, PhD and I took advantage of the weather today to check on the status of #yellowfloatingheart on Lake James with North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services as we work collaboratively on this project. Although yellow floating heart may seem appealing with its beautiful yellow flowers and floating leaves, it has the ability to produce dense mats that can cover large areas of shallow water. These mats can hinder recreation, impact fish and wildlife habitat, and displace beneficial native aquatic plants. Yellow floating heart can also reproduce by seeds and fragments, which increases the risk of spread to other waterbodies. #cleandraindry #aquaticplantmanagement

TBI partners with SF Baykeeper on several important water quality and endangered species issues in the Bay-Delta estuary. Here's a piece by Baykeeper - backed up by the joint comments that TBI, Baykeeper and others submitted to the state - that focuses on the total inadequacies of Governor Newsom’s proposed Voluntary Agreements, backroom deals that excluded most interests and would utterly fail to protect fish and wildlife or water quality: “Newsom’s VA is astonishingly weak. The Water Board’s analysis shows that, at best, the VA’s purported benefits will be meager. For example, although flows to San Francisco Bay are projected to increase slightly over the severely degraded status quo in many years, the VA would result in lower flows to the Bay in wet years—the only times when our Chinook salmon, white sturgeon, longfin smelt, and other native fish can still catch a break.” https://lnkd.in/gQyR8VBy

Earlier this week, the California Water Commission and Department of Fish and Wildlife got a closer look at the construction underway in the Harvest Water Program, the first project to receive funding in Prop. 1's Water Storage Investment Program. The project will supply up to 50,000 acre-feet per year of tertiary-treated wastewater to irrigate up to 16,000 acres of agricultural lands that also provide habitat to wildlife in southern Sacramento County. The Harvest Water Program will increase the streamflow volume in the Cosumnes River, extend the migration window for fall-run Chinook salmon, reduce the salinity load to the Sacramento River and Delta waterways, improve groundwater conditions for 5,000 acres of wetland and riparian forest, and enlarge the habitat for sandhill crane and many other threatened and endangered species. #Water

"Net wetland loss increased substantially (>50%) since the last...study period (2004-2009), resulting in the loss of 221,000 acres [89k ha] of wetlands, primary to uplands, between 2009 and 2019." 😳 For an ecosystem that delivers so many benefits to people--cleaning our waters, habitat for species we depend on, high levels of carbon sequestration, beautiful landscapes like the one in the Canaan Valley of WV on the cover of the report--this is such incredibly sad news. Not just sad for the wetlands, but for us. The new U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and U.S. Department of the Interior "Status and Trends of Wetlands in the Conterminous United States 2009 to 2019: Report to Congress" has more numbers and facts, and some recommendations on how we might reverse course. We need to figure this out! https://lnkd.in/e6wb2xhg (Note that this PDF seems to have some accessibility issues, hopefully resolved soon.)

Rewilders are pretending to be beavers! #RewildingDiaries We join Daniel Kinka, American Prairie’s Senior Wildlife Restoration Manager (what a title!), by the creek on the prairie floodplain where rewilders are lending a helping hand to the ecosystem and its resident wild beaver population. How? By pretending to be beavers themselves! 🦫 💚 The team has been building beaver dam analogues to slow the water down, build the water table up and restore the balanced cycle in this vast floodplain. This natural cycle of flooding, aided by beavers, plays a crucial role in the prairie’s biodiversity, carbon capture and natural riparian cycle. But, the creek cannot restore itself alone. With a helping hand, it will boom back in abundance and balance when we partner with nature. Rewilders are at the heart of nature recovery. This is another example of transformative rewilding efforts and people turning #Hopeintoaction! Why #Rewilding? 💚 Recovering beaver populations and restoring riparian habitat is one of the best ways to increase species diversity and abundance, facilitate animal movements across the landscape, and increase water availability and thermal refugia during the hot summers. Beavers also help maintain stream flows and combat drought by raising the water table. Want to hear more? Find out more here: https://lnkd.in/g3DgJKCE 

The Greater Yellowlegs (Tringa melanoleuca) breed in the northern parts of North America, such as the subarctic and boreal regions, and migrate south for the winter, with some reaching as far as South America. Greater Yellowlegs can be found in a variety of wetland habitats, including mudflats, salt marshes, ponds, and shallow coastal areas. They are often seen foraging in shallow water. They are medium to large-sized shorebirds. They are known for their long legs and long slender bills, which they use to forage for food in shallow water. They have a mottled brown and white appearance. They have a long, straight, and slender bill which is slightly upturned at the tip. This adaptation is useful for capturing and feeding on small aquatic invertebrates. These birds primarily feed on small fish, insects, crustaceans, and other aquatic invertebrates.

BLM proposes plan to conserve wildlife and manage oil and gas in Colorado From a BLM press release LAKEWOOD, Colo. — The Bureau of Land Management today announced proposed changes to existing BLM resource management plans to promote conservation of wildlife corridors and priority big game habitat on public lands in Colorado, including through management of oil and gas activities and other efforts to incorporate the best available science. The BLM coordinated with the State of Colorado, Tribes, local governments and local citizens to create and evaluate alternative management approaches for oil and gas development to minimize negative impacts on high priority habitat for big game species including elk, mule deer, pronghorn, and bighorn sheep. The review included approximately 6.17 million surface acres managed by the BLM and approximately 16 million acres of split-estate where the BLM only manages sub-surface federal minerals. https://lnkd.in/dqz7URU9

"Net wetland loss increased substantially (>50%) since the last...study period (2004-2009), resulting in the loss of 221,000 acres [89k ha] of wetlands, primary to uplands, between 2009 and 2019." 😳 For an ecosystem that delivers so many benefits to people--cleaning our waters, habitat for species we depend on, high levels of carbon sequestration, beautiful landscapes like the one in the Canaan Valley of WV on the cover of the report--this is such incredibly sad news. Not just sad for the wetlands, but for us. The new U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and U.S. Department of the Interior "Status and Trends of Wetlands in the Conterminous United States 2009 to 2019: Report to Congress" has more numbers and facts, and some recommendations on how we might reverse course. We need to figure this out!