I'm Cody jolliffe.

I'm the chief executive officer here at .. Gardens, Kansas City's botanical garden.

We are all about the Midwest spirit of place here at Powell Gardens.

So come and learn about Midwest plants and also botanical plants from around the world.

Paul Garden's history starts back in about 1988 with the establishment of the Botanical Garden.

Before that, this was a Boy Scout olive branch,.. and before that it was the Paul's family dairy farm.

So has a long history with the Paul family, and now it's something for all Kansas City to come and enjoy.

So Paul Gardens has se..

So not only on site here, we also manage some prairie land off site of Paul Gardens.

You know, we're in several, projects about soil health.

So in terms of soil health, it's estimated that perhaps we only have 60 years left of, soil health as it is today.

And so that's something we're very invested in here, is figuring out that in this education institution with, Midwest Center for Regenerative Agriculture.

We also have great partners.

We have universities in the area.

So we're also really excited to join with the National Audubon Society and their certified ranching program.

So this is the way that the cattle and sheep graze the property.

So they're moved every couple of days on to new,.. And this really creates great habitat for bird life.

So already in some of the studies we've done here at Powell, we have a very diverse, bird life.

And we're continuing, those practices th..

So everything we do from how we cut hay, how we move the cows from place to place, grazing or the sheep, it's just really great to see those, processes in place.

So the Midwest Center for Regenerative Agriculture, launched this past spring, and this is a huge initiative for us.

You know, globally and especially here in the United States, we have to figure out where food is coming from.

And, soil health is declining and we only have a certain number of years left, for that.

So here at Paul Gardens, we have kind of three different phases with our, Midwest Center for General Agriculture.

We have some grazing, conservation grazing.

That's going on with sheep and a small herd of cattle.

We also are raising, bees and as well as, agroforestry.

So we have some, trees that we are growing, saplings and such for it.

So that's kind of the first..

But the main purpose for the Midwest Center for General Agriculture is an education institution.

So we have partners across the region, not only in the state of Missouri and Kansas and, you know, it.. to come and learn these new processes.

And it's not going to be overnight.

You know, as we look throughout history, it's taken a long time for these methods to change.

And agriculture.

And so we just want to be, a small step and a help, in our region to get that accomplished.

My name is Dan Croll, and I'm a co-founder of Good Oak, which is a regenerative agriculture company that's in a partnership here at Bell Gardens.

Good Oak is a regenerative agriculture company that my business partner, Jacob and I and some friends of ours founded, with the intention of finding a way to scale regenerative agriculture in a way that spreads some of the great ideas that people are doing on smaller scales, to larger acreages.

I think our long term goal is to take tilled ground where we're growing annuals, you know, like corn and soy and these sorts of things, and turn it into a more perennial agricult.. that mimics the ecosystems of our region.

And we're in the process of building towards that.

And one step in that process has been this partnership here at Pal Gardens.

My name is Jacob Canyon.

I'm a co-founder of Good Oak.

Paul Gardens is already has a really robust conservation program, and they've got almost 800 acres of land outside the botanical garden that needs to be used and utilized in a better way.

So this partnership allows us to demonstrate that our regenerative farming techniques in a space that has lots of engagement with the public and is with an organization that's got an aligned mission.

Regenerative agriculture is any form of agriculture that grows the commons that makes the soil, makes the land better than it was when you worked on it.

We do that by mimicking natural ecosystems.

So every piece of food that was ever grown on the planet, that was ever eaten by any animal, was grown through natural processes that didn't have humans involved in i..

So how did all these trees get here without fertilizer or being watered or tended?

Well, there's there's some way.

Right.

So what we do is we try and find how that works and mimic it, and then we try and make our farm sy.. would work.

Right?

So we put in fewer inputs, we do less work, and all the animals around us can live off of and interact with that ecosystem while we're also getting food from it.

So I can definitely say, for example, that my sheep here are highly regenerative in reducing carbon emissions because they're eating only the vegetables that are growing on this site.

We're not bringing in grain from anywhere else, so it's really hard to see how this is creating any carbon emissions.

And on the flip side, as they graze this pasture, they're stimulating .. to actually put more carbon in the soil.

So we're sequestering carbon.

So it's very carbon positive.

So we try and think of things holistically back out like what what can we do that leaves the ground healthier than it was before.

That makes it stronger and more productive every year.

The farm that we're building here will involve large agroforestry plantings, which is just a fancy word for using trees as crops.

And the advantage there is you can plant the tree like a pecan or a walnut or a chestnut, or a persimmon or a plum, or any of the maybe 30 species that we're using.

And that tree will live decades or centuries and continue to produce fruit, as opposed to doing cereal crops like corn or, crops like soybeans that you have to till and replant every year.

So that shift to a perennial agriculture system, again, just helps build the integrity of the soil.

And those trees themselves are sequestering carbon, providing shade, providing habitat for wildlife.

The whole time.

Some of our goals for the future here at Powell are to convert a lot of this scrub land by removing invasive species and creating savanna and grassland that can be used for grazing, but also production of food for people.

We have plans to plant, large scale agroforestry systems, and using that to educate the next, the next generation of farmers at the same time.

So that'll be some of our long term goals.

Right now we're standing at Powell Gardens on their thousand acre property, near Kingsville, Missouri, and Johnson County, Missouri.

And there is a beautiful world class botanical garden.

There's three miles of hiking trails.

There's sheep, there's cows, there's hogs.

Please come and visit.

If you want to find out more information, you can find us at Powell gardens.org.

So if people want to become involved with the Midwest Center for .. you know, you can become involved even if you're not in farming or agriculture business.

Obviously you can come and give your, your time and talent to help..

So to learn more about the Midwe.. you can always visit Paul gardens.org.

You can also find out about our other conservation projects that we have here.

Learn about all of the plants here at Paul Gardens.

They're even catalog.

You can see that on there.

And you can follow our blog and social media.

So we're always talking about what's upcoming at Powell Gardens and what's new and conservation, as well as community events.

Yeah.

I'm .. manager here at Ranch Conservation Nature Center.

Yeah.

Ranch.. And we are one of about nine different conservation education centers throughout the state.

All of this, nature centers and education centers came about, the citizens actually voted to tax themselves back in 1976, a like our wildlife or natural resources.

They wanted to make sure people took care of our natural resources.

And so in 1976, they decided to dedicate one eighth of 1% sales tax for everything in Missouri.

That goes to Missouri conservation.

And that was a fantastic move for us, because it allowed us a lot of resources to invest in our natural resources in Missouri.

And maybe even more important than that, it was really a testimony to how much Missourians value our natural resources and value, somebody like the conservation Department taking care of those protecting and managing our natural resources.

Becky Matney on the assistant manager and volunteer coordinator for the Runge Conservation Nature Center.

My job at the Runge Nature Center is I coordinate and supervise up to 54 volunteers here at the nature Center.

I also supervise three naturalists, who are the ones that present programs and opportunities for the public to enjoy nature.

So our volunteers at this at the Runge Nature Center, provide a variety of opportunities for people who enjoy nature, whether that's through presenting programs on hiking, or they actually will do programs on gardening and pollinators.

And then even they'll do archery, fishing, outdoor skills, things like that.

Other volunteers.

What they'll do is they, help with our animals so they'll feed our animals, clean their cages, get them ready for the exhibits, and then we also have volunteers that just like to greet at the front desk.

So they're just there to giv.. Hello.

How are you?

When people walk in the doors?

My name is Sarah Easton and I'm a ..

I get to work with lots of different groups of people, big and small, old and young, and, my hope is that I can connect them to nature in some way, even if it's just one small little action.

Hopefully that has impacts down the line later in their life.

Specifically, I work with our our little house participants.

I work with our Little Acorns program, which are toddlers, from age 0 to 6.

And that's really impactful for me.

I know that I'm building a foundation for them based in conservation that they can care for the environment and hopefully continue that through through the rest of their life.

Here at ranch, as a naturalist, I do all the programs that the other naturalist do.

So helping with outdoor skills, archery, kayaking, fishing, all that stuff.

Field trip programs just got done with the predators program today.

Reptiles, amphibians, all that fun stuff.

But I'm also the primary animal caretaker.

So things like this guy right here, this eastern box turtle I help take care of, all of the animals that you can see here at run.

I'm the person who's making sure that they're getting fed their clean, they're happy, they're healthy.

All of that stuff is okay.

So with guests who are coming to vi.. you are more than welcome to come to the front desk and ask any questions about nature that you might have.

A lot of times, the front desk people will come and grab a naturalist, and while you're happy to try to answer everything that you have, so I help do that a lot.

Help answer questions about a plant that you found in your backyard, and you're not 100% certain what it is.

Lots of snakes, maybe even a turtle.

So we hope I do things that you might find in nature.

And then also helping with programs.

So we lead a variety of different programs on a variety of different topics, including crafting programs and stuff like that.

So we try to make sure that we're well-rounded and what we're offering people so we can answer all kinds of different nature related questions.

So at Range Nature.. And we start with actually with kids ages zero eight babies to two years old.

The other set of programs there's six.

The main thing that we focus on is getting out and getting engaged.

So for example, one of my favorite preschool programs is a sensory walk or a sensory hike.

And we have kids that go through.

We encourage them to, feel leaves, hear the sound of leaves crunching, you know, smell different plants, some o..

Listen, for birds, maybe wildlife sounds that are, you know, far away.

They wouldn't normally think about hearing those unless they listen to them on purpose and just kind of focusing on how all people really, learn through stimulation of our senses and just acknowledging that importance and engaging those senses.

And so even in programs where we do have to go inside, like for a big group or something like that, we have engaging things.

We encourage people to feel things.

We'll let them, touch a snake or toad or salamander or something like that.

Yeah.

.. Why do we want you to know this information or why should we care?

And it is it's important to get people to realize that, even the smaller items, like insects, they play such an important role in our balance of nature, in our in our ecosystems.

And so we do try to drive in that.

Why?

Why is it needed?

Why are things needed?

Even mosquitoes, unfortunately, they are needed.

They are a part of the ecosystem.

And we also want people to understand the impacts that if insects were gone, if birds were gone, what would happen?

And so there is kind of a a teaching moment because yes, butterflies, birds, they're amazing.

They're beautiful, they're awesome.

But also knowing that if they these resources were not here, it actually would devastate our our entire ecosystem, not just locally but also globally.

So we do try to incorporate as much as possible the impacts that could happen if, if nature was not here.

That atmosphere that we want to create is one of of welcoming.

We are a free facility.

All of our programs, all of our activities and events, all of our services are free.

And so we want people to feel welcome here.

We remove that obstacle, we're open.

8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, 8 to 5.

But we're open late on Thursday until 8 p.m. it gives families a chance to come visit us and come to our programs and activities.

You know, after work, after school, after dinner.

That is another opportunity that they have to come and try to remove all the obstacle we can for people that to come out and, and engage with us.

I think, you know, being outside in nature and being .. and the larger environment around us has so many benefits.

Personally, for your own personal health and mental health, and for the community itself.

So I really encourage people to, to get out, whether it's here at Runge or somewhere else.

But tell your friends, bring your f..

It surprises me.

People who don't know about runs right here in their own backyard.

In 2019, a combination of a few different weather events created really the perfect circumstances for a really extreme flood event on the Missouri River in particular.

But throughout the Midwest, a cold winter with a lot of snowpack out west, combined with late winter storms, a storm system that not only dropped a lot of water and precipitation on the on the landscape, but that rain pushed and melted a lot of that snow into the streams as well.

And so you had a lot of water coming really fast.

In Atchison County, in the northwest part of Missouri, 56,000 acres were under water.

During the peak of the flood, nearly 300 people had to evacuate their homes.

And so there is massive loss of crop revenue, upwards of $25 million, massive loss of land and loss of homes in that area.

My name is Rob hunt.

I'm the director of Resilient Waters for the Nature Conservancy in Missouri.

So I'm responsible for our, water conservation strategies across the state.

And we have a variety of different projects and programs we're working on under that strategy.

The Nature Conservancy is a science based, organized nation, and we're really motivated in our strategies and goals by this dual crisis of climate change and biodiversity loss.

We as an organization globally, are driven by a set of goals that we call the 2030 goals, and those are focused on land and water protection and conservation, as well as impacts to, people around the world.

The flooding in 2019 provided an opportunity for people that live and work along the river to really think about our river systems.

Many of these communities had experienced flood year over a year, not just in 2019.

The idea of not building the levee back where it was, but moving it away from the river further.

Really started on the ground level with the landowners and the Levee District and Atchison County.

And so the Levee District and those local residents started reaching out to collaborate with partners, including federal agencies like the Corps of Engineers, state agencies, like Department, Natural Resources and Department of Conservation and organizations like The Nature Conservancy.

My name is Aaron Fanning, and I am the program director for the Water Resources Center, which is part of the Missouri Geological Survey, a division within the Missouri Department of Natural Resources.

Natural resources works on, protecting and preserving our natural resources in Missouri.

We work on providing recreational and learning opportunities, and just work on anything to try to connect people with all of those natural resources and water Resources.

Center focuses attention on the Missouri and Mississippi rivers.

Focus on water supply issues throughout the state.

So basically anything that's focusing on water quantity issues like flood and drought resiliency, flood resiliency is the ability of the community to come back from a flooding scenario, to either decrease the impact as it's occurring or the ability to recover and restore following a flood event more quickly.

We're partnering with the four states of us Kansas, Iowa and Nebraska, and working with the Corps of Engineers on a system plan looking at the lower 735 miles of river.

Some of the things that they focused on is that the state needs to take a leadership role in flood resiliency efforts that we need to focus on common sense solutions, that we need to invest in, navigation and flood control infrastructure and those those types of recommendations.

So it provides, in its own way, a roadmap for how we can try to do things differently, to, to bring improvement to these repetitive flood loss communities.

There's very little we can do to stop or prevent flooding.

And so we have to figure out ways to manage strategies include protection.

And so levee itself is usually an an earth mound that runs parallel to the direction of the river.

And it's meant to keep the river mostly concentrated to its channel.

So when the river floods, it floods up and not out onto the landscape.

We've seen over the past two decades changes in our precipitation patterns.

And so with the changing climate, we have changing precipitation patterns, which means we're experiencing more and bigger floods.

It's a good time for us to reconsider really what those systems look like.

And if there's other ways to work with rather than against nature to find solutions.

If we have things that we value next to a river, whether that's homes or businesses or, infrastructure like roads and railways, you can build that levee higher and higher.

But often what that will do is push water on to someone else on the other side or downstream of you.

So it's likely that at some point you'll experience a flood that still will overtop that infrastructure, and then you're very vulnerable behind that protection.

Another option is to move the infrastructure up out of the floodplain physically.

So like you think of buildings on stilts.

And then another way you can manage is to move your protection systems away from the river a little bit to give the river more room to spread out.

So the benefits to people from a levee setback is that the people behind the new levee have a better level of protection now, because that flood height won't be quite as high.

The other benefits that people gain are the same that benef..

So when we were able to do the levee setback project at Atchison County, that created all this new floodplain wetland and bottom line for us, about 1200 acres open back up into the river.

And so all that habitat is very beneficial for wildlife that live in and around the river.

It also provides great opportunities for the people that live in that area fo.. And just have those experiences with wildlife and out in nature closer to their, to their front door.

One of the things that as part of the system plan study on the lower Missouri River, they are updating what they call the flow frequency study, where they're looking at how often the river flows, at what levels.

So it'll transition into a stage frequency study.

And why that's important is so that the solutions that are identified in the communities along the lower Missouri River are building for current conditions.

The flow frequency study is going to take into account floods that have happened, like in 2019.

And look at the different frequencies, the more dynamic weather conditions, that that have been happening recently, so that we can try to build those solutions to withstand current conditions.

We and the other partners on the project really wanted to maximize the benefit from this levee setback at Atchison County.

And so we've been able to create a few resour.. that are available to communities who are interested in similar solutions.

One of those is the levee setback playbook.

That kind of walks through how to do a levee setback, give some context and experience that we had going through the process, and that's available on our website.

To anyone who wants to access that, one of the better things we can do is reconnect habitat, where it's been fragmented.

And so a levee setback is really a perfect example of those things coming together, where we're able to reconnect that floodplain and give better protection and resiliency to that community of people.

And really helps to ensure our good prot.. the road as we continue to see changes in our and our climate and changes in our precipitation patterns at the local level.

So as far as trying to get a start in, and ecology focus or an environmental focus, one of the things I wou.. and find out what those opportunities are in your communities to have an opinion and express it.