The SGI Blog
May 2019 marked the kick-off of SGI’s project exploring and documenting riverscour grasslands in the Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area along the rugged and beautiful Clear Fork River. This work, funded by the National Park Service, will document the flora and plant communities of open habitats in the riparian corridor as well as map populations of rare and invasive species.
It was on the northeastern edge of the Southeast that Euro-American settlers first began the slow process of obliterating the ancient grasslands, and the loss of these ecosystems spread from here to the south and west. Many of these grasslands were gone before they could be described, studied by naturalists, painted, or photographed.
Parts 1-6: As Executive Director of a new but rapidly growing conservation organization, one of the most frequently asked questions that I get is, “how can you conserve Southeastern grasslands when most types have disappeared by more than 90 percent?” This is the full 6-part blog post from Dwayne Estes that answers that question!
Part 4 of 6: Urban or wild, either will work just fine. Efforts in the greater Chicago area prove that great grassland restoration can happen both in rural areas and in the heart of one of the nation's largest cities. SGI aims to bring similar approaches to dozens of communities across our 23 state region, including Austin, TX and Charlotte, NC.
Part 5 of 6: The sky is the limit! The Chicago-style methods of restoration can be applied to sites smaller than 1 acre or they can be scaled up to cover several square miles. It can be done in the Southeast as well and SGI will lead the way. Let's dream big and find a way to rebuild grasslands that stretch to the horizon.
