The Montana Conservationist April 4

Greetings, TMC readers! I hope the sun is poking through wherever you’re reading this, and that you’ve spent at least a little time this week looking for the signs of summer that are beginning to emerge around us. I’ve been taking my coffee breaks out in the garden, where daffodils and tulips are bravely poking through!

In TMC this week, we’ve got signs of conservation all around us too:

• Conservation Districts across the state are convening local working group meetings this spring to assist in NRCS’s Montana Focused Conservation Initiative.
• The Prairie Populist reports that the benefits of restoration work go beyond just the landscape – and into the pockets of the people running the excavators.
• As many of you know, Pollinator Conservation is the big buzzword around the state these days. NACD has a great story on how the practice is catching on.
• In Kansas, researchers are using the opportunity of a proposed highway project to do what they would never do to pristine prairie. They’re using the area to test theories about how the soil microbiome affects prairie health.
• MSU Extension’s Clain Jones writes in with advice on nutrient adjustments for a wet, cold spring. (sound familiar to anyone?)
• Beef Magazine has a story on how a group of Nevada ranchers have found success by thinking differently, and ranching for the health of the rangeland.
• A recent study shows that microplastics are not just a problem in the world’s oceans. They’re increasingly being found in our soils as well.
• Finally, UM researchers say that climate change is already affecting forest regrowth after fire, as seedling-friendly conditions become increasingly rare.

All of that, plus a LOT of job listings this week in The Montana Conservationist: TMC 2019-04-04