Jalene Littlejohn promotes private lands restoration as the new Region 1 Partners for Fish and Wildlife coordinator | U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (2024)

By Jan Peterson, for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

From a young age, Jalene Littlejohn was clear about the fact she wanted to pursue a career in ecology. But how she would do that evolved throughout her studies at Portland State University, in Oregon. Littlejohn says there was a big emphasis on communications and practical science applications in the master’s program she was in, and that proved to be a big influence on the trajectory her career took.

“I really wanted to help address the various challenges wildlife have for their habitat and resilience into the future – so things like climate change climate change
Climate change includes both global warming driven by human-induced emissions of greenhouse gases and the resulting large-scale shifts in weather patterns. Though there have been previous periods of climatic change, since the mid-20th century humans have had an unprecedented impact on Earth's climate system and caused change on a global scale.

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“In grad school, my only vision for a successful ecologist was to be out in the field, collecting data, and working directly with wildlife. Midstream in graduate school, I had a meltdown moment where I told my advisor, ‘I don’t think I can be a scientist because I’m always the people person. I’m the one talking about people, how they interact with their environment and how they should be involved in the various conservation efforts I was involved in,’” Littlejohn recalls.

“Luckily, I had an amazing advisor who convinced me that my strength was in the combination of both of those things.’ I felt better with a new vision and thrived in an environment with both good, rigorous, science training while soaking up perspectives and strategies for things like inclusive community engagement and science communications,” she says.

She put her understanding of science, community engagement and communications skills to work by first cofounding a nonprofit and then a consulting firm to support clients who were bringing governmental and nongovernmental groups together to solve ecological problems.

About 10 years into doing that work, Littlejohn spotted an opportunity with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that intrigued her: A program coordinator position in Region 1 for the Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program (PFW).

Littlejohn says she loved what she was doing in consulting with clients on a diversity of engagement and communications projects, but she also had a place in her heart for the Service. When she looked more deeply into the PFW program, “I was really impressed that the Service had a program that was private lands restoration-focused and very centered around people working with the land who want to support wildlife as well. I took a leap and applied for it, not really knowing that would be where my path went, but lo and behold, here I am.”

Littlejohn was hired for the position in June 2022.

The Service launched the PFW Program in 1987 to engage with private landowners to voluntarily restore their properties for the benefit of federal trust species. PFW team members connect one on one with landowners to outline their personal needs, help identify restoration opportunities that fit within and/or support their unique situation, and to help them secure the funding, materials and volunteers they need to make restoration happen.

These individual acre-by-acre partnerships with landowners and land managers on private and Tribal lands are crucial. The Service reports more than 50% of the nation’s wetlands have been destroyed, 70% of riparian riparian
Definition of riparian habitat or riparian areas.

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Littlejohn says the PFW program provides a custom-tailored partnership between Service biologists, partners, organizations, agencies, Tribes and individual landowners. She says that PFW team members have a successful track record of building a strong network of conservation champions, bridging political divides and overcoming distrust of federal government.

The program – active in all 50 states and territories– is the private lands restoration program of the Service. Rather than relying on regulatory activities, the PFW focuses entirely on voluntary conservation and practical solutions

For example, PFW biologists recently worked with a landowner in the Bismark, Idaho, area to restore a natural stream and wetlands by simulating beaver activity. The restoration work was designed to support recolonization of peatland plants and enhance wildlife for migratory birds and pollinators. The additional payoff is improving aquatic conditions in Reeder Creek, a listed stream for sediment and temperature. Once beavers return, they can reclaim their role as ecosystem engineer.

“Installing structures mimicking those typically constructed by beavers creates an environment with slower water, more habitat for fish and more water overall retained on site so it’s more resilient to climate change or drought,” Littlejohn says. “In most cases, financial assistance will be granted to the landowner combined with their time, equipment or cash to match depending on the project.”

She says one of the biggest benefits for the landowner is they can still use their property for production. “Another example is rotational or prescribed grazing to support a cattle operation and a listed species like Kincaid’s lupine at the same time. A grower wouldn’t necessarily know they need to protect this particular field from this month to that month. With minor changes and one-on-one help to make it happen, they’re seeing Kincaid’s lupine flourish, but they’re also seeing better grazing because of the resulting regenerative impact. We can support both conservation and a landowner’s livelihood,” Littlejohn says.

Littlejohn says she has a lot of hopes for the program moving forward.

“I want to continue to support the program by lifting up the hard work of our PFW team in the field, the private landowners, Tribes and other partners that we work with,” she says. “I don’t want to imply my goals are all aspirational because it’s really about sustaining and growing the great work already happening on the ground,” Littlejohn says.

“There’s an opportunity for us to really understand the economic, social and environmental benefits this program brings. I was drawn to this program for its mission and after starting, I am double-down-committed to this program as the work we do is a critical component to the future success of conservation efforts.”

Conservation efforts like those explored in this story align with the America the Beautiful initiative, a decade-long campaign to conserve, connect and restore 30% of our lands and waters by 2030. The effort aims to support locally led and voluntary conservation and restoration efforts across public, private, and Tribal lands and waters in order to create jobs and strengthen the economy’s foundation; tackle the climate and nature crises; and address inequitable access to the outdoors.