Missouri Action and Impact Report - Spring 2024

VOLUME 24 | SPRING

BOARD OF TRUSTEES Beth Alm, Kansas City Michele M. Risdal-Barnes, Springfield Rick Boeshaar, Shawnee Mission, Kansas Jeanne Steinberg Bolinger, Kansas City John Brands, St. Louis Carl Freiling, Ashland Debra Filla, Kansas City Jeanette Hartshorn, Kansas City Diane Herndon, St. Louis Ben Kniola, St. Louis Steve Mahfood, St. Louis Steve McMillan, St. Louis Abby Moreland, St. Louis Jon T. Moses, Kansas City Carolyn K. Polk, St. Louis Robbie Price, Columbia Joel Pugh, St. Louis Fritz Riesmeyer, Kansas City Jon M. Risdal, Springfield Sharon Shahid, Washington D.C./St. Louis Jean Wagner, Kansas City Wallis W. Warren, Beaufort Nancy Ylvisaker, St. Louis

You’ve probably heard us talk about our mission at The Nature Conservancy to conserve the lands and waters on which all life depends and to create a world where people and nature thrive. There’s some tension in that last part—where people and nature thrive. The needs of humans routinely compete with those of wildlife and landscapes. Whether it’s freshwater, food supply chains, forests or any of the other complex issues TNC works on, striking the right balance is not always obvious. People and nature can thrive. We know that. But it still takes a lot of smart, dedicated people working every day to find the sweet spot where we’re using our natural

resources in ways that sustain and support nature.

In this edition of our Missouri Action and Impact report, we decided to focus not only on those solutions, but also on the people who make them happen. We’ve asked a handful of TNC sta , partners and supporters to tell us why they do the work they do. I hope you’ll read their essays in the following pages. Our mission not only benefits from all these voices and perspectives, but it relies on them. And because it only seems fair that I take on the assignment, too, I’ve spent some time thinking about my own answer to that question. My mind cycles through my life as a dad, hunter and someone who loves being outside, and it jumps to friends I’ve made with colleagues in places like Tanzania and the responsibility we all have in protecting the health of this planet. There are hundreds of reasons I am drawn to this work, drawn to conservation. Central to each of those reasons, however, is a belief that one individual can make a di erence. In conservation, that di erence feels meaningful, lasting and reciprocal. Meaningful to me, meaningful to my family, to my colleagues, to my community and to the lands and waters that bring so much joy to my life.

Adam McLane Missouri State Director

Printed on 100% PCW recycled, process chlorine-free paper, creating the following benefits: 29.9 trees preserved for the future 2,313.9 gallons of water not used 4,493.2 pounds of CO 2 prevented The Nature Conservancy is a private, nonprofit 501(c)(3) international membership organization. Its mission is to conserve the lands and waters on which all life depends. The Nature Conservancy meets all of the Standards for Charity Accountability established by the BBB Wise Giving Alliance. The BBB Wise Giving Alliance is a national charity watchdog ažliated with the Better Business Bureau.

THIS PAGE Adam McLane © Kristy Stoyer/TNC COVER A bison at Dunn Ranch Prairie © Doyle Murphy/TNC

BUFFALO RESTORATION PROGRAM

When Bison Become Bualo

Indigenous partnerships deepen TNC’s understanding of North America’s largest mammal

A Keystone for People Similar e€orts had been underway since the late 1970s in the central United States. The new herd in Missouri was among 11 scattered across TNC preserves, from Cross Ranch Preserve in North Dakota to Joseph H. Williams Tallgrass Preserve in Oklahoma, from Kankakee Sands in Indiana to Medano-Zapata Ranch in Colorado. Bison are considered a keystone species, because they’re like the block at the top of an ecological archway, holding everything together. Their patchwork way of grazing and habit

In 2011, roughly three dozen bison rumbled out of metal livestock trailers onto fields of tallgrass at The Nature Conservancy’s Dunn Ranch Prairie. An estimated 60 million bison, also known as the American bu€alo, once roamed the Great Plains before the species was nearly wiped out in the 1800s. The bison that arrived that day at Dunn Ranch were most likely the first in more than a century to step foot on those 3,000-plus acres in northwest Missouri. They were not shy in their return. “Thundering” is the way some described the scene. Also “beautiful” and “majestic.”

There is something about the sight of the muscled, deep brown mammals pushing through big bluestem that stirs the spirit, but they had a job to do. TNC brought bison to the preserve to help with the work of restoring the prairie. Less than 1 percent of Missouri’s native grasslands remains, and Conservancy sta€ and supporters had spent years tending to nearly 1,000 acres of unplowed prairie onsite as well as connecting surrounding pieces. Painstaking reseeding, prescribed fires and constant vigilance against invasive plants had already returned Dunn Ranch to a place of booming wildflowers and biodiversity. Bison were seen as the last missing piece.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 4

NATURE.ORG/MISSOURI 3

THIS PAGE Bualo from Dunn Ranch Prairie are released in 2021 at Wind River Reservation. © Brad Christensen

BUFFALO CONTINUED FROM PAGE 3

of physically reshaping the ground beneath their heavy bodies creates habitat for an array of prairie species, such as the water-loving organisms that find homes in the puddles created when bison roll or “wallow” in the dirt and rain pools in indentions left behind. TNC deployed the bison as conservation tools to rebuild those connections. And they have been a success. However, it wasn’t until later that partnerships with Indigenous peoples helped TNC understand it was missing a critical part of the story. Tribal nations, often preferring the term “bualo” for the animals, have long held a connection that includes and extends beyond conservation of the land. Bualo are not tools to Native peoples; they are relatives. “The Nature Conservancy began to bring bison back to dierent places we cared about all across the country,” says Corissa Busse, director of TNC’s burgeoning Bualo Restoration Program. “We did it for an ecological reason, but we didn’t understand, at the time, that they are not only a keystone species for thousands of grasslands species; they are a keystone species for people, for Indigenous peoples all across the continent, who have had this deep relationship with bualo since time immemorial.” A New Approach The history of bison in the United States is intertwined with the prolonged physical, economic and cultural assault on Tribal nations. In keeping with U.S. policies in the 1800s, the federal government encouraged the slaughter of bison as part of a campaign to drive out Indigenous peoples who depended on the herds. Millions of animals were killed within a few decades. Fewer than 1,000 remained by 1905, most of them in captivity.

In 2020, TNC partnered with the InterTribal Bualo Council (ITBC) to return bualo to Tribal lands. Every year, TNC herds produce more animals than the preserves holding them can support. In the past, the Conservancy would sell the excess bison to maintain the size and health of its herds. “What we’re working on in the Bualo Restoration Program is exploring, ‘What if we didn’t have to sell the animals on the market?’” Busse says. “‘What if instead, we could explore how to support Tribal nations across the country through our partnership with InterTribal Bualo Council?’ So instead of selling the animals, we’re transferring them, we’re giving them to these Indigenous communities, Tribal nations, and giving the bualo a chance to continue its conservation work.” Formed in 1992, ITBC has grown to a collection of more than 80 tribes in over 20 states. Its members steward more than 25,000 bualo across the country. “The significance of bualo extends beyond their physical presence on the land,” says Troy Heinert,

Sicangu Lakota, ITBC executive director. “They represent a positive force toward spiritual and cultural revitalization, ecological restoration and conservation, food sovereignty, health, economic development and much more as each bualo is brought back home.” The partnership has grown carefully. After first approaching TNC, ITBC’s members initially split on a pair of votes in 2018 about whether to go forward, citing times in the past TNC bought or sold land that was important to Tribes without input from the Tribes. Busse says it has been important to build trust and that TNC is still learning how to best support the work ITBC has been doing for more than 30 years. Bualo have helped serve as a bridge. More recently, the Tanka Fund has also joined the movement, representing Native producers and Native-led nonprofits. “The Lakota word ‘Tanka’ means ‘great’ or ‘large.’ Our vision—to bring bualo back to Native lands and people—is just as big and just as

THIS PAGE A bualo at the top of a ridge at Dunn Ranch Prairie. © Doyle Murphy/TNC

4 MISSOURI : ACTION AND IMPACT

significant,” says Nick Hernandez, secretary-treasurer of Tanka Fund’s board of directors. “Bu
alo means everything to us. Building up our bu
alo herds strengthens Tribes and makes us more resilient.” Since 2020, more than 1,800 bu
alo born and raised on TNC preserves have journeyed home to Indigenous communities across the country. The rate of transfers is expected to triple in coming years. Traveling Home In the fall of 2021, a decade after the first herd of bison arrived at Dunn Ranch Prairie, livestock trailers once again pulled onto an open field. Only this time, the location was Wind River Reservation near Lander, Wyoming. Fifty bu
alo from TNC’s Missouri herd were going home to grow herds on the lands of the Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapahoe. As the bu
alo rumbled o
the metal ramps, their hooves hit dirt in the shadow of mountains. “I have been a part of many amazing projects during my career with The Nature Conservancy, but I have to say this one is truly special and will have lasting impacts beyond the conservation benefits of these animals returning to the land,” says Adam McLane, TNC’s Missouri state director.

“It’s a great feeling to be a part of an e
ort that’s helping to restore bison to the Indigenous tribes whose cultures are still deeply interwoven with them.” TNC’s sta
in Missouri have embraced the e
ort of the Conservancy’s Bu
alo Restoration Program, supporting the work of ITBC, the Tanka Fund and other Indigenous-led organizations through multiple transfers as well as fundraising and even hosting cultural harvests of bu
alo at Dunn Ranch Prairie. “The transfer of our bison from here at Dunn Ranch Prairie to Native nations and our interactions with those nations has taught us a lot,” says Kent Wamsley, grasslands and sustainable agriculture strategy manager for TNC in Missouri. “It brings with it deep gratitude for all who help support this e
ort.” The Bu
alo Restoration Program is still in the early stages and will continue to evolve. Heinert of ITBC says the organizations share many of the same goals to heal the land. Through continued partnership they will be able to support each other. “TNC has done a great job in their beginning of recognizing the importance of bu
alo on the landscape, but I’m not sure they really understood why,” Heinert says. “And we’re now at that point of being able to talk about the why.”

Why We Do This Work

The Nature Conservancy’s Dennis Perkins, bison manager, and son, Brett Perkins, preserve assistant, work together at Dunn Ranch Prairie. Dennis : I love being around the bison. I love watching what’s going on with them. I don’t know how to describe it really, but it’s a feeling you get when you’re around them as much as I am. You care about them, and they’re like something you’re taking care of, you know? You worry about them all the time. Brett: Dad and I have a really close relationship. We’ve worked together for a lot of years. When I was oƒcially hired here at Dunn Ranch Prairie, being able to say that I’m a part of this, too, has been one of the best experiences. I now enjoy bringing my kids to the preserve, just as Dad did with me. I hope through this work future generations have the chance to enjoy these ecosystems as we have. Dennis: I love working with Brett and being around him. But I’m getting to the point where I realize he really doesn’t need me around anymore. He’s able to do everything that needs to be done. So, I feel good about where everything’s going to go with him being here. LISTEN TO Dennis and Brett Perkins on our podcast It’s in Our Nature at nature.org/mopodcast

THIS PAGE BOTTOM The community welcomes bualo home to Wind River Reservation. © Brad Christensen THIS PAGE TOP Dennis and Brett Perkins © Kristy Stoyer/TNC

NATURE.ORG/MISSOURI 5

A Place for Critters Land protection preserves habitat and safeguards Missouri’s iconic landscapes

People used to ask Don Williams’ great-grandfather why he refused to log or sell a mostly idle portion of his farm. Set in the hills south of the Lake of the Ozarks, what the family called “the backside” was too rugged to farm and too far from the lake to develop. Selling o the timber seemed like the only use that would turn a profit. “Yeah, it’s not any good for anything and not much use to us,” Williams remembers his great-grandfather saying. “But it means a lot to the critters that live there. So, we keep it for them. Everything needs a home, a place to live.”

Williams later became the owner of what was left of his great-grandfather’s farm. And like the man he called “Pa,” he was faced with a decision about its future. Much was the same as it was when Williams lived with his great-grandparents as a boy. He could still walk from where Mill Spring disappeared underground into the pores of a karst system to the spot where it bubbled up again and flowed on. The mix of Ozarks hardwoods still towered over a tangle of dogwoods, blackberries and sassafras. Some things had changed, however. A hot real estate market around the

lake had pushed development into previously overlooked parts of Camden County. Williams said he had multiple high-dollar oers from developers looking to buy 100 acres of the old family farm. “They wanted to subdivide it and sell 3- or 5-acre lots, which would just destroy the environment there,” he said. Not that he couldn’t use the money. The financial pressure of a career change combined with upcoming medical bills had convinced Williams that it was time to sell, but he sought an alternative to handing over the land

THIS PAGE A stream on the property moves above and below ground as it crosses a karst system that undergirds part of the area. © Don Williams

6 MISSOURI : ACTION AND IMPACT

LAND PROTECTION

for development. In 2004, he sold an adjacent 120 acres to the Missouri Department of Natural Resources (DNR). That property is now part of the state’s Coakley Hollow Fen, a natural area that now includes the Ozark Caverns cave system. “I have been very happy with that decision,” Williams said, praising the care the state has taken in protecting and restoring the entire area. He hoped to arrange the same fate for the 100 acres while holding onto an adjoining 20 acres where he and his wife have a house and plan to spend the rest of their lives. DNR was interested but couldn’t move forward as quickly as Williams needed with big bills on the horizon. So, he contacted The Nature Conservancy. TNC has a long history of conserving lands. The biodiverse Ozarks in particular have been a point of interest in recent years, where we’ve used our Ozarks Conservation Buyers Fund to buy more than 12,000 acres along the Current and Jacks Fork rivers and resell them with conservation easements—legal agreements that require purchasers to adhere to permanent, nature-protecting provisions, such as prohibitions on clear-cutting. “These areas are essential puzzle pieces in globally important ecosystems, and they’re under a lot of pressure,” says Sarah Powell, TNC land protection specialist in Missouri. “Our goal is to ensure they remain intact for future generations.” TNC is looking to expand those e”orts beyond the Buyers Fund footprint as the Conservancy takes steps to protect the most biodiverse, most vulnerable portions of the karst system in the Interior Highlands region, which extends across large swaths of Missouri, Arkansas and part of eastern

Oklahoma. Karst systems are porous networks of caves, sinkholes and springs, formed by slightly acidic water that seeps down, carving holes in rocky layers below the surface. They support some of the world’s most biodiverse places, including a number of species that live only in the Ozarks. Water—and whatever nutrients it’s carrying—can move easily from the surface to groundwater within karst systems’ fissures and channels. That’s one of the reasons protecting those fragile systems plays a big role in TNC’s broader goals to safeguard freshwater in the Conservancy’s ten-state Great Plains Division. Williams’ property will contribute to those e”orts. Thanks to a legacy of careful stewardship passed down from his great-grandfather, the land remains a pristine relic of Ozark landscapes, with karst features and a connection to the Coakley Hollow Fens Natural Area that borders the property on three sides. TNC has agreed to act TNC plans to then shift the money to fund more karst protection projects, working from a list created by a team of TNC sta”ers from the primary states of the Interior Highlands. Without TNC’s intervention, Williams said he would have been forced to sell to developers. That would have made him more money but at the cost of a wild place his family has protected for more than 100 years. “It’s like a thousand pounds coming o” my shoulders,” he said. And the critters that Pa loved will remain. They’ll have a home, a place to live. as a bridge, buying the 100 acres and then transferring it at cost to the state, ensuring it remains protected in perpetuity.

Why I Do This Work

“ I grew up on a farm in southwestern Illinois, in a place some call the Illinois Ozarks. It’s dominated by blus and valleys, rolling hills and sink holes. My family didn’t have much, but we had a lot of land. I spent much of my childhood exploring, learning to hunt, gather, navigate and identify the living things in the forests, ponds and pastures around me. By high school, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to ‘do,’ but I knew I wanted to be outside. I found a program at the University of Illinois where I could study natural resources and environmental science, focusing on human dimensions and restoration ecology. I never looked back. Now, I help protect landscapes across Missouri. My favorite part of the job is working with landowners to preserve what they love about their land. More than 93% of land in Missouri is privately owned, which means those landowners are critical to conservation. Each is unique. The places they’ve stewarded carry legacies of shared connections— homesteads and farms passed down through generations, memories of friends and families. These relationships help knit a landscape together, with lasting results for conservation and community. ” —Sarah Powell, TNC land protection specialist in Missouri

THIS PAGE Sarah Powell, land protection specialist for The Nature Conservancy in Missouri © Sarah Powell/TNC

NATURE.ORG/MISSOURI 7

SOUTHERN MO TREX

A Prescription for Good Fire Training in Missouri expands the workforce for controlled burns

During the past 15 years, TREX events have provided a flexible framework for fire practitioners to add skills, connect with a growing network of colleagues and learn from one another. TNC helped create the TREX model with collaborators in the Fire Networks, a public-private partnership that is building fire-resilient landscapes and communities. It started in 2008 in the Great Plains with four events and 68 participants. By the end of 2023, an estimated 4,300 people had participated in at least one of more than 150 events. TREX has expanded beyond the U.S., including trainings in Spain, Portugal and South Africa. The model has been adopted by other organizations to run their own events. This spring’s training in the Ozarks is the second in Missouri funded through a Cohesive Strategy: Cross Boundary Grant, administered by the U.S. Forest Service. For two weeks, roughly 30 participants bunk at Camp Arrowhead, operated by the Boy Scouts of America’s Ozark Trails Council, near Marshfield. When the weather allows, the group splits into three teams to burn portions of the camp identified by the Scouts as well as prairies, forests and glades within a two-hour radius, selected from a list of requests from partners.

Low flames crawl across a forested hillside in the Ozarks while members of a newly assembled fire team advance along the perimeter. After several inhospitable days of spring weather, the conditions are nearly perfect for this prescribed fire training exchange (TREX) in southern Missouri. White smoke drifts slowly west, filtering sunlight across a floor of green moss, black ash and pops of orange flame—an idyllic scene reflected in a lake below. Jared Schindlbeck, a senior at Missouri State University, stands by with a drip torch and marvels at the situation. He is heading into spring break but took his professor’s suggestion to learn something new. “Initially, this wasn’t something I was that interested in,” says the 22-year-old wildlife conservation and management major. “Now, that I’m out here experiencing it, I think

maybe this is something I wouldn’t mind getting into.” Many of our ecosystems evolved with regular fire. Indigenous peoples developed controlled burning techniques over millennia, stewarding landscapes that range from prairie to forests. However, a century of U.S. policies sought to suppress all wildfires while oppressing Tribes. Excluding fire from the land has likely contributed to the rise of unnaturally intense wildfires. It also severed cultural practices and created a shortage of people skilled in prescribed fires. “The biggest barrier to putting more good fire on the ground is the gap in the workforce,” says Ryan Gauger, The Nature Conservancy’s fire and stewardship manager in Missouri. “TREX allows us to tap into the wisdom of a host of partners, learn from each other and work toward restoring a healthy relationship with fire in our communities.”

THIS PAGE TOP LEFT TREX participants monitor a prescribed fire in southern Missouri. © Doyle Murphy/TNC THIS PAGE TOP RIGHT Casey Bartlett of the Durango (Colo.) Fire District participates in her first TREX. © Doyle Murphy/TNC

8 MISSOURI : ACTION AND IMPACT

When it’s raining or too windy, the group meets in the mess hall where presenters cover wide-ranging topics, from tree ring science to using emotional intelligence to build stronger, more diverse fire teams. “When there are rainy days here, we’re still learning,” says Katherine Reed, a 17-year fire veteran and fuels technician with the U.S. Forest Service in western Oregon. “I want to learn.” A strength of TREX is that it pulls in people from all levels of experience and backgrounds. Comprised half of women and half of men, participants in the Ozarks come from as close as an hour or two drive and as far away as Germany. There are independent wildland firefighters as well as staŠers from the Missouri Department of Conservation, firefighters from municipal departments and employees of the U.S. Forest Service, National Parks Service and Bureau of Land Management. TNC employees from multiple states are part of the mix, too. Casey Bartlett drove in from western Colorado with a colleague from the Durango Fire Protection District. They are part of Durango’s four-person full-time wildland team, a position that involves everything from creating fire breaks around the mountain town to assisting federal firefighters in the neighboring San Juan National Forest.

Her district had never sent anyone to a TREX, so she is on something of a scouting mission. On the first day of burning, she tries out new roles and tests techniques she’d never used in Colorado. “Just the opportunity to meet people from diŠerent entities I think is important and to network and to see how other people are doing things and what’s out there,” she says. “It just opens up the whole wildland fire world.” Evan Fantin is an independent firefighter who often works for government fire crews in Canada. He paid his own way to travel to Missouri for his third TREX. He typically works on suppression crews, battling wildfires, but hopes to continue developing proactive prescribed fire skills. Ultimately, he’d like to support the eŠorts of

First Nations—Indigenous peoples in Canada—to reclaim a culture of stewarding the land with fire. “I’m trying to position myself where I can help,” he says. He’s seen the destruction of wildfires, including the sprawling blazes of 2023 that drove Canadians from their homes and sent smoke throughout much of the United States. TREX is an opportunity to embrace the ability of fire to restore the landscape and protect people. “To come down here helps me see fire in a positive way,” he says. “It’s a very profound healing process for me.”

LISTEN TO a podcast episode with Kelly Martin, TNC prescribed fire specialist at nature.org/mopodcast

Why I Do This Work “ I spent most of my childhood in a concrete jungle. When I moved to southern Illinois for the university, I found myself immersed in nature and loving it. Humans have seriously impacted the landscape, and with it, the habitat of our flora and fauna. This is what made me want to work for The Nature Conservancy, where I spend most of my days working on forest stand improvement projects and assisting with prescribed fire operations for habitat rehabilitation. It is hard work, but it is equally rewarding, often punctuated by the increase or return of a conservative species that needs conditions to be just right to persist. Putting in a hard day of work outside to maintain and restore ecosystems feels as close to our natural world as one can get and is my favorite part of the job. ” —Megan Alkazo, fire and stewardship coordinator for TNC in Missouri

THIS PAGE TOP TNC’s Ryan Gauger, fire and stewardship manager in Missouri, and Caleb Grantham, restoration specialist in Illinois help out on a controlled burn at Camp Arrowhead. © Doyle Murphy/TNC THIS PAGE BOTTOM Megan Alkazo, fire and stewardship coordinator for TNC in Missouri © Kristy Stoyer/TNC

NATURE.ORG/MISSOURI 9

CORPORATE SUSTAINABILITY

Giving Nature a Sporting Chance Now in its seventh season, Sporting Sustainability scores for conservation

“Sporting Sustainability has shown there are a lot of ways to integrate nature-friendly practices into everything we do, whether that’s through the collective strength of individual actions or the leadership of large organizations,” said Adam McLane, TNC’s state director in Missouri. “We’re excited about the progress we’ve seen and the potential of the partnership in the future.” Early on, steering committee members identified the reduction of food waste as an avenue for significant progress. Food waste accounts for as much as 40 percent of the United States’ food supply, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Along with the squandered opportunity to feed people, wasting food also wastes water, labor and energy resources. It is the single- largest type of waste in landfills across the nation, and it is a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. Sporting Sustainability began with an educational campaign, highlighting small actions individuals can take to reduce food waste and use less energy. Thousands of fans pledged to take part. They followed tips for recycling, carpooling, composting and cooking at home. After the program celebrated its first five years, Sporting Sustainability began looking for ways to take it even further. Food waste at Children’s Mercy Park seemed like a natural next step. Mark Handler and Kellen Smith, both members of the partnership marketing team at Sporting KC, said giving fans environmentally friendly options when they come to the stadium carries over outside the stadium as well.

On game days at Children’s Mercy Park, an exercise in conservation innovation swings into action. Nearly 20,000 Sporting Kansas City fans entering the stadium pass compost bins on their way to their seats. When they order food from concessions, their hotdogs, popcorn and nachos arrive in containers that are striped attractively in Sporting Blue—and are recyclable and compostable. The changes are subtle and substantial, adding to fans’ experience while diverting nearly 50 percent of the waste that would otherwise end up in landfills. “We have a responsibility to our fans and our community to take care of the places where we live and work,” said Jon Moses, Sporting Kansas City Vice President of Corporate Partnerships.

“Sports bring people together, and that platform gives us an opportunity to tackle issues that are important to our fanbase and make a diˆerence that goes far beyond the pitch.” Along with his role at Sporting KC, Moses joined the board of trustees for The Nature Conservancy in Missouri in 2024. TNC was among five organizations and companies in 2018 that joined the steering committee of Sporting Sustainability, a collaboration the team launched to focus on sustainability in the Midwest. TNC supports smart solutions that align with the Conservancy’s mission to create a world where people and nature thrive. Sporting Sustainability has created new ways to demonstrate real- world strategies to a large audience.

THIS PAGE Sporting Kansas City is creating a greener food and beverage operation at Children’s Mercy Park through its Sporting Sustainability program. Courtesy Sporting Kansas City

10 MISSOURI : ACTION AND IMPACT

Through a partnership with Huhtamaki, a global packaging company whose North American headquarters is less than 30 minutes from the soccer stadium in Kansas, Sporting Sustainability reimagined the way the club handles food and beverage service. At the beginning of the 2023 season, Children’s Mercy Park debuted eight di€erent types of compostable or recyclable food containers. The ability to design the containers with the team’s logo and colors was an added value. It’s Huhtamaki’s first sports team partnership and could serve as a test case for expansion to other venues. Along with the containers, 32 compost collection bins were strategically placed around the stadium last season for fans to use. The number of bins is expected to nearly double for the 2024 season. The changes also include operational innovations. Regular visitors to the stadium are probably familiar with the short announcement at the end of matches, instructing them to leave containers at their seats. Sta€ then sweep through, ensuring recyclable and compostable materials reach the right bins, rather than putting that responsibility on hurried fans. Sporting Sustainability has continued to progress throughout the life of the program. Its steering committee has grown to 10 and the scope of the program is bigger than ever.

Smith and Handler are looking toward 2026 when Kansas City hosts FIFA World Cup matches at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium as another platform for growth. The arrival of thousands upon thousands of soccer fans from around the globe o€ers a valuable opportunity to promote sustainable practices in sports to a worldwide audience. It’s the power to use sports to make a di€erence in all aspects of life that keeps driving Sporting Sustainability forward. “If the program is at its best, there’s just so much potential for it to influence the community positively,” Handler said. practices extend through the team’s Sporting Club Network, an a•liate program with 150,000 youth athletes and 65 youth teams and associations across seven states: Missouri, Kansas, Indiana, Iowa, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Michigan. Sporting KC has helped introduce TNC and Sporting Sustainability to more and more people with annual theme nights at Children’s Mercy Park. Fittingly, that has grown, too. In 2024, “It’s bigger than Kansas City.” The lessons of nature-friendly Sporting Sustainability took center stage throughout April, stretching what had been a one-game event into an entire month.

Why I Do This Work

“ I think it’s vital for any company to support their community. Back in 2018, we met with industry experts who became our steering committee and helped build Sporting Sustainability. Those experts and others have become great partners in the past six years. It’s exciting to see what the combined e€orts of our sustainability partners, Club and so many individuals and organizations can accomplish. Just last year, we reached over 45% diversion rate— that’s nearly half the food service waste from Children’s Mercy Park professionally, but also personally rewarding. As a kid growing up in Alabama, I was in the woods and wilderness all the time. I developed an early love for nature and want to do all I can to protect it. That’s why I joined The Nature Conservancy’s Board of Trustees in Missouri. I have followed and supported TNC for several years, noticing the positive impact they make locally and worldwide. Now, having a voice in decisions related to sustainability is inspiring. I’m grateful to be part of TNC’s e€orts. ” —Jon Moses, Sporting Kansas City Vice President of Corporate Partnerships and TNC Missouri Trustee diverted away from landfills. Those kinds of results (and there are more to come) are

THIS PAGE BOTTOM Compostable and recycleable food containers are part of reducing waste at Sporting Kansas City games. Courtesy Sporting Kansas City THIS PAGE TOP Jon Moses, Sporting Kansas City. Courtesy Sporting Kansas City

NATURE.ORG/MISSOURI 11

FISH-FRIENDLY PASSAGES

Removing the Barriers to Conservation Unexpected partners are collaborating to unclog our rivers for people and fish

When you think of a fish passage, maybe you picture salmon leaping up ascending pools of manmade fish ladders laid over dams in the western United States. Some salmon and trout species can clear 6-foot waterfalls to reach the headwaters where they hatched and will return after years at sea. Think of the photos and videos of grizzly bears catching huge fish mid-air as they migrate upstream. Impressive, but even salmon cannot leap the towering dams on the rivers where they spawn. That has been a problem people have tried to solve for years, hence the feats of engineering such as fish ladders and other fish passage projects.

Missouri does not have salmon swimming in from the ocean, but we do have other species of fish that migrate seasonally. We also have threatened and endangered species of mussels, snails and other aquatic organisms. Many can be found in only a few streams in the Interior Highlands region that spans much of Missouri and Arkansas into Oklahoma, and many of these streams have been chopped up by aquatic barriers big and small. It doesn’t take a 50-foot dam to halt a mussel’s movement. A low-head dam that barely breaks the water’s surface or a concrete slab for vehicles to cross the stream is impassable for small fish and other freshwater animals.

The Interior Highlands, including the Missouri Ozarks, is full of these barriers. You may have noticed that many such road crossings have round culvert pipes to allow water, and presumably fish, to pass through. But look closely. When the creek rises, the pipes turn a stream’s flow into jets, like putting your thumb over the mouth of a garden hose. Over time, that jet will carve a pool into the stream bed. Under the right conditions, those pools expand, making that culvert into a 3-foot tall waterfall, too high for our small freshwater animals to navigate. These crossings threaten already- struggling species. The Niangua darter

12 MISSOURI : ACTION AND IMPACT

THIS PAGE A crew replaces a crossing in Missouri with a fish-friendly bridge. © Rob Pulliam/TNC

is a small fish located only in a few streams in Missouri. Like other darters, it is only about three inches long as an adult, about as long as a business card, and it stays on the bottom of clear Ozark streams using its specially adapted body to stick into crevices in the rocks and gravel. The Missouri Department of Conservation and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have been working for decades to remove barriers, including low-water crossings, and replace them with bridges that allow water, gravel and fish to move through. This work has been successful, and Niangua darters have been documented in more stretches of those rivers. However, the work is far from over. Fortunately, there is a diverse bunch of agencies and organizations focused on removing or replacing barriers. While wildlife agencies focus on impacts to aquatic life, we discovered that other organizations, such as Missouri Regional Planning Commissions and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, are looking at some of the same stream crossings, assessing them for safety and reliability. Every year, we see stories of drivers swept away while trying to cross streams in high water.

The solution for people and fish is for organizations to work together. TNC and our collaborators have now formed a state-wide team focused on barrier removal. In November, we hosted a meeting in Je‰erson City with attendees from state and federal agencies, non- government organization, universities, counties, planning commissions and councils of government to find common goals and share resources. The stories varied but had some of the same themes: replacing bridges can be costly, hard to schedule and often compete with a long list of other local needs. This year will be formative for this fledgling team as we form workgroups around funding resources, policy initiatives, marketing and communication, and the right science and tools to make informed decisions. The problem is bigger than any one organization can tackle. Even together, it will be a lot of work, full of obstacles. Just slowing the rate that new barriers are now being installed is diŒcult. But at the end of the day, we all want safer roads for people and reconnected rivers for our wildlife. It is a challenge we are ready to face as a team.

Why I Do This Work

“ I have been working on county roads for 40 years. When I started, the most common crossing for some of our gravel roads was the culvert slab; steel culvert pipes were placed in the stream for water to pass through, and a concrete slab was poured over the top for vehicles to drive on. I began to see that maintenance of these bridges added up. As culverts clog with gravel, it costs the county time, money and equipment to dig them out. It was more feasible and cost- eƒective to build open-bottom designs that let water and gravel move through more naturally. These structures are open for tra c 85% of the year or more while some of our slab crossings can be closed for days after a rain due to their low profile. About 16 years ago, I started working with organizations like the Missouri Department of Conservation, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and The Nature Conservancy on crossings in the Huzzah and other streams and found these bottomless structures are also better for fish. To me, it seems like a win-win for people and wildlife. ”

—Danny Brown, Crawford County Road District 1

THIS PAGE BOTTOM Low-water crossings block fish migration and can pose a risk to drivers when the water rises. © Rob Pulliam/TNC THIS PAGE TOP Danny Brown, Crawford County Road District 1 Courtesy Danny Brown

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TNC’s collaboration with Enterprise Mobility Foundation is accelerating freshwater conservation

Smart ideas guide conservation. Support for those ideas determines how far they can go. That’s true whether The Nature Conservancy is working in the wide Mississippi River floodplains or the wild rivers of Southeast Europe. With the right mix of know-how, talent, time and financial support, small e orts that would help a few people can grow into huge projects that change lives across entire regions. TNC is constantly in search of partners and supporters who can energize those projects and take them further. Since 2017, the St. Louis-based Enterprise Mobility Foundation has

been a key philanthropic partner through its Routes & Roots® Healthy Rivers Project. The foundation’s support helps TNC protect and restore freshwater resources to benefit native species and local people who depend on them worldwide. TNC recognizes the importance of businesses in creating a sustainable future and works with a variety of companies to conserve the lands and waters on which life depends. Mutual concerns about the health of rivers, freshwater ecosystems and communities brought the Enterprise Mobility Foundation and TNC together. The foundation initially pledged $30 million to TNC’s water

work. After the success of the first five years, the foundation renewed that support for a total of $60 million. The support has allowed TNC to expand its e orts at a critical time. On the ground, Routes & Roots has propelled a diverse suite of projects, including a rainwater-collection system to irrigate a community farm in urban St. Louis and Indigenous-led conservation e orts in the Canadian Boreal Forest. It has also boosted a pioneering tree-planting and wetland restoration program designed to help with flooding, capture carbon and improve water quality across the Mississippi River Basin.

THIS PAGE The Krupa River in the Balkans region of Southeast Europe, also known as the “blue heart of Europe.” © Ciril Jazbec

14 MISSOURI : ACTION AND IMPACT

CORPORATE PHILANTHROPY

“The most exciting part to me is we’re just getting started,” said Jason Milks, U.S. Reforestation Program director for TNC. “It’s allowed us to take our projects from an individual scale and really apply a Mississippi River-wide strategy.” That kind of acceleration has played out across multiple strategies and countries. In Southeast Europe, TNC worked with communities and governments to protect the Zeta River in Montenegro and is now expanding to work on additional rivers in the region. To date, support from Routes & Roots has helped TNC and partners secure or improve the health of an estimated 12,000 river miles, keep 88 million pounds of pollutants out of rivers and streams and benefit 1.5 million people who rely on healthy rivers and freshwater ecosystems. As it continues into the future, this Missouri-grown collaboration will be helping TNC reach its ambitious global goal to conserve 1 million kilometers of river—that is the equivalent of 621,371 river miles, enough to circle the globe 25 times.

Why I Do This Work “ The goal of the Enterprise Mobility Foundation has always been to strengthen the communities where we live and work. Back in 2017, when we had our introduction to The Nature Conservancy, we started to hear that water could be in jeopardy, so we created Routes & Roots. Access to water is critically important for all communities worldwide. We’re proud of this initiative and are thrilled about the progress TNC and partners have made to protect, preserve and improve freshwater ecosystems, habitats and security. We knew this program was going to be a success. I just don’t think we fully comprehended how successful it was going to be. The opportunities are endless. ” —Carolyn Kindle, Enterprise Mobility Foundation President

THIS PAGE TOP Mississippi headwaters at Itasca State Park outside of Park Rapids, MN. © Jenn Ackerman and Tim Gruberan THIS PAGE BOTTOM Carolyn Kindle, Enterprise Mobility Foundation President with TNC Misssouri State Director Adam McLane © Route 3 Films

NATURE.ORG/MISSOURI 15

The Nature Conservancy Missouri Chapter P.O. Box 440400 St. Louis, MO 63144 nature.org/missouri

NONPROFIT ORG US POSTAGE PAID EUREKA, MO PERMIT NO. 40

MISSOURI ACTION AND IMPACT

In This Issue

We have an important mission at The Nature Conservancy: Conserve the lands and waters on which all life depends. In this issue, we highlight several projects underway in Missouri that are making significant strides in our conservation eˆorts. Additionally, you’ll meet some of the people who are contributing to our progress. Collaborations are fundamental to our approach. We work in partnership with other organizations, landowners, corporations and especially with our supporters, who enable everything we do. Whether you’re new to TNC or have known us for years, we invite you join us. Not only do we have a mission, but we’re on a mission.

You can learn more about where we’re going and how we plan to get there at nature.org/momission or by scanning the QR code below.

Connect with us:

facebook.com/natureconservancymissouri Instagram.com/nature_missouri nature.org/linkedinmo nature.org/missouri 314-968-1105 missouri@tnc.org

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