The past couple of years have been full of challenges, and the dawn of 2022 doesn’t necessarily look like it’s going to be smooth sailing as we enter the 3rd year of the pandemic. This hasn’t stopped us from promoting our nature based, lighter touch, approach to ecological restoration. Ecotone’s less is more approach, using materials and techniques which leverage wood and resources found on-site, continues to be very good for our projects and the results we are seeing, as well as reducing the overall cost of restoration. I couldn’t be more proud of the work we are doing, leveraging ecology and nature to realize better and higher ecological outcomes.
We have always been eager to share our approach, teaching others not only what we do and how we do it, but WHY we do it. We believe that by setting the table for nature to restore itself over time is how we can scale our efforts to reach more communities and the water resources that they cherish.
In our home, the Chesapeake Bay watershed, we are excited to see that the Bay restoration community is starting to catch on to the idea that a nature-based approach is the key to slowing down polluted runoff and building balanced ecosystems. The Bay Journal’s recent article touches on everything from the history of beavers in the watershed to the cost-effective alternatives to “nuisance” beaver removal that can save infrastructure, taxpayer dollars, and deliver clean water. This is one more step forward towards being able to scale bay restoration efforts.
2022 is also the year for the second BeaverCON, and our theme is Building Climate Resilience: a nature-based approach. Due to the omicron surge, we decided it was best to move the conference to June 14-16 to ensure that we will be able to travel and gather more safely, but this also means that we have more time to put together a fantastic lineup of speakers. We are feeling the effects of climate change in real-time, and we are looking forward to spreading the word about how listening to and observing nature can help us be more resilient in a warmer world. If you feel, as I do, that this is an important message, please consider attending. I can promise you won’t regret it. If you would like to offer more support and sponsor, please reach out to me directly at smcgill@ecotoneinc.com.
