Sageland Collaborative

We’re always excited to foster growth of the next generation into the natural resources field! Thank you to Emmanuel Santa-Martínez, Ph.D. for continually creating opportunities for his students at Salt Lake Community College to learn and develop in the sciences.

Just weeks ago, over a hundred community scientists and professional biologists spread out across Utah’s wetlands to count #shorebirds for Utah’s Fall 2024 Intermountain West Shorebird Survey.  Today, we are excited to share the preliminary counts from those surveys! During our Fall 2024 Surveys, our volunteers and partners counted 543,475 shorebirds and white-faced ibis across Utah! (For reference, we counted 295,088 shorebirds in Fall 2023) These surveys would not be possible without the generous contributions of our volunteers and donors - thank you! We will continue to analyze this data and will continue to share updates on a state and regional level. And a huge thank you to our Utah partners at Point Blue Conservation Science, National Audubon Society, Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, Forestry Fire and State Lands, Tracy Aviary U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), and all of the local Audubon chapters, duck clubs, and WMA managers who make these surveys happen. #ShorebirdsCount Photo: Killdeer at Great Salt Lake by Sierra Hastings

It’s September, and September’s for the beavers. 🦫 September is a great time to get in Utah’s streams with us to build beaver dam analogs and other low-tech restoration structures!  You may be wondering - if these structures are built to mimic the real deal, wouldn’t it be easier to leave it to the beavers? Well, it sure would. Unfortunately, beavers have been historically eradicated across the West, and many of our restoration sites often lack the food and habitat that beavers need to survive. However, these low-tech restoration activities can pave the way for successful beaver reintroduction. Join in on the beaver fun by signing up for one of our 16+ volunteer days this month: https://lnkd.in/gG_xH3mr September calendar image features a beaver pulling a well-earned Aspen branch through the water. Photo generously shared by Shauna Hart.

Us? In a river. 😎 You? Could be too. 🦫 Join us for one of our 30+ Riverscape Restoration volunteer days this season to heal Utah’s degraded streams, improve water quality throughout the watershed, and enjoy a fun day outdoors! Swipe through for all of our upcoming Riverscape volunteer days + site highlights. We’re looking for support on weekdays and weekends through mid-October, especially on Wednesdays and Thursdays (but we’d love to see you on ANY of our volunteer days). Learn more and sign up: https://lnkd.in/gG_xH3mr

We’re excited to introduce our July Volunteer of the Month, Kinsi Peterson!  Kinsi has been spending her summer break getting involved in all things wildlife that Utah has to offer. From monitoring Utah’s wetlands for cryptic amphibian species through the Boreal Toad Project to supporting our Wildlife Watch work as a guest student in University of Utah’s Human-Wildlife Coexistence Lab, we are beyond grateful for Kinsi’s dedication this summer. Get to know Kinsi (and the wildlife she loves!) in our interview: https://ow.ly/OTO450T5W8R

You’re invited to celebrate Latino Conservation Week with us at “Arroyos y Raíces Para Polinizadores” pollinator planting event on September 21, 2024 from 10am-3pm! Join us for a fun day outdoors as we work with partners and volunteers to get native seedlings in the ground at the Galena Soónkahni Nature Preserve near Draper, Utah! We’ll kick off the event with presentations from Olivia Juarez, Dr. Emmanuel Santa-Martinez, and poetry from our friends at Plumas Colectiva and Artes de México. We will provide all the tools you need for the planting, but if you have a favorite pair of gardening gloves or hand shovel, feel free to bring your own! Free lunch will be provided for all participants. Learn more and RSVP: https://lnkd.in/g3xGf7qp Thank you to our partners at Utah Division of Forestry, Fire & State Lands, Jordan River Commission, Tracy Aviary, Utah Open Lands, Latinos in Action, and GreenLatinos for making this event possible. We are also grateful to the Utah Pollinator Habitat Program for awarding us the pollinator planting kits that will improve wildlife habitat at this site.

While we’re still in the heat of summer, August welcomes the peak of fall migration for our beloved shorebirds and the start of our Riverscape Restoration season. Here’s an overview of how you can get involved in our Community Science programs this month: 🐸 Boreal Toad Project: Independent Adventures are ongoing throughout August. 🦫 Riverscape Restoration: All dates are now posted! This month we have 5 opportunities for you to help restore Utah’s streams: August 14, 16, 24, 30, & 31. 🦋 Utah Pollinator Pursuit: Join us for our last Pollinator Office Hours of the season at the International Peace Gardens on August 13 from 11am-12pm. 🫎Wildlife Watch: Our field volunteers have wrapped up their camera rotations, which means that we will soon have an influx of photos to be sorted! Join us for a virtual training on August 22 from 6pm-8pm to learn how to volunteer with the Image Analysis team. 🐦 Shorebird Survey: While we’re no longer recruiting for our fall survey, we encourage you to head to a wetland near you to appreciate these birds before they migrate! Learn more & get involved: https://lnkd.in/gx2334u8 August calendar image features a Clark’s grebe with a brood of chicks by Connie Misket (@altagirl01). These birds raise their young along freshwater shorelines before making their long journeys south to overwinter.

We’re excited to share our latest blog post, written by guest author and Utah Pollinator Pursuit lead Amanda Barth, highlighting a unique and underrepresented group of pollinators - cuckoo bees! “Bees have structures and specialized hairs that allow them to collect and carry pollen, and depending on the family, these structures could be located on the hind legs, the abdomen, or even internally in a special compartment of the stomach. These bees also spend a lot of time and energy seeking out floral resources, nest building, and whatever else necessary to ensure the success of their next generation. Cuckoo bees defy this conventional archetype--they are cleptoparasites! Rather than to toil away building and provisioning nests for her young, a cuckoo bee will instead rely on the efforts of other bees, and lay her egg in another bee's nest.” Read the full blog here: https://lnkd.in/gf9MrYab

You: Celebrating Pioneer Day Them: Celebrating Pie & Beer Day Us: Celebrating Rose's Birthday! Rose says you can join us in celebrating by signing up to volunteer at an upcoming Riverscape Restoration day! The 2024 season kicks off in just a few weeks, and we cannot wait to get out and build some beaver dam analogs (BDAs) with y’all soon. Find the full 2024 Riverscape Restoration calendar here: https://lnkd.in/gG_xH3mr

Have you met our June Volunteer of the Month? On top of the important work that Parker does with Tracy Aviary's horticulture department and at the Nature Center at Pia Okwai, Parker joined us on three boreal toad day trips and logged 25 pollinator observations in the Utah Pollinator Pursuit project on iNaturalist! We are beyond grateful for Parker’s dedication to the wildlife, plants, and landscapes that make Utah so special. Get to know Parker in our interview here: https://lnkd.in/gzFTeHF9