November 11, 2022
Class I

UP Delivering $3MM to TNC Sustainability Projects

Written by Marybeth Luczak, Executive Editor

Clymer Meadow Preserve, located northeast of Dallas, Tex., contains some of the largest and most diverse remnants of the Blackland Prairie and is part of a larger conservation area owned by The Nature Conservancy. (Caption and Photograph Courtesy of UP. Photo Credit: Jacqueline Ferrato, TNC)

Union Pacific (UP) is teaming with nonprofit The Nature Conservancy (TNC) on three community-level environmental initiatives in Nebraska, California and Texas.

TNC was selected as a partner “because its work aligns closely with the railroad’s goals and objectives, which are to preserve and restore nature; protect and enhance water or air quality; reduce waste; develop environmental stewards; and advance a green economy,” UP reported on Nov. 10.

TNC will also “help further the mission” of the Class I railroad’s new “Environmental Sustainability” pillar of its Community Ties Giving Program. The other three pillars are “Safety”; “Workforce Development”; and “Community Spaces.” UP offers local and regional grants under each pillar.

Over the next three years, UP will donate a total of $3 million across three TNC projects:

Protecting and enhancing grassland within the upper Elkhorn River watershed (Omaha, Neb.). This project is slated to help landowners who own marginal row crop acres enroll in a long-term conservation program that involves restoring those acres to grass and trees, according to UP. This work, the railroad said, will increase water quality, capture carbon, reduce local flooding and reduce downstream flooding.
Rewilding the San Joaquin Valley (Tulare County, Calif.). This project will “rewild” former agricultural lands that are coming out of production due to water scarcity by restoring them to upland habitat for critically threatened and endangered species, UP reported. The work will also reduce overall water demand and develop wildlife-friendly recharge basins that would improve drinking water supplies for disadvantaged communities, according to the railroad.
Reconnecting critical landscapes for watershed health in north Texas (Dallas, Tex.). This project is slated to improve watershed health and climate resilience and to expand grasslands restoration in the upper basin of the Trinity River, according to UP.

“Adding Environmental Sustainability as a priority area for Union Pacific’s Community Ties Giving Program ties into our overall ESG strategy,” said Beth Whited, UP’s Executive Vice President-Sustainability and Strategy and Chief Human Resource Officer. “We are deeply committed to reducing our impact on the environment through several internal and external initiatives outlined in our Climate Action Plan. Extending this commitment to our community investments will allow us to make an even bigger impact in communities across our 23-state footprint.”