Government

SWCA to assist BLM, US Forest Service, and the five Tribes of the Bears Ears Commission with preparing a Resource Management Plan and Environmental Impact Statement for the Bears Ears National Monument

On October 8, 2021, an executive order (Proclamation 10285), restored and retained the 1.36 million acres boundaries of the Bears Ears National Monument in San Juan County, Utah, and recognized the importance of Tribal Nations’ knowledge and partnership in its management.

Shaped by rivers, sounds, and the Atlantic Ocean, the coastal regions of North Carolina offer thousands of miles of scenic waterfront. Yet, due to the increasing impacts of climate change, these very waterways threaten the livelihood of a coastline dotted with historic towns and millions of residents. Coastal communities are facing intensifying storms, rising sea levels, and high flood risk.

Twenty-six communities participated in the first phase of North Carolina’s Resilient Coastal Communities Program (RCCP) in 2021 as a framework for counties and municipalities to prepare for coastal hazards through technical and financial support.

Although the 2004 Power Fire in Northern California’s Eldorado National Forest occurred nearly two decades ago, recent grant funding from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation provided an opportunity to restore the area’s ecology and strengthen partnerships between Native American communities and the U.S. Forest Service.

Spurred by long-standing consultation between local Native American Tribes and the Eldorado National Forest, in late 2019 the nonprofit organization American Conservation Experience selected SWCA as the environmental agency to partner with local Native American Tribes and the Forest Service on a conservation project using this funding.

Wetlands morph and shift over time, but one thing remains the same: the need for accurate data about the landscape so that developers and land managers can accommodate the needs of people and nature. Take a look at how SWCA is helping the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service keep the National Wetlands Inventory up to date.

Over time, suitable nesting habitat along waterways has been shrinking as a result of changes in land use and water management, and with it the southwestern willow flycatcher’s populations shrank, too. Read more about how the introduction of leaf beetles had unintended consequences and how SWCA has been working to study the effects and restore the balance.