|
|
|
Dear All,
You may notice that this issue of The Microhabitat Connection looks a little different. It arrives alongside our new website and our transition to Village & Wilderness Fund, with a new look and feel that better reflects our work and where we are headed. We hope you’ll take some time to explore the new site.
There is a lot happening as we head into fall. Applications for our 2026 Incubator Grant are open, with a revamped process shaped by what we learned last year, and we’re especially eager for your help spreading the word. With the 2025 grant cycle, we funded the launch of 14 new programs in eight states. Where might we go from here, together? Our Practitioners Circle continues to grow as well, and we’re delighted to welcome APCC’s Ecolandscape Consultation Program on Cape Cod.
We’re also looking at some of the larger questions and ideas shaping the field. A recent article on the rapid spread of ticks raises an emerging issue for microhabitat practitioners, while in Tom’s Corner, Tom takes a longer view on the persistence of nature and the role connected microhabitats can play in helping it recover.
A new name and website may be the most visible changes this fall, but what excites us most is the community and body of practice continuing to grow around this work. Thank you, as always, for being part of it.
Warmly,
Tripti & Tom |
|
|
|
|
|
VWF NEWS |
|
A New Name. A New Website. The Same Mission |
|
We’re excited to officially introduce Village & Wilderness Fund, along with our newly redesigned website!
Our new name reflects what our work has become all about: a national effort to help microhabitat programs take root, grow stronger, and learn from one another. The new website brings that work together in one place, with resources for practitioners, opportunities to connect and learn, and a clearer picture of the growing microhabitat movement and our role in supporting it.
While our look and name have evolved, our purpose remains firmly rooted: restoring nature where people live by helping communities build strong, lasting microhabitat programs.
We invite you to explore the new site and see what’s growing.
|
| Explore the New Website |
|
|
|
|
|
GRANT OPPORTUNITY |
|
Help Us Spread the Word |
 |
|
A new pollinator garden in bloom outside the HRSWCD office. This program was launched with support from our 2025 Incubator Grant. Photo source: Hood River Soil and Water Conservation District
|
|
Applications for our 2026 Incubator Grant are open, and we’d love your help getting the word out.
The Incubator Grant supports organizations ready to launch new microhabitat programs, combining seed funding with planning tools, guidance, and connection to a national community of practitioners. Drawing on what we learned from our inaugural 2025 cycle, we’ve refined the process and launched a new Incubator Grant webpage that makes it easier to understand the opportunity, explore the steps, and apply.
Know an organization that should be doing this work? Please share the opportunity far and wide.
|
| Explore the Incubator Grant |
|
|
|
FIELD NOTES |
|
An Emerging Issue for Microhabitat Programs |
|
As tick populations expand into new places, microhabitat programs may increasingly encounter questions about how habitat restoration intersects with concerns about tick exposure. This recent New York Times Magazine article offers a timely look at the changing tick landscape, an issue our field will need to understand and navigate thoughtfully.
|
| Read the Article |
|
|
|
PRACTITIONERS CIRCLE |
|
Welcome, APCC Ecolandscape Consultation Program!
|
 |
|
Virginia creeper, Parthenocissus quinquefolia, in the fall. Photo source: Pixabay
|
|
We’re delighted to welcome the Association to Preserve Cape Cod’s Ecolandscape Consultation Program to the VWF Practitioners Circle and our Program Directory. Serving homeowners across Cape Cod, the program offers site-specific consultations covering topics such as native plants, invasive species, wildlife habitat, stormwater management, and ecological land care, followed by a written report and resources tailored to each property.
We look forward to having APCC as part of our growing community of microhabitat programs!
|
| Explore APCC’s Ecolandscape Consultation Program |
|
|
|
TOM'S CORNER |
|
Sempervirens |
 |
|
Seaside Goldenrod, Solidago Sempervirens. Photo source: Pixabay
|
|
Nature has a remarkable capacity to reclaim the spaces we’ve altered, if we give it a foothold.
In this piece, Tom reflects on what a mushroom, a roadside goldenrod, and a lifetime in archaeology and conservation have taught him about that persistence, and what it might mean for those working to restore nature one small space at a time.
|
| Read “Sempervirens” in Tom’s Corner |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
What is a 'Microhabitat Program'? |
|
|
|
A microhabitat program is a community-based effort that restores nature in the places people live: yards, schoolyards, roadsides, vacant lots, and more. Individually small, together these efforts add up to something much bigger: reconnected habitat at a landscape scale.
From a handful of pilot communities to a growing national network, microhabitat programs are putting down roots in more places every season, and the map keeps filling in.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Ready to Bring This Work to Your Community? |
|
Village & Wilderness Fund supports organizations starting or strengthening microhabitat programs, with grants, peer connections, and shared learning to help your program start well and endure. Want to start a program in your area or strengthen the program you run? We offer support for that.
|
| Explore Practitioner Resources |
|
|
|
Want to Help This Work Grow? |
|
Microhabitat programs are one of the most promising, underinvested innovations in community-based conservation. Village & Wilderness Fund launches, strengthens, and connects them nationwide, turning a few restored sites into thousands. Your gift, at any size, helps that work take hold in communities everywhere.
|
| Fund this Work |
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
We power a national network that restores nature where people live.
|
|
See web version here. |
|
|
|
|
