Announcing Our New Interim Executive Director
Plus, sign up for riverscape restoration, meet our volunteer of the month, and more.
Janice Gardner, Sageland Collaborative Conservation Ecologist of five years, is leading our team as Interim Executive Director. Photo: Sierra Hastings
We’re excited to announce our new Interim Executive Director: Janice Gardner! Gardner has been a Conservation Ecologist at Sageland Collaborative for over five years, leading with both a deep passion for wildlife and a marked ability to achieve large-scale conservation impacts.
While Gardner has received awards for her distinguished work in wildlife conservation, been a voice for wildlife on large scales, and led multi-state initiatives, she has often been found with her sleeves rolled up and covered in mud, mosquitos, or snow, working out of her deep love for the wildlife of the West. Read more in our blog post below.
Thank You, Shorebird Survey Volunteers!
Photo by Sierra Hastings.
A huge thank you to all who joined us bright and early for our Fall 2023 Intermountain West Shorebird Survey. Whether this was your first time joining us, you're learning, or you're a seasoned surveyor, we are so grateful to have you on the survey team. We're busy crunching the numbers from this project, but we'll share updates soon.
In the meantime, Jack Greene, one of our volunteer survey leads, shared his experience on UPR's Wild About Utah.
He says, "Shorebirds in August? I’d been told there was a robust migration during that time, but hadn’t tested the validity of such until a week ago..." Thank you for sharing, Jack!
Riverscape Restoration Season Has Begun!
East Canyon Restoration Day. Photo by Kelly Fink.
It's that time of year again: riverscape restoration time! Join our team for a day in a stream building simple restoration structures.
This work mimics the impacts of beavers on ecosystems, healing unhealthy riverscapes and creating critical habitat for wildlife from deer to pollinators to aquatic species.
If you're unable to join a riverscape restoration day, there are still other ways to get involved. Multiple projects need your help.
Photo courtesy Wasatch Wildlife Watch
Photo by Janice Gardner
Wasatch Wildlife Watch Image Analysis: Help us identify the wildlife in our camera images, taken along the Wasatch. Great for those who want to volunteer independently, and on your own time!
Utah Pollinator Pursuit: Our pollinator project needs you through the rest of the summer! Download an app and record bumblebees and butterfly species in decline, whether in your yard or on a hike.
Volunteer of the Month:
Katie Figueroa
A big thank you to our August Volunteer of the Month, Katie Figueroa, for her contributions this summer! She is a volunteer on our Boreal Toad Project and has joined us for multiple day surveys this year.
Katie says, "Wildlife conservation is one of the most vital things we can do to help restore our planet earth. I love that I can contribute to something that matters. Not many people know that little actions like volunteering can go a long way, especially with amazing projects like this one!"
Katie pauses with a boreal toad before recording its measurements.
Staff Recommendation: From Our Riverscape Project Manager
When asked what media he'd recommend right now, Riverscape Project Manager Jens Ammon shared his love for The Monkey Wrench Gang by Edward Abbey.
He says, "I've got to give a shout out to this book. It was one of my first introductions to environmental activism after I found it in my mom's old book collection. It's a super fun read about environmentalism in the 1970s, with nearly all of the topics and moral questions still holding relevance today. Plus, it takes place in our home state of Utah!"
Thank you for loving wildlife and lands in the West!
Visit the project page on our website, check out our Impact Report, or connect with us on social media (see links below) to learn more about our conservation work. Please feel free to contact us any time to share your volunteer stories, questions, or suggestions.