[PROJECT SUMMARY] Northern Great Plains Media: Showcasing working landscapes and the power of partnership

Background

Target outcomes

  • To provide a detailed illustration of the Northern Great Plains grasslands and the importance of the collaborative conservation being done to sustain this threatened ecosystem.
  • To profile groups whose work supports the aims of the NFWF NGPP’s Business Plan.
  • To strengthen grantees’ outreach, funding, and education efforts.
  • To attract funds to NFWF NGPP and the profiled grantees.

Target audiences

  • Current and potential funding partners, both to NFWF NGPP and to individual grantees
  • Landowners and producers, especially ranching communities, that individual grantees aspire to engage

Grasslands are one of the most imperiled ecosystems in the world. Across North America, over half of native grasslands have been permanently lost to cropland, energy infrastructure, and urbanization. Much of the remaining grasslands face continued risk of conversion despite their essential support to economies, wildlife, and climate regulation.

Successful restoration depends on collaboration among key stakeholders to protect this largely privately owned, working landscape. The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) has outlined a Northern Great Plains Program (NGPP) Business Plan whose main outcomes are to support successful models for the conservation of grassland habitats and targeted grassland species.

Conservation Media has been awarded a contract to create a series of films for NFWF NGPP. These pieces will profile collaborative stewardship initiatives in the Northern Great Plains to demonstrate that maintaining healthy ecosystems supports community livelihoods.

Each piece within the series will highlight the work of individual grantees whose projects contribute to the outcomes of the Business Plan. As a whole, the series will support NFWF NGPP’s overall mission to impact 1 million acres of grasslands through land protection, improved management, and restoration by 2026.

Map of land-use changes showing agricultural conversion (“plowprint,” in brown and orange) and development (in yellow) across North American grasslands to the Northern Great Plains is outlined in yellow. From World Wildlife Fund’s 2020 Plowprint Report.

Collaborators

Conservation Media is working with NFWF to produce this series. The nation’s largest private conservation grant-maker, NFWF funds projects that work to achieve specific outcomes in priority landscapes and initiatives.

The NFWF NGPP is one of the programs through which NFWF awards grants toward wildlife and habitat conservation. In addition to investing in focal areas and species, NGPP also prioritizes capacity building, enabling communities to focus on local partnerships and solutions.

For each piece within the series, Conservation Media will be telling the story of specific grantees who are local leaders in conservation. These stakeholders include science non-profits, tribal nations, and community-led organizations:

Products

Conservation Media will create four short-form (under 7-minute) films and their social-media versions highlighting collaborative and sustainable land-use initiatives in the Northern Great Plains. The films will feature a subset of habitat and species conservation projects by NFWF NGPP grantees.

The series is tentatively envisioned to be screened at a yearly NFWF NGPP stakeholder meeting in October 2022. Subsequently, it will be used for ongoing communications by NFWF to highlight their partnerships, and by grantees in their own outreach campaigns.

Locations and topics for film series

Locations of potential sites for each film.
Brown=black-footed ferret, Green=woodland encroachment, Orange=ranching stewardship, Blue=grassland bird monitoring

“SAVING A GRASSLANDS ICON” The black-footed ferret is a highly endangered grassland specialist. This piece highlights the efforts of the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe to restore the ferret (a species historically on their land) through wildlife management and rancher engagement to address perceptions of ferrets and their prey.
Grantee: Lower Brule Sioux Tribe
Film site: Lower Brule Sioux Reservation, SD 

“THE WAR ON CEDAR”  Woodland encroachment (the expansion of conifers and other woody plants) degrades grasslands and poses a serious threat to grassland- based economies. The Sandhills Task Force, a key player in habitat restoration, proactively works with ranching communities to treat and prevent encroachment.
Grantee: Sandhills Task Force
Film site: The Sandhills, NE

“RANCHING, CONSERVATION, COMMUNITIES”  Sustainable ranching is vital for grassland restoration. Rancher-led organizations build partnerships between conservation groups and producers, providing local communities with resources to maintain the healthy working grasslands that support their culture and livelihoods.
Grantees: Rancher Stewardship Alliance and Winnett ACES
Film sites: Malta, TNC Matador Ranch, and Winnett, MT

“AVIAN SCIENCE LEADS TO GRASSLANDS ACTION” Collaborative, data-driven monitoring of grassland birds provides information that can be used to evaluate ecosystem health and guide management practices benefiting both birds and landowners.
Grantee: Bird Conservancy of the Rockies
Film sites: Sturgis, Belle Fourche, and Spearfish, SD