Institute For Applied Ecology

Habitat restoration: for over 20 years, iae's mission has included restoring resilient ecosystems. We've learned that to increase habitat restoration in the willamette valley, new mexico and arizona, an increase in the availability of native seeds and plants is needed. We've accomplished much by supporting four regional seed partnerships and developing a native plant farm. The willamette valley native plant partnership (wvnpp), staffed by iae and funded in part by the oregon watershed enhancement board, has over 30 public, private, and nonprofit organizations as members, including watershed councils, soil and water conservations districts, local municipalities, private land trusts, commercial growers, and state and federal agencies. (continued on schedule o)program accomplishment numbers:73 sites in restoration in oregon, 1481 acres in restored or in active restoration2.7 acres in seed production at iae farm, with 46 species in production at the iae farm; 33 fields with 23 species yielding 4,259 pounds of seed in the sw365 pounds of seed produced at iae farmwild seed collected from 53 species in oregon, 104 species and 276 seed collections in arizona and new mexico1913 pounds of native seed sown85000 native plant plugs and bulbs out-planted8 types of oregon habitats where restoration actions occurred: coastal prairie, douglas-fir/western hemlock/sitka spruce forest, coastal dunes, oak savannah/woodland, riparian, upland prairie, wet prairie, wetland. In nm & az 3 habitats with restoration, montane wetland, subalpine and ponderosa pine.9,471 volunteer activity hours loggedhosted virtual national native seed conference attended by over 900 native plant enthusiasts

Ecological education: the decline in human connection with nature is found especially in underserved communities within our region, including incarcerated people who number over 15,000 in oregon and 2.3 million nationwide. This nature deficit leads to lower human health, higher incidents of violence, and reduced sense of well-being. Furthermore, there is often a disconnect between environmental professionals and the diverse communities that live in the region where restorations take place. This isolation excludes valuable insights from projects and reduces ownership of habitat restorations by diverse communities. Incarcerated people and communities of diversity are particularly deprived of opportunities to interact with ecosystems as well as in environmental fields. (continued on schedule o)one project of our ecological education program, sagebrush in prisons, deeply engages prison inmates in habitat conservation by giving them vocational training in native plant nursery management and a lecture series in conservation science. These incarcerated adults are healing their environment, their communities, and themselves.program accomplishment numbers:over 300,000 sagebrush and other native plants grown by adults in custody in 11 prisons in five states to restore greater sage-grouse habitat impacted by fire or other native habitats. Adults in custody contributed over 33,000 hours towards conservation of sagebrush and other native habitats.provided place-based summer education and forest immersion programs for middle and high school students in north-central new mexico.over 1000 adults in custody engaged in ecological education with 117 lessons.405 youth in juvenile detention attended 56 lessons provided in 2 facilities.

The institute for applied ecology (iae) is a non-profit 501 (c) (3) organization whose vision is a world where all people and wildlands are healthy and interact positively, biologically diversity flourishes, and environmental challenges are met with a social commitment to solving problems with science. Our mission is conserving native species and habitats through restoration, research and education. We partner with and serve a diversity of groups across oregon and the western us, including government agencies, local municipalities, conservation organizations and nonprofits, prisons, juvenile detention facilities, k-12 schools, alternative high school programs, tribes, and private individuals. Our projects work across the western united states, with our main office in oregon and an office in new mexico. Our strategic plan lays out three programming goals: restoring resilient ecosystems, conserving species, and connecting people with nature. We present an accomplishment from each in the sections above.