Over the weekend, Nevada's Lehman Caves celebrated its 100th anniversary as a national monument. Supporters behind a proposal to add another monument in the state hope the observations serve as a reminder of the need to preserve public lands.

The proposed monument - south of Las Vegas - would be called Avi Kwa Ame, which is the Mojave Tribe's term for Spirit Mountain.

Paul Selberg, executive director of the Nevada Conservation League, said establishing these 450,000 acres as a federally protected site would balance a range of goals amid the climate crisis.

"Heeding the call and serving as a prime, shining example of how future investments can protect our lands," said Selberg, "respect Indigenous efforts and also support economic growth."

The land is considered sacred to a dozen Indigenous tribes. Supporters say preserving it also would benefit the state's economy through a variety of recreational activities, such as hiking.

The coalition backing the plan is hoping for either Congress or the Biden administration to take action on the idea. Members held talks with federal officials in recent days.

Taylor Patterson, executive director of the Native Voters Alliance, said the urgency behind this effort is due in part to shield the land from proposed renewable energy projects.

"It's important to know nobody in this process is against renewable energy," said Patterson. "We all want to see renewable energy goals met. But there is an appropriate place, for wind and for solar."

She said these lands are not that place.

Opponents have noted the area already has some federal protections. However, a national monument designation would preclude any future commercial development.

Support for this reporting was provided by The Pew Charitable Trusts.

A bill passed by the Iowa Senate would repeal programs currently in place for maintaining open space and trails, and require state agencies to submit new plans every five years. Critics worry the measure could have unintended consequences.

Senate File 516 would establish new requirements for state agencies to submit long-term management and maintenance plans for Iowa's public lands.

The priority would be on maintenance and protection of the state's existing properties over new public land acquisitions.

Polk County state Sen. Sarah Trone Garriott - D-West Des Moines - said the bill could have the effect of stopping the acquisition of public lands at the same time that funding for public spaces is going down.

"When you couple that with stagnant funding for our natural resources and some potential cuts to trail funding," said Garriott, "it's going to result in the department not being able to acquire new public land."

The bill's supporters say it would modernize how the state plans for its trail and open-space management, and claim the intent is not to limit the acquisition of new public lands.

They say Iowa's current approach to managing its public spaces has been haphazard, and left bike trails unfinished, trails unmaintained and water damage unrepaired.

Trone Garriott said Iowa ranks near the bottom in terms of how many acres of public land it has, and adds that the state has made very little progress on a 30-year plan to acquire more of it.

She said the state's long history of blocking land acquisition lies in its agricultural roots.

"There are some lobbying entities that feel that any land that is not being used for agricultural production is wasted, and that trails and public lands are a threat to agriculture," said Garriott. "A lot of Iowans would like more access to the great outdoors."

The bill's future in the Iowa House is uncertain.

By Tom Perkins for Planet Detroit.
Broadcast version by Mark Richardson for Michigan News Connection with support from the Solutions Journalism Network

Detroit Audubon, National Wildlife Federation, Arboretum Detroit and neighborhood groups are working on small and large-scale habitat restoration projects. The challenge is to connect them.

Detroit’s thinned-out Poletown neighborhood, swings and slides once in the underused, city-owned Callahan Park have been replaced with a new kind of playground, but this one isn’t for children. Instead, on an afternoon last fall, pollinators, insects and birds buzzed, fluttered and flew among showy goldenrod, Maximilian sunflowers and bee balm. 

The flowers and grasses were densely packed, stretching up to six feet in a native plant meadow designed to attract wildlife. So far, volunteers have documented 107 bird species, including indigo buntings, warblers and black-capped chickadees at the park, which is part of the city and Detroit Audubon’s Bird City habitat restoration initiative.

“We’re bringing back a habitat that has not been embraced here for some time,” said Ava Landgraf, research coordinator for the Detroit Audubon. “The amount of life happening there is very special.” 

Before southeast Michigan was developed into farmland or cities, it held prairies full of tall flowers and grasses, once again found on a smaller scale in Callahan. The space is one of a growing number of habitat restoration projects planned or happening in Detroit that aims to provide a nurturing home to the region’s native wildlife up and down the food chain, including deer, foxes, pheasants, coyotes, a range of birds, pollinators and insects. 

The effort is being carried out by multiple groups and individuals increasingly coordinating to redevelop a system of native habitats across Detroit. Among the restorations are larger neighborhood-scale initiatives like Callahan, “backyard” habitats, and native plant and rain gardens at churches or local businesses. 

Some organizers are coordinating with private-public partnerships responsible for the region’s growing number of large-scale green infrastructure projects, like the Detroit Tree Equity Partnership.

The efforts are critical to sustaining local wildlife because native plant habitats attract thousands of species of insects and lifeforms, said Shafkat Khan, director of conservation with the Detroit Zoo, which is taking on a leadership role.

“Birds and small mammals will get much of their energy from eating insects, like caterpillars, because they are energy-rich, so it seems like a really small idea, but that’s how energy captured by native plants gets transferred into higher parts of the food chain,” he told Planet Detroit. “The habitats are really enriching all the different empty spaces and niches of wildlife that we’re thinking about.”

The “native” part of the equation is critical. Native plants and trees, such as an oak tree, have had millions of years to build ecological relationships with the region’s wildlife and can support hundreds of caterpillars species and other insects that provide energy, Shafkat said. 

A non-native tree, like blue spruce, will not attract many insects that fuel animals higher up on Michigan’s food chain – like birds.

Part of the challenge in restoring wildlife habitats in Detroit is finding the green space to do it. Other cities, including those in the industrial heartland like Chicago or Cleveland, already have historically developed networks of nature preserves and well-maintained neighborhood open space. 

Detroit, by contrast, has relatively little to speak of. The dearth has deprived the city’s population of a nearby opportunity to connect to nature, representing a “glaring environmental justice” issue, Khan said. 

“People in the region haven’t had this longer-term ecological effort or ethic of caring for the environment that they live in,” he added. “It’s not the people’s fault, but it’s incumbent on [us] to make the connection, and that’s a huge challenge when we’re trying to involve stakeholders.” 

She said a major obstacle is access – municipal owners focused on development and tax base growth often hesitate to part with many parcels that will be used as green space. 

On the other hand, the situation does provide an opportunity to get people involved and effectively develop such spaces. 

And in post-industrial Detroit, the number of vacant parcels offers a chance to re-establish native habitats on a wide scale. 

Tiffany Carey, a senior education coordinator and engagement coordinator with the National Wildlife Federation, said she doesn’t think of the lots as vacant: “They are unactivated lots.” 

The ‘best you can ask for’

Among the new residents in Callahan: two pairs of nesting indigo buntings. Some who visited the meadows last spring and summer were treated to seeing the mothers feeding fledglings. 

“That’s pretty much the best you can ask for,” Landgraf said. “That keeps us motivated to do this work.” Callahan is one of five Detroit Bird City meadows, though it and another in Palmer Park were planted in 2019 and 2020, respectively, and are the furthest along.

Elsewhere around the city, projects of similar scale are underway or in the works. In Poletown, Arboretum Detroit has converted clusters of lots into tree nurseries and native habitat parks. Hundreds of oaks, eastern red cedars, sweetgums, eastern white pines, sumacs, sycamores, red maples and more are now rooted in the lots. 

The trees in the nurseries are traded to city residents in exchange for a small amount of labor, and Circle Park is a space meant to be enjoyed by people as much as wildlife. Next up, Arboretum Detroit is planning to reveal a similar project called Oxygen Alley, the group’s president, Andrew Kemp, said. 

The once vacant lots are protected from city mowers, dumping and other human activity that can spook wildlife, so birds and animals are returning to the spaces, Birch added. 

“The birds, foxes, critters all come back,” he said. “Since we formalized Arboretum Detroit four years ago, we can see the difference in the way wildlife behaves.”

Among the recent arrivals is a screech owl. 

“That was a moment for me: When I heard a screech owl, I was like, ‘Oh yeah!’” Kemp said.

The National Wildlife Federation is working closely with a group that collectively is among Detroit’s largest property owners: houses of worship. The Sacred Grounds Detroit program works with 19 faith-based entities across the city to implement native plant gardens and habitats on their properties.

Part of the motivation has been financial. The churches were hit with a surprise cost spike when the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department changed how it assessed drainage fees several years ago. Large rain garden installations have been a way to mitigate those costs while creating a native habitat that fosters wildlife, and some have planted native plant gardens. 

The program has also been an entry point into ecological stewardship for many residents and helped generate new appreciation for native plant species, Carey said. That kind of support and knowledge is key to re-establishing a stronger native habitat system in Detroit. Meanwhile, faith leaders are becoming “the spokespeople” for the projects, Carey said.

“They’re learning all the different benefits from an economic perspective – a climate change mitigation perspective, but also creating nature in their communities and having high-quality greenspace activation,” she said. “It doesn’t have to be in Belle Isle or on the riverfront, it can be in their community.”

Projects and project ideas abound. In North Corktown, a proposed greenspace project funded by Ford and managed by a neighborhood association is on hold as residents try to secure land. In Highland Park, the North End Woodward Community Coalition is developing plans to establish mini-science centers offering butterfly and bird sanctuaries within its three service areas. 

And in Core City, Paw Paw Park is proposing a 30-lot, 5.5-acre native habitat restoration project to remove all turf and invasive species and replace them with native plants and trees with walking paths. Its organizer, Ash Davis, said she’s putting funding in place and seeking parcels from the Land Bank, so the project’s timeline and scope are in the air for now. 

Davis stressed the importance of habitat restoration in Detroit. 

“You have to go really far away from Detroit to access a really nice natural area, so it has not only intrinsic value for the animals, plants, birds, pollinators, but also the community,” she said. “Humans need to have access to that kind of environment.”

Montanans are in Washington, D.C., to call for greater protections of some of the state's most iconic rivers.

Anglers, business owners and river advocates are meeting with Montana's congressional delegation to push for the reintroduction of the Montana Headwaters Legacy Act. The act would protect 385 river miles and 20 segments of river as Wild and Scenic, including parts of the Yellowstone, Madison and Gallatin.

KynsLee Scott, a fly-fishing guide based in Missoula, said clean drinking water and protecting the state's natural resources are why she is in D.C.

"I want folks from all walks of life to be able to experience the rivers that I know and love, that I grew up on, how I see them today and, potentially, in even better condition for future generations," Scott explained.

The legislation has faced opposition in the past from Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., who said the designations can hinder aquatic restoration, grazing and fuels management projects. The organizations lobbying federal lawmakers this week include American Rivers, Montanans for Healthy Rivers and Wild and Scenic Rivers Coalition.

Eric Ladd, CEO of Outlaw Partners based in Big Sky, said there is strong public support for this bill. A 2020 poll found nearly 80% of Montanans supported the Montana Headwaters Legacy Act, and added the protections are crucial for recreation; a big economic driver in the state.

"Recreation is imperative," Ladd stressed. "Fisherman, boaters, hikers, all that type of stuff, they love the rivers more than anybody, and this legislation helps protect that resource but also continues to give them access to it, which is equally important."

Scott noted the bill is a grassroots effort Montanans have worked on for more than a decade, and added time is of the essence.

"With climate ever-changing, threats increasing, we've really got to get this thing passed in order to protect really, truly what makes Montana Montana, and that's our water resources," Scott contended.

Support for this reporting was provided by The Pew Charitable Trusts.