On a Mission - The Nature Conservancy in Missouri

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Looking across Missouri, we see the possibilities. We see the ranchers hoping to preserve a way of life for the next generation. We see the Ozark mountain streams that are the last refuge for species that live nowhere else. We see the school kids ready to expand their world. Since 1956, The Nature Conservancy has worked in Missouri to conserve the lands and waters that we all depend on. We have seen a lot during that time, but the most obvious is this: No matter the place or situation, everyone has an interest in ensuring that people and nature thrive. Our task has been to eliminate the barriers that stand in the way. Fortunately, finding innovative solutions is what we do best. That means working with landowners, agricultural producers, governments, businesses and fellow conservation organizations to scale freshwater solutions. It means investing in communities and leveraging our science-based approach in projects and programs that aim to improve the health and quality of life for people. We know the risks of doing nothing. The effects of a changing climate and rapidly declining biodiversity are already altering Missouri in ways that affect the health, economy and well-being of the state. But we also know that nature is resilient and that Missourians are working every day toward solutions. We are proud to work alongside them, collaborating every step of the way. We know that approach works. We see the results.

JOIN US TODAY TO PROTECT NATURE FOR MISSOURI’S FUTURE.

COVER: The Pinnacles Youth Park © Eric Kauffman Photography THIS PAGE: Bobcat © Danny Brown

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On a Mission We have an important mission at The Nature Conservancy: Conserve the lands and waters on which all life depends. That simple statement creates the framework for what we do. It helps us determine our priorities and figure out when to say yes and when to say no. It keeps us aimed in the right direction when a thousand distractions threaten to pull us off course. All of that is important, critical even. But it is not enough to simply have a mission in Missouri—we have to be on a mission. That difference adds velocity to our work. We know there are many conservation organizations with a shared mission that you could support—and we hope you do. So, what makes us different? Why should you join us on our mission? TNC’s role is unique. We are designed to be a catalyst for conservation. We are a global organization with local agility. Thanks to private funding, we have the ability to take risks on innovative techniques that provide the data and test cases that others can then use to drive progress far beyond our own work. We are conveners. We leverage our resources, science, expertise and networks to facilitate collaboration and build consensus among diverse stakeholders. It’s a role that is essential for the kind of large-scale transformative projects that are needed to move the needle. We take on these roles because, often, others are not in a position to do so, and we believe they are critical to the long-term trajectory of conservation well beyond any specific project. We don’t want to duplicate what others are doing. We look for spaces where we can provide the missing piece for success. But for TNC, these victories wouldn’t happen. That’s what makes us different. We have aggressive goals, but I know we will succeed. Our staff and trustees are a smart, passionate group, and they understand the assignment. And believe me when I tell you, they are on a mission. —Adam McLane, Missouri State Director, The Nature Conservancy

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Dunn Ranch Prairie © The Nature Conservancy

From the Ground Up Real-world solutions to protect our lands M issouri packs a world of landscapes into one state. Deep-rooted prairies adorned with hundreds of species of grasses and wildflowers. Caves that

included stewarding our own preserves across the state, but the mission extends beyond property lines. With the help of our partners, we leverage our preserves to develop, test and demonstrate practices that are good for the land and that make good financial sense for landowners and communities. We share those lessons and pitch in to support conservation efforts across the state. More than 93 percent of Missouri land is privately owned. For people and nature to thrive, it will take all of us working together. Whether it’s helping ranchers implement sustainable grazing methods or teaming up with state fire crews on controlled burns, sustainable land management practices have a powerful impact. They can boost soil fertility, sequester carbon, conserve water and create habitat. Working with others to create solutions and put those solutions to work is crucial to building a strong, healthy Missouri.

number in the thousands. Ancient Ozark mountains that predate the Rockies by more than a billion years. More than 100 natural communities, with unique terrain and inhabitants, live within Missouri’s borders. This variety is embedded in the state’s marrow, but it will take a dogged effort, rooted in science, to carry it into the future. Twin crises of plunging biodiversity and a changing climate are playing out around the globe. Missouri is not immune. The Nature Conservancy took up the mission to conserve and protect Missouri’s vital landscapes more than 60 years ago. TNC works to boost biodiversity, repairing and nurturing the habitats that shelter native plants and wildlife. That has long

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Priorities in Action: Conserving key landscapes and building partnerships

OZARKS CONSERVATION BUYER FUND The Ozarks are home to a stunning array of plants and animals, including species found nowhere else on earth. Since 2007, The Nature Conservancy has permanently protected more than 12,000 acres of vulnerable land around the Current and Jacks Fork rivers through the Howard and Joyce Wood Ozarks Conservation Buyer Fund. The fund allows TNC to buy properties and add conservation easements—permanent requirements to sustain the quality of the water, trees and other critical natural features. TNC then resells the properties and returns the proceeds to the fund to buy more properties. HABITAT STRIKE TEAMS Invasive species have the power to completely transform Missouri landscapes, choking out native plants, contributing to the biodiversity crisis and harming ecosystems drastically. One of the ways The Nature Conservancy is tackling the problem is through a new network of Habitat Strike Teams in Missouri. The small but efficient crews are staged in priority areas around the state, currently the Eastern Ozarks, Western Ozarks and Osage Grasslands. The teams work to conserve and connect quality habitat through a mix of techniques, including prescribed fire and mowing down invasives. They are also mobile. The teams were designed to be able to join partners, adding badly needed capacity when needed. The concept is scalable, and TNC plans to add a fourth team in the Grand River Grasslands in northwest Missouri, pending funding. GRASSBANK The grassbank at Dunn Ranch Prairie in northwest Missouri was TNC’s first in the central United States. It is a way to extend Dunn’s ecological impact and help our neighbors. Through an exchange, local ranchers can graze cattle for a few months a year on two specific pastures on Dunn in a unit that totals 400 acres. That buys the ranchers time to implement sustainable grazing practices on their own land, such as removing fescue and planting native grasses, removing shrubs and small trees, resting certain pastures and controlling cattle access near streams on their land. Dunn benefits, too. Strategically deploying the grazing cattle creates more patchiness of structure on the grassbank unit, which promotes biodiversity.

TOP TO BOTTOM: Ozark forest © Byron Jorjorian Prescribed fire © Doyle Murphy/TNC Grassbank © Kristy Stoyer/TNC

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LaBarque Creek © Bill Duncan

Making a Splash The ripple effect of promoting water conservation S et in the middle of the Mississippi River basin, Missouri is a key state when it comes to freshwater conservation. North America’s two longest rivers—the Mississippi and Missouri—converge on the eastern edge, and a vast network of streams, wetlands and floodplains spills across the state, supporting a stunning variety of plants and animals.

The Nature Conservancy works with partners across the state and beyond to find solutions. We follow a science-based approach, investing in projects and programs that aim to improve the health and quality of life for people. That has led to an emphasis on nature- based solutions: using plants and natural materials to rebuild eroded streambanks, reconnecting floodplains as a way to accommodate the whims of rising rivers and growing the field of green jobs to empower people and strengthen their communities. The care we put into protecting and conserving water in Missouri pays off here, but there is also a literal downstream effect. Cleaner water in the Mississippi River basin benefits ecosystems all the way to the Gulf of Mexico. It is just another way we can all work together to maximize the impact. We think that’s worth investing in.

Careful management of our water resources protects nature. It also fuels the economy, everything from farmland to float trips, and ensures the health and safety of people. That’s why it is so important to tackle rising challenges, and to do it now. Eroding riverbanks, storm runoff that carries harmful nutrients and an increase in powerful floods all challenge our ecosystems and communities.

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Priorities in Action: Conserving key landscapes and building partnerships

MOVING A MISSOURI RIVER LEVEE Following ruinous flooding in 2019 that put 56,000 acres underwater, displaced nearly 300 people and cost an estimated $25 million in agricultural revenue in Atchison County, residents knew something had to change. The Nature Conservancy helped connect them and nearly a dozen partners to create a solution that would benefit people and nature. The locally led project ultimately moved five miles of a 71-year- old federal levee inland, creating more than 1,000 acres of floodplain along the Missouri River. The floodplain gives the river room to rise and recede naturally, provides wildlife habitat and protects people from increasingly common floods. GREEN SCHOOLYARDS Transforming asphalt lots into pockets of nature is good for kids and waterways. As part of TNC’s Healthy Cities strategy, we have partnered with the St. Louis Public School District, the Missouri Department of Conservation, Dutchtown South Community Corporation and other local stakeholders to launch a green schoolyards pilot program. The new green spaces will offer access to nature and its many health benefits in neighborhoods where such access is limited. The spaces will also absorb and filter rainwater. Excess stormwater runoff can overload city drainage systems and carry pollutants into rivers FISH-FRIENDLY BRIDGES Scores of species of fish that inhabit Shoal Creek will be able to swim freely through the Ozark stream after TNC and its partners replace low- water crossings with free-span bridges. TNC has assessed dozens of such crossings—roads that cut through streams and creeks—in recent years with officials in southwest Missouri to determine priorities and inform grant applications. Low-water crossings block fish from habitat, food and their spawning grounds. And rising waters easily top the crossings, making them dangerous for drivers. As a model for future projects, the bridges will let water and wildlife flow freely underneath while creating a safer path above for people.

TOP TO BOTTOM: Missouri River © Route 3 Films Froebel Elementary © Kristy Stoyer/TNC Fish-friendly crossing © U.S. Fish and Wildlife

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Meramec River Overlook © Bill Duncan

Changing the Climate Trajectory Harnessing nature to make a difference W e tend to talk about the challenges of a changing climate as a global problem. They certainly are, but it is important to remember there is plenty we can do in Missouri. In fact, we have already started.

harmful greenhouse gases from the air. What we do to improve their health and enhance their natural abilities contributes to The Nature Conservancy’s global goal of avoiding or sequestering 3 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide each year by 2030, the equivalent of taking 650 million cars’ worth of emissions out of the air. We also work with state decision-makers and stakeholders to integrate natural solutions and climate action into policy planning efforts. Planning is crucial as Missouri and its neighbors in the central corridor of the United States play a bigger and bigger role in the shift to cleaner and diversified sources of energy. We are developing tools to speed that shift while also protecting prime farmland and vital natural habitats.

Our basic strategy is simple and effective: Harness nature to build climate resilience. When we do that, our landscapes and communities are more sustainable and better prepared to combat the effects of warming temperatures and shifting weather patterns. Fortunately, nature provides lots of opportunities. For example, restoring and managing lands and watersheds helps capture tons of carbon in Missouri plants and soil. Wetlands, grasslands and forests—we have them all, and they all help pull

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Priorities in Action: Mapping a Climate-Resilient Future

SITE RENEWABLES RIGHT We are dedicated to helping Missouri transition toward producing 30% of its energy from renewable sources by 2030. Financial tools, legislation and partnerships will help us get there. It is also important to find ways for the infrastructure that supports the growing renewable energy industry to coexist with natural systems. As much as 75% of the nation’s new large renewable energy projects will occur in the central U.S. Through smart planning with local governments, energy developers and policy leaders, those projects will speed the transition to diversified energy sources without destroying vulnerable ecosystems. Studies estimate there are roughly 120,000 square miles across 19 states in the central U.S. that offer the open spaces needed for renewables without causing problems for wildlife or important habitats. TNC’s Site Renewables Right map identifies where renewable energy can be developed in the central U.S. while conserving natural areas. RESILIENT AND CONNECTED LANDS MAPPING TOOL Conservation doesn’t happen in isolation. Every meadow, every stream, every region is a puzzle piece in a larger picture. TNC is part of an effort to figure out how those pieces fit together and then use that information and the resulting maps to make smart decisions about where to put time and resources. The Resilient and Connected Network is a proposed conservation network of representative climate-resilient sites designed to sustain biodiversity and ecological functions into the future under a changing climate. The network was identified and mapped during a 10-year period by TNC scientists using public data available at the state and national scale, and an inclusive process that involved 289 scientists from agencies, academia and NGOs across the United States. The Network is a starting point for conversations with local communities, Indigenous tribes, land trusts, agencies, corporations and funders about how to coordinate conservation efforts to increase our collective impact and sustain nature.

TOP TO BOTTOM: Wind turbine © Route 3 Films Mapping tool © The Nature Conservancy

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PEOPLE PEOPLE

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Buffalo release on Wind River Reservation © Brad Christensen

Prioritizing People and Nature Together, we will shape the future T here is no scenario where we reach our goals alone. We will only succeed through incorporating the wisdom, experiences and considerations of everyone. Across all of our strategies, The Nature Conservancy is growing

Everyone has a stake in shaping Missouri’s future. Improving access to information and resources ensures that more people can take an active role. TNC routinely shares the science, techniques and tools we use so that people can develop conservation strategies that work best in their communities. The majority of our new projects in Missouri double as demonstration sites, scalable for easy adoption. We are also constantly on the hunt for new ways to collaborate and create the opportunities. Together, we face serious barriers, including the effects of a changing climate and biodiversity crisis that are already hitting Missouri. But we know there is enough intelligence, talent and resources to reach our destination. Guided by a commitment to justice, diversity, equity and inclusion, TNC is bringing people together to so that the beauty and the bounty of Missouri will endure for future generations.

our understanding and prioritizing conservation that improves the lives of people and the outlook for nature across Missouri. That means broadening our definition of restoration to include restoring the trust and cultural connections with the original stewards of the lands and waters. It means fostering a diverse workforce of local people who can earn a living while applying proven restoration practices that strengthen their communities. And it means developing the tools and relationships needed to support an equitable transition to clean and diversified energy sources.

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Priorities in Action: Supporting People and Nature

BUFFALO RESTORATION PROGRAM Nearly wiped out by the forces of colonization, buffalo play a vital cultural, material and spiritual role in the lives and history of Native peoples. Indigenous-led efforts to restore buffalo to tribal lands have created a roadmap toward healing damage done to tribes, buffalo and the prairies. The Nature Conservancy supports those endeavors, partnering with Indigenous organizations since 2020 to transfer buffalo from TNC preserves to tribal lands. There are a dozen TNC preserves, including Dunn Ranch Prairie in Missouri, that collectively managed more than 6,000 buffalo. Those herds annually produce an excess of about 1,500 buffalo. Through its Indigenous Landscapes & Communities strategy, TNC is working with Native organizations to transfer more of those buffalo to Native nations. As a keystone species, buffalo are central to thousands of relationships within the natural landscapes of North America. Plants sprout in their hoofprints. Seeds hitch rides in their fur. And water pools in the wallows left behind by buffalo rolling in the earth, supporting new life. European settlement and the ensuing violence against Native peoples destroyed those connective webs and caused lasting, ongoing harm to Tribes, who have been longtime stewards of the land. Returning the buffalo is a gesture of healing. In the first three years of the partnership, more than 1,000 buffalo were transferred from TNC preserves, including Dunn Ranch Prairie, to Native lands.

TOP TO BOTTOM: Buffalo release on Wind River Reservation © Brad Christensen

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Lighthouse Reef Atoll, Belize © Shireen Rahimi

Change That Travels Missouri is making a difference around the world W e believe that a world where people and nature thrive is possible—and we know that we in Missouri can help. That world may feel far away right now, but we know that together, we can find a way there. We know that because, alongside partners from across the globe, we’ve spent the past 70 years beating the odds.

people whose lives depend on nature every day. We’re going to save enough healthy land to cover India—twice. Protect more than 10% of the world’s ocean and enough river to stretch around the globe 25 times. And we’re going to take 650 million cars’ worth of emissions out of the air—every year. Now, we know how huge these goals are, but we also know we can achieve them. By reaching beyond boundaries and borders, across common grounds and great divides. Through cutting-edge science and age-old wisdom. By guiding game-changing decisions and forging new funding. Step by step, side by side. Because no matter the odds, together we find the people and the paths to make change possible. Together, we find a way.

As we face down the climate and biodiversity crises, the odds seem greater than ever. But working together, we’re overcoming the barriers to progress. And planet- sized problems call for planet-sized ambitions. So, by 2030, we’re going to help 100 million people at severe risk of climate change become even more resilient. And support the leadership of 45 million

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Priorities in Action: A Boost for Healthy Rivers

ROUTES & ROOTS: ENTERPRISE HEALTHY RIVERS PROJECT

Enterprise Mobility Foundation’s support for conservation stretches across the world. Two major gifts to The Nature Conservancy power a broad portfolio of critical freshwater work through Routes & Roots: Enterprise Healthy Rivers Project. The foundation’s combined $60 million in contributions, the single largest gift to TNC’s global water work, have helped identify where natural solutions can protect drinking water in European cities, support Indigenous- led conservation of lands and waters in Canada, and boost key projects for U.S. rivers, including in the Mississippi and Colorado river basins. And that’s just a sampling. The program helps improve rivers and watersheds that benefit people and nature internationally, as well as sites right here in Missouri. CHILE Chile is home to some of Earth’s most vital landscapes. Covering 4,000 miles of South America’s Pacific Ocean coastline, the country has temperate rainforests in Patagonia, one of the world’s five Mediterranean regions and the Humbolt Current, which is an ocean highway that is one of the planet’s most productive marine systems and accounts for more than 10% of the annual global fish catch. The Nature Conservancy has worked for years with Chile’s people to conserve those treasures of biodiversity through a variety of efforts, including support for the country’s small fisheries, restoring wetlands and establishing the Valdivian Coastal Reserve in the rainforest that rises from the southern coastline. Missouri residents Nance Buth and Bibie Chronwall contributed to those efforts. Their combined generosity, totaling $24,000, will be matched by the Chile Board of Trustees. The matching campaign exceeded its goal, raising $478,000 for the Latin America Program.

TOP TO BOTTOM: The Krupa River in Croatia © Ciril Jazbec Sea lions at Chaihuin © Nick Hall

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Grand River Grasslands CCI © Doyle Murphy/TNC

Centers for Conservation Innovation Leveraging our lands to support new solutions U nsurprisingly, we are big fans of science at The Nature Conservancy. The research and insights of scientists—some on our staff but many not—guide our efforts to develop the latest conservation strategies.

We are currently establishing three centers: • Grand River Grasslands CCI: Located at TNC’s Little Creek Farm in northwest Missouri with access to neighboring Dunn Ranch Prairie, conservation themes include tallgrass prairie restoration, prescribed fire training, hydrological restoration, sustainable grazing, soil health and biodiversity research. • Missouri River Center CCI: Overlooking the Missouri River in Boone County, possibilities for the site include floodplain and wetland restoration, environmental education, recreation and perennial agriculture, which is the cultivation of crops that live through multiple growing seasons without needing to be replanted. • Ozark Woodlands CCI: Near Van Buren, the site features restoration of characteristic Ozark habitats, prescribed fire training and the potential for biodiversity research.

For years, we have welcomed researchers to our Missouri preserves to study everything from sustainable grazing to the lives of lizards. Our new Centers for Conservation Innovation (CCI) take our support to another level. The CCI program will be a network of TNC properties managed to offer opportunities to research natural systems, test new conservation strategies in a real-world setting and educate the public.

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The Nature Conservancy About Us Year the Nature Conservancy opened a Missouri chapter 1956 1951 year The Nature Conservancy formed Global members 1M+ Acres we’ve helped protect in Missouri 150K+ 40+ years TNC has been conducting prescribed fires in Missouri

We impact conservation in 79 countries and territories We have more than 400 scientists on staff globally

Dunn Ranch Prairie © Doyle Murphy/TNC

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Prescribed burn © Kelly Martin/TNC

Join Us The Nature Conservancy in Missouri is grateful for the commitment and dedication of our supporters. Champions like you make our work possible and have been instrumental in getting us to where we are today. As we face the challenges of a future with more demands on our natural resources, we need everyone at the table to create a world—a Missouri— where people and nature thrive, for nature’s sake and for the well-being of future generations. This future is possible—if, and only if, we implement responsible solutions today. Together, we can shift the world from “business as usual” to a future where people get the food, energy and economic growth they need and deserve without sacrificing nature. We are the generation that can change this trajectory. The Nature Conservancy is the organization that can achieve this transformational change. You can make it possible. Our time is now.

P.O Box 440400 St. Louis, MO 63144

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314-968-1105 missouri@tnc.org

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