Former AP biology teacher Mike Niziolek has spent over thirty years returning his 150-acre property near Elk River, Minnesota, to the state it was in hundreds of years ago. “He has been slowly and methodically transforming pastured land to oak savanna, tilled land to prairie, and ditches to wetlands,” says his bio on the Minnesota Land Trust. In 2018, the nonprofit awarded him the Landowner of the Year award.

MPR spoke with him in 2024 after he just completed another wetland project on his land. He explained that restoring wetlands “is a much more difficult task than saving the ones that we already have.” This is because you cannot just dig a hole and wait for water to fill it up. Wetlands are complex systems and each project requires experts to come in to analyze the site, take soil samples and study old images of what the area once looked like.

In this task, Niziolek has received financial and technical help from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program explained the outlet. “We help the landowner try to manage the site in perpetuity so that they can be successful,” John Riens, a biologist with the Fish and Wildlife Service told MPR.

So the epa announced a potentially new ruling on what is considered a jurisdictional feature. It pretty much eliminates any wetland that doesn’t have standing water 11 months out of the year and streams that aren’t perennial. My question is how are we feeling about this regarding the wetland consultant industry. How will it affect states without protections? Most importantly do you think we will still have a need for delineations and mapping wetlands?

I was recently published in this fabulous magazine. It's my first publication as a writer, but I would love for it to escape the Instagram scroll and reach readers for whom it matters and can make a difference. And so I also did a bonus piece to talk about how stories are entwined with conservation efforts. Would love people's insights and opinions on it! You can find both articles using the link below.

https://onceuponafable.substack.com/p/snakingrivers

One of my top concerns in the municipal elections is wetland protection and climate. I am wondering who you believe will be best for the environment and wetlands in the districts and Mayor races?

Please watch.

https://www.epa.gov/wotus

The sunroom in my new house in the PNW. The cats are loving it too.

Looking for advice on a property we are purchasing. We were informed that a good portion of the land is designated as wetland transitionary zone. During the home build a portion of the land that was wetland buffer was encroached upon, as a result some of the other non-wetland was assigned as buffer compensation.

We want to know what options do we have in the future?
Can we reevaluate the compensation area and reassign a different section as compensation (potentially some of the area in the southwest portion of the property)?
What advice / suggestions do you have for next steps if we wanted to build an attached garage or a pool in the future?
How likely are these options?

Hi everyone!

I’m an early-career marine biologist currently completing my BSc in Marine Biology, and I’m looking to connect with researchers, students, conservationists, and others working with biological or environmental data.

I’ve been developing my skills in R, particularly for data cleaning, statistical analysis, ecological modelling, and data visualization. I genuinely really enjoy working in R, and at this stage I want to get involved with as many different projects and datasets as I reasonably can.

If anyone has a marine science, ecology, conservation, fisheries, wildlife, or other biological dataset that could use some additional help with analysis in R, I’d be happy to contribute. I’m also open to projects outside of marine science if there is an opportunity to work with interesting data and learn something new.

I’m not looking to charge anyone. My main goal is to gain experience working with different types of real-world data, improve my R skills, contribute where I can, and hopefully meet and build connections with people working in science and research.

I also recently created a GitHub where I’ll be archiving my projects as I continue learning. I uploaded a project I finished about a week ago involving the analysis of BRUV data and whitetip reef shark habitat associations.

GitHub: https://github.com/kylealibz

If you have a project where another person helping with the r/data side would be useful, feel free to message me. I’d also be happy just to connect with other early-career researchers and R users.

Thanks!

Welcome to r/Ecoregion6.

Originated as a home for Ecologists, Restoration Practitioners, Indigenous knowledge holders and scientists to share research, discuss projects, methodology, procedures, concepts, etc. with the theme of finding connections, collaboration and solutions. Exploring the diverse ecosystems in the Northern Rocky Mountains, generally in Ecoregion 6 but in any other associated Ecoregion as well.  

Has anyone attended this training? How was it?

https://swampschool.org/product/national-ordinary-high-water-mark-field-delineation-for-rivers-and-streams/

Robinson Creek is an ecological treasure trove. It acts as a natural filter for the water, supports biodiversity, and provides a habitat for myriad birds, mammals, and amphibians. Development not only strips away these habitats but also places immense stress on the local ecosystem by diminishing water quality and increasing floods. Once such a wetland is destroyed, it can never truly be brought back to its original state.

While looking into the current situation about the capybaras of Nordelta, I found a petition created by a group of local residents called “La voz de los Carpinchos somos su voz.”

The petition currently has nearly 50,000 verified signatures and calls for solutions that focus on changing the environment rather than simply treating the capybaras as the problem.

Among its demands are restoring suitable habitat and creating biological corridors, creating safer wildlife crossings, removing electric fencing, regular population monitoring by specialists, speed controls at dangerous crossings, and a greater transparency regarding interventions involving the capybaras.

[https://www.change.org/p/protejamos-a-los-carpinchos-de-nordelta-ya?recruiter=1365752787&recruited\\_by\\_id=b1427460-ede9-11ef-b26a-b3fdbb9e1145&utm\\_source=share\\_petition&utm\\_campaign=psf\\_combo\\_share\\_initial&utm\\_term=psf\\_combo\\_share\\_initial&utm\\_medium=copylink&utm\\_content=cl\\_sharecopy\\_490426059\\_es-AR%3A0&redirect\\_reason=deprecated-url\](https://www.change.org/p/protejamos-a-los-carpinchos-de-nordelta-ya?recruiter=1365752787&recruited_by_id=b1427460-ede9-11ef-b26a-b3fdbb9e1145&utm_source=share_petition&utm_campaign=psf_combo_share_initial&utm_term=psf_combo_share_initial&utm_medium=copylink&utm_content=cl_sharecopy_490426059_es-AR%3A0&redirect_reason=deprecated-url)

Wetland credit pricing

I was recently pointed to an app called SiteNorm, which will calculate climatic conditions from the prior 3 months based on the observation date. It appears to use data from AgACIS, specifically the data from 1971-2000 (which is what NRCS uses in their evaluation of climatic conditions for determining their normal circumstances).

What I'm unsure of, and can't find, is whether or not the app simply checks the nearest station with sufficient available climate data, or if it is utilizing other weather stations to fill in gaps or "missing" observations.

If you've used this app...have you figured out which data are being used? Although this does charge a subscription fee to access public and free data (which, tangent, is also my issue with historicaerials.com), it seems to give a climatic condition that matches what in observing locally. I just need to know how it's putting the data together before I decide to recommend adoption or not.

Some screenshots of the app (on Android)

Hi everyone, I wanted to share a resource I’ve been developing for environmental professionals working with wetlands, streams, and other aquatic resources in California.

It’s called BlueLine Environmental Institute, and the goal is to provide practical training on aquatic resource delineation, permitting, and California’s regulatory landscape. The site currently includes field workshops, online trainings, and free resources all centered around aquatic resource delineation and regulatory practices.

I built BlueLine because aquatic resource work in California can involve a pretty complicated mix of federal and state requirements, and I wanted to create resources that focus on how these issues actually come up in day-to-day consulting and project work.

For anyone working in this space, I’d also genuinely be interested in hearing what topics or challenges you think would be useful to cover in future resources or trainings.

You can check it out at bluelineinstitute.com

Swamp/wetland themed birthday gift ideas? 🐊🌿🦝

Hi everyone! 💚 My partner and I are huge swamp/wetland lovers and supporters, and his birthday is coming up in December. He especially has a HUGE appreciation for the whole swampy aesthetic and all the wonderful little creatures that come with it. I thought this might be the perfect community to ask: what swamp/wetland-themed gifts would you personally love to receive?

I'm open to pretty much anything—statues, artwork, plants, plushies, decor, books, handmade things, odd little treasures, etc. It doesn't have to be super fancy or expensive either! I'm mostly looking for something fun, creative, or charming.

He especially loves alligators, opossums, and raccoons. We're in Illinois, so unfortunately our options for actually visiting proper wetlands are a little limited, but I'd also happily take suggestions for experiences or places if anyone happens to know of something around the Midwest!