New Mexico Highlands Wildlands Network Vision

World-renowned for their striking beauty and high mountain topography, the Southern Rockies are one of North America's gems. The Southern Rockies Ecoregion contains a diversity of life. From alpine tundra to ponderosa pine forests and sagebrush grasslands, over 500 vertebrate species find their home in the Southern Rockies as well as a rich variety of plants and invertebrates including over 270 species of butterflies and 5,200 species of moths. It is able to obtain this abundance partially because of its continuous stretches of wild, remote and undeveloped lands. And yet, this biodiversity is threatened, as are many wild places in North America, due to human expansion and development: native species have been extirpated; old growth forests logged, wild and powerful rivers dammed and polluted, and land degraded. The Southern Rockies Wildlands Network Vision calls for ecological restoration that is based on healing these ecological wounds: the Vision identifies these wounds to the land and then considers anthropogenic causes for each, addressing not only the symptoms and the disease, but also the root cause(s) of the illness. The injuries to the Southern Rockies that have been identified by the Vision include: * Loss and Decline of Native Species * Loss and Degradation of Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecosystems * Loss and Alteration of Natural Processes * Fragmentation of Wildlife Habitat * Invasion of Exotic Species * Pollution and Climate Change The current state of the Southern Rockies indicates that conservation planning and work is imperative. This Vision is a comprehensive look into that work, which is based in rewilding. It provides six goals and tangible implantation tactics relating to those goals in order to make the Vision a reality. These goals include protecting and recovering native species and their habitats, reducing pollution, controlling and removing exotic species, maintaining ecological and evolutionary processes and restoring landscape connectivity. The Vision is a prescription for the future. It recognizes that national parks, wilderness areas, and wildlife refuges have accomplished a great deal for nature. But over time, protected areas have been surrounded by roads and degraded landscapes. Now, the protected areas are too isolated to sustain viable populations of large animals, let alone many ecological and evolutionary processes. The Southern Rockies Wildlands Network Vision is a conservation blueprint and collaborative effort of the Southern Rockies Ecosystem Project, the Denver Zoo, and the Wildlands Project for the Southern Rockies of Colorado, Wyoming and New Mexico.

Through a global and interdisciplinary lens, this book discusses, analyzes and summarizes the novel conservation approach of rewilding. The volume introduces key rewilding definitions and initiatives, highlighting their similarities and differences. It reviews matches and mismatches between the current state of ecological knowledge and the stated aims of rewilding projects, and discusses the role of human action in rewilding initiatives. Collating current scholarship, the book also considers the merits and dangers of rewilding approaches, as well as the economic and socio-political realities of using rewilding as a conservation tool. Its interdisciplinary nature will appeal to a broad range of readers, from primary ecologists and conservation biologists to land managers, policy makers and conservation practitioners in NGOs and government departments. Written for a scientifically literate readership of academics, researchers, students, and managers, the book also acts as a key resource for advanced undergraduate and graduate courses.

With illustrative and detailed examples drawn from throughout the country, Green Infrastructure advances smart land conservation: large scale thinking and integrated action to plan, protect and manage our natural and restored lands. From the individual parcel to the multi-state region, Green Infrastructure helps each of us look at the landscape in relation to the many uses it could serve, for nature and people, and determine which use makes the most sense. In this wide-ranging primer, leading experts in the field provide a detailed how-to for planners, designers, landscape architects, and citizen activists.

Despite many successes in the field of conservation, species extinction rates continue to climb and wild areas and habitats continue to be lost. Many look to more (or better) biology and ecology to solve the problem but the obstacles are not just scientific but political. To stop the 6th great extinction the conservation movement must become much stronger, more tenacious, and more effective. By learning from its own history and especially from the movements that abolished slavery, brought down apartheid, changed gender relations, and expanded democratic rights, conservationists can become more successful. This book brings together in one place and in a highly usable format the lessons of those movements culled from practitioners and academic analysts. "Protecting Earth's rich web of life, and our only known living companions in the universe, depends upon people caring enough to act. This book shows conservationists how to evoke the caring and action necessary to change policy and ultimately society." Paul R Ehrlich, Bing Professor of Population Studies, Stanford University and author of The Dominant Animal: Human Evolution and the Environment “This timely book by David Johns explains why facts alone don’t motivate and mobilize people to care for the natural world. Even better, Johns spells out what will work, based on a frank and informed assessment of human nature applied to social and political movements. If you would rather see change than be right, this readable and authoritative guide should be your bible.” Michael Soulé, Professor Emeritus, Environmental Studies, University of California, Santa Cruz “For me, this is a truly fascinating book. I spend much of my time writing--trying to write the stories we need to tell--and the rest of it helping run national and global mobilizations on climate change (Step It Up and now 350.org). I think David Johns has done a tremendous job of linking together insights about useful rhetoric and very practical notions about organizing. If you're trying to save a river, a forest, or a planet you need to read this book.” Bill McKibben, Scholar-in-Residence, Middlebury College

Safe Passages brings together in a single volume the latest information on the emerging science of road ecology as it relates to mitigating interactions between roads and wildlife. This practical handbook of tools and examples is designed to assist individuals and organizations thinking about or working toward reducing road-wildlife impacts. The book provides: an overview of the importance of habitat connectivity with regard to roads current planning approaches and technologies for mitigating the impacts of highways on both terrestrial and aquatic species different facets of public participation in highway-wildlife connectivity mitigation projects case studies from partnerships across North America that highlight successful on-the-ground implementation of ecological and engineering solutions recent innovative highway-wildlife mitigation developments Detailed case studies span a range of scales, from site-specific wildlife crossing structures, to statewide planning for habitat connectivity, to national legislation. Contributors explore the cooperative efforts that are emerging as a result of diverse organizations—including transportation agencies, land and wildlife management agencies, and nongovernmental organizations—finding common ground to tackle important road ecology issues and problems. Safe Passages is an important new resource for local-, state-, and national-level managers and policymakers working on road-wildlife issues, and will appeal to a broad audience including scientists, agency personnel, planners, land managers, transportation consultants, students, conservation organizations, policymakers, and citizens engaged in road-wildlife mitigation projects.

This handbook provides a comprehensive overview of the history, theory, and current practices of rewilding. Rewilding offers a transformational paradigm shift in conservation thinking, and as such is increasingly of interest to academics, policymakers, and practitioners. However, as a rapidly emerging area of conservation, the term has often been defined and used in a variety of different ways (both temporally and spatially). There is, therefore, the need for a comprehensive assessment of this field, and the Routledge Handbook of Rewilding fills this lacuna. The handbook is organised into four sections to reflect key areas of rewilding theory, practice, and debate: the evolution of rewilding, theoretical and practical underpinnings, applications and impacts, and the ethics and philosophy of rewilding. Drawing on a range of international case studies the handbook addresses many of the key issues, including land acquisition and longer-term planning, transitioning from restoration (human-led, nature enabled) to rewilding (nature-led, human enabled), and the role of political and social transformational change. Led by an editorial team who have extensive experience researching and practising rewilding, this handbook is essential reading for students, academics and practitioners interested in rewilding, ecological restoration, natural resource management and conservation.

One of the biggest threats to the survival of many plant and animal species is the destruction or fragmentation of their natural habitats. The conservation of landscape connections, where animals, plants, and ecological processes can move freely from one habitat to another, is therefore an essential part of any new conservation or environmental protection plan. In practice, however, maintaining, creating, and protecting connectivity in our increasingly dissected world is a daunting challenge. This fascinating volume provides a synthesis on the current status and literature of connectivity conservation research and implementation. It shows the challenges involved in applying existing knowledge to real-world examples and highlights areas in need of further study. Containing contributions from leading scientists and practitioners, this topical and thought-provoking volume will be essential reading for graduate students, researchers, and practitioners working in conservation biology and natural resource management.

extreme weather will mean ongoing challenges to the capacity of these sectors to support human well-being, grow the economy, and provide critical environmental services. Society has yet to evaluate the resilience of FEWS to climate, environmental, and management stresses as it shapes strategies to support sustainable development over the next decades. These issues constitute a quintessential interdisciplinary research challenge and require a well-structured science agenda and supportive information services for implementing key findings that governments and stakeholders can adopt. Integrated policy pathways require usable research findings, applications, models, real-time information systems, and decision support systems. In addition, stakeholder engagement is essential to communicate the benefits and results of these approaches and to engage appropriate groups in their implementation.