Image caption: Spring at Port Louisa National Wildlife Refuge. Jessica Bolser/USFWS Spring is almost here, which means it’s time for more Midwest Landscape Initiative webinars! Throughout the spring and summer of 2025, the MLI is hosting webinars on a variety of topics. All are welcomed and encouraged to attend. Please register using the links […]
Image Caption: Bare Bluff overlooking Lake Superior. Courtney Celley/USFWS In 2025-2026, the Midwest Landscape Initiative is expanding the Midwest Conservation Blueprint to include the nearshore waters of the Great Lakes. Overview The Great Lakes is one of the world’s most treasured freshwater systems and is pivotal to human lives and livelihoods, including drinking water for […]
Kelly VanBeek will serve as the first U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Midwest Grassland and Native Seed Strategy Coordinator starting October 6th. In this role, Kelly will support collaborative grassland conservation and management actions across multiple sectors, including habitat, agriculture, and ecosystem services, and will provide coordination around native seed development, distribution, and use across […]
With increasing threats to the environment such as climate change and habitat loss, increasing the health and diversity for our midwest lands and waters is dependent on our ability to collaborate. The passionate staff of the Midwest Landscape Initiative, including agency team members from Science Applications, and its dedicated partners are here to protect our […]
Overview and Next Steps Summit Overview: The Midwest Grasslands Summit, held from August 27-29, was a noteworthy success, gathering over 100 participants. The thoughtful engagement and diverse perspectives shared about Midwest grasslands led to meaningful discussions and strategic planning. For a closer look at the event, the booklet agenda offers a detailed overview of each […]
Writing grant applications, coordinating among multiple partners and adapting to ever-changing project details can be overwhelming experiences for many of us. In spring of 2024, one group of partners realized success as they activated the assistance of the Midwest Landscape Initiative and used the Midwest Conservation Blueprint as evidence to help attract funding for their […]
Collaborative conservation takes time, and our investments pay off when we find shared priorities and create tools to help us make better decisions. We are excited to share that the Midwest Conservation Blueprint is now available to assist collaborative, landscape conservation efforts across the Midwest. The Midwest Conservation Blueprint is a base map of priority lands and […]
The Midwest Landscape Initiative (MLI) hosted an introductory webinar about the Midwest Conservation Blueprint on October 11, 2023. View this to get started using the blueprint. When questions arise or you are interested in learning more, check out our schedule below to attend additional webinars, meet the creators, and connect with other users. A recording […]
In anticipation of the MAFWA Annual Directors Meeting in Wisconsin from June 25-28, the Midwest Landscape Initiative (MLI) hosted an informational webinar on June 2, 2023, from 8:30-9:30 CT. Speakers included the MLI Staff. Participants attended the webinar to: Learn more about the MLI, how it started, who is participating, and where we are going […]
The MLI is helping connect states that want to develop collaborative, landscape-scale conservation proposals for the 2023 America the Beautiful Challenge grant. We’re looking for projects that would benefit from intergovernmental collaboration and that align with MAFWA’s three priority areas: 1) functional, connected grassland systems; 2) health and function of aquatic systems; and 3) improved, interconnected […]
