Featuring:

• Liz Kierl, Executive Director, Second Century Habitat Fund
• Buz Kloot, Soil Health Lab, University of South Carolina
• Joe Dickie, Videographer and Conservation Storyteller, Soil Health Lab

📝 Episode Summary

In this episode, we sit down with Liz Kierl, Executive Director of the Second Century Habitat Fund (SCHF), to talk about one of South Dakota’s most effective and underappreciated conservation tools: the Working Lands Habitat Program. Liz unpacks how this unique initiative blends private lands stewardship, strategic habitat restoration, and flexible grazing options—all while keeping landowners in the driver’s seat.

With videographer and conservation storyteller Joe Dickie sharing observations from years of working alongside ranchers, and Buz guiding the conversation, we explore how pheasants, pollinators, and producers all benefit when marginal cropland is converted back to native grasses and forbs. Liz also shares how SCHF’s funding model—including the famous Can-Am raffles—is helping build a lasting conservation legacy.

Whether you're a landowner curious about signing up, or someone who just loves South Dakota’s prairies, this is a conversation about habitat that works with producers, not against them.

🔑 Key Topics

• The mission of the Second Century Habitat Fund
• Why marginal cropland is key to grassland restoration
• What makes the Working Lands Habitat Program different (hint: haying, grazing, and seed incentives)
• How Can-Am raffles and habitat decals help fund conservation
• Liz’s personal connection to hunting, habitat, and heritage
• The South Dakota habitat funding model: voluntary, local, effective

🧑‍🌾 Guest Bio: Liz Kierl

Liz Kierl is Executive Director of the Second Century Habitat Fund, a nonprofit dedicated to restoring South Dakota’s grasslands and sustaining wildlife through voluntary private lands partnerships. Originally from Nebraska, Liz grew up in a family of pheasant hunters and conservationists. She brings deep experience in nonprofit leadership, fundraising, and landowner outreach.

Since taking the helm at SCHF, Liz has expanded fundraising programs (like the Can-Am UTV raffles), built partnerships with agencies and NGOs, and helped landowners tap into the powerful incentives of the Working Lands Habitat Program—an effort that aims to restore grassland on over 100,000 acres.

Additional Resources:

✨BONUS ARTICLE: What Are We Really Arguing About When We Talk About Tillage: growingresiliencesd.com/post/what-we-re-really-arguing-about-when-we-talk-about-tillage