2013 National Native Seed Conference

CSR’s CEO Steve Paulsen presented “Oil and Gas Restoration, Challenges with Native Seed” at the 2013 National Native Seed Conference last month in New Mexico.

On public lands Oil and Gas producers are expected to hold the line with the Washington mandate of Native only restoration. This has proven to be a challenge in many respects. This talk focused on Native seed and the difficulties industry is faced with in obtaining appropriate volumes and species for its restoration needs.

Native seed diversity and Native seed availability are uniquely challenged with the scope and scale of surface disturbance that needs to be reclaimed annually. Steve addressed those challenges, and the logistical and economic issues that prevent seed producers from meeting the market demand.

“The National Native Seed Conference was a great benefit to all parties involved with collection, production, sale, and even installation of Native Seeds globally. This was a very worthwhile venue and one I look forward to attending again.” -Steven Paulsen

Inspiring Kids with Nature

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Inspiring Kids with Nature, by Steven Paulsen

For a time I worked in Chicago, Illinois. More specifically, I had the opportunity to work on the Chicago City Park Lagoon Systems. The overall project was an effort to restore the man made lagoon systems back to some semblance of the great Fredrick Law Olmsted’s former design, green rooms and such. Where the project and work of restoring historic significance using exclusively native plants was a wonderful undertaking (that I am just now realizing how fortunate I was to be a part of) that is not the story I am going to tell.

As a result of the restoration work, my proximity to it, I was afforded the opportunity to work with hundreds of intercity children that had limited access to any wild land interface. These kids came from a hugely diverse and socially divergent background. Many had never been more than a couple of miles from their homes and schools. Some had literally been around the world and their families landed in America as refugees. Others had parents that were academic scholars. With all of that diversity in culture, education, and social upbringing, they had at least (by my estimation and experience) a few things they could all get behind. They all had an unbelievable desire to learn about nature. None of them were “too cool” to be interested. None of them shunned any question from the group.

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As a restoration professional I think often of the pure, unadulterated happiness that a young person can show without being conscious of their outward display.

I would meet the school children in a small reclaimed tall grass prairie in downtown Chicago. I was familiar with the Plants, Birds, Butterflies, and Dragonflies that frequented the site and would take great pleasure in teaching the names, habits, and needs in general of the species found during our “hike”. We would talk at length about fire cycles and tall grass prairies, indigenous peoples that lent their knowledge to us so we could Steward the Land. We spent time discussing the difference between “maintaining a space” and “stewarding” one. Once in a while a unique and offhand question would come out of the crowd but typically everyone had their head pointed down looking for insects in the prairie, or pointed up looking for the next butterfly or bird sighting.

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I participated in these field trips for an entire semester and enjoyed every single one. But it was not until I received a packet in the mail containing the children’s school reports documenting the trips that I understood the true value of wild land interface.

Every once in a while I stumble across these reports and they truly make me smile. I believe Kids and Nature are an undeniable fit: they want to know more about the world around them. If someone is good enough to share with them any of their anecdotal experiences, it would almost certainly help create value/values in a young person’s mind. The same is true for those of us that might not qualify as “Kids” anymore.

I think it best to encourage everyone to take the time to teach, and if teaching is too scary for your personality type, perhaps take the time to share/communicate some point of interest. In my experience it does not need to be complicated, just true. Say something, if you do not, who do you suppose will? Values are taught not inherited.

(originally published on Native Plants and Wildlife Gardens)

Endangered Species

Endangered species are not limited to far away rain forests. Species, like Preble’s Meadow Jumping Mouse, are threatened by habitat alteration, degradation, loss, and fragmentation resulting from urban development, flood control, water development, agriculture, and other human land uses.

Habitat restoration is critical in urban and suburban settings where commercial and residential development has impacted all natural areas. Native landscapes and areas positively impact the quality of the environment by improving air, water, and soil quality throughout the community while providing habitat for local & migratory wildlife, birds, and insects.

Stream Restoration Site Visit

Stream restoration site visit southwest of Casper, WY.

CSR, Inc.’s restoration practices lead the environmental and native restoration industry. The design, installation, and stewardship of native functioning ecosystems is the primary focus of our company.

Before any restoration design or installation can be completed, research and monitoring of the site and surrounding areas is done so that an accurate baseline of data is established.

5th Annual Oil and Gas Statewide Reclamation Conference

The 5th Annual Oil and Gas Statewide Reclamation Conference is this Thursday the 6th, at the Parkway Plaza in Casper Wyoming. CSR’s Steven Paulsen will be presenting “Before and After, a Discussion of Two (Reclamation) Sites”

Conservation Seeding & Restoration Inc will also be hosting a social event the evening before at the World Famous Wonderbar for the attendees, speakers, and exhibitors.

Multi-Phase Native Restoration

Conservation Seeding and Restoration Inc has begun another native restoration near Gooding, Idaho. To begin, CSR’s Natural Resource Department gathered data/monitoring information of existing plant composition, and then compiled a multi-phase restoration plan. Once the plan was established, a controlled burn was done to make way for native plant seeding and a live plant installation of Antelope Bitterbrush, Purshia tridentata. Next, the entire site  was scouted and treated for noxious weeds such as Canada thistle and Russian knapweed. Restoration will continue with chemical spot treatments for cheatgrass and continued monitoring.

International Erosion Control Association (IECA)

The International Erosion Control Association (IECA) is a non-profit, member organization that provides education, resource information and business opportunities for professionals in the erosion and sediment control industry.

Steven Paulsen is one of three principal owners of CSR, Inc. He oversees all aspects of Conservation Seeding & Restoration, Inc. operations. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Rangeland Ecology and Watershed Management. Steven has worked in restoration, conservation, and land stewardship since acquiring his degree. Before starting CSR, Inc. he worked for Conservation Land Stewardship and Applied Ecological Services, Inc., two restoration companies that were instrumental in forming a passion for the work he does today with CSR, Inc.

Native Plant Focus: Holodiscus discolor, Hillside Oceanspray

(photo: Dave Powell, USDA Forest Service, Bugwood.org)
(photos: Walter Siegmund)

OceanSpray, Holodiscus discoloris, is a many-stemmed, spreading shrub that normally grows 4-5 ft. tall but can reach 7 ft. The stems are slender and often arching, bearing deeply lobed and toothed, deciduous foliage. During the flowering season (May-August), the shrub is a complete mass of tiny, fragrant, creamy-white flowers arranged in large, plumed clusters. Older bark is dark red to brown or gray and exfoliating. Swallowtail, Azure, and Lorquins admiral butterflies benefit from this native shrub.

OceanSpray is a member of the rose family (family Rosaceae) which includes about 2000 species of trees, shrubs, and herbs worldwide; approximately 77 native and 9 naturalized tree species and many species of shrubs and herbs in North America.

This shrub is a colorful reclaimer of open or disturbed lands.

(Lady Bird Johnson Wildflowers)

Ouray National Wildlife Refuge, Fall 2011

The Green River as it winds through the Ouray National Wildlife Refuge. The refuge is located 30 miles southwest of Vernal in northeastern Utah. It consists of 11, 987 acres including 12 miles of the Green River.

Antelope at the Ouray National Wildlife Refuge with the Green River flood plain in the background.

Transect tape in a typical 6’ X 40’ subplot at an experimental site at Ouray. In this photo you can see the native grass seed rows from the spring 2011 planting. The weedy shrub-like plant is Kochia weed, a real problem at the refuge.

CSR is contracted as a consultant to the Ouray National Wildlife Refuge. This Restoration project consists of installing the revegetation experiment as designed, monitoring the response of native species and invasive species, collecting and interpreting raw data including statistical analysis, and to provide interim and final reports on the project status and results.

CSR Installs Native Wetland & Riparian Plants on the Ruby Pipeline

The CSR Ruby Restoration Team  recently installed wetland and riparian plants on the Ruby Pipeline. As part of the restoration project, 3,700 native plants have found a happy home near streams and creeks that were impacted during the pipeline construction. Species include: four different willow species, Gardner’s saltbush, Woods Rose, Four-line honeysuckle, Red Osier dogwood, Shrubby cinquefoil, cottonwoods, and boxelders.