Conservation Dictionary
Not sure if you’ve got the right word? Need help translating technical terms into everyday language? You’ve come to the right place. We avoid technical jargon. Here are some suggestions about what to say instead. Looking for the style guide?
A
Agricultural land – working farms and ranches
Alternate feed – radioactive waste that can be processed to extract remnant uranium
Allotment – explain how reservation land was divided up into parcels of private property
Analog – see “beaver dam analogs”
Aquifer – groundwater, drinking water
Archaeological sites – offer concrete nouns that describe the sites and offer context to connect the sites to the people who created them, and to modern people of the Colorado Plateau.
Artifact – name the object you’re referring to (pottery sherds, corn cobs, yucca sandals, etc). Avoid using the word “artifact” as many Native peoples of the Colorado Plateau consider cultural sites to be living, not abandoned.
ATV – off-road vehicle
Awn – blade (of grass)
B
Beaver dam analogs – human-made beaver dams, or look-alike beaver dam structures
Biodiversity – fish and wildlife
Bullhogging – using giant shredders called “bull hog masticators” to mow down trees and reduce entire forests to piles of wood chips
C
Cell – waste pond, waste pit
Circular economy – an economy that keeps materials, products, and services in circulation for as long possible, in contrast to an economy in which resources are mined, made into products, and then become waste. A circular economy reduces raw materials used and redesigns materials, products, and services to be less resource intensive, and recaptures waste a to manufacture new materials and products.
Chaining – dragging a large chain between heavy machinery and toppling trees in its path
Charismatic mega fauna – name the animals (mountain goats, deer, elk, bison)
Consensus-based collaboration – a group committed to making all decisions by consensus. (You may need to explain: There are no minority or majority votes. Everyone has to agree.)
Co-convener – name the entities and explain their role(s)
Conifers – list the common names, e.g. fir, spruce
Coniferous forests – list the common names, e.g. spruce and fir forests.
Critical minerals – list the names of the minerals to avoid engaging in the industry narrative. Call these minerals what they are: lithium, cobalt, nickel, copper, etc.
Cultural sites – offer concrete nouns that describe the sites (e.g. springs, gathering places, et cetera) and offer context. For example, do people visit springs to collect plants for medicine or ceremony?
Cultural resources – list the concrete nouns that describe the resources (e.g. rock writings, petroglyph panels, kivas, et cetera).
D
Day hike – one word, no hyphen, also day hiker
Dewater – in the context of mining, describe in concrete terms, for example: water is pumped out of the mine into a pond, where it evaporates.
Dixie Harrow method – using a tractor to drag a metal bar fitted with teeth made out of metal pipes and prongs to churn up soil and pull out saplings and other plants
Decarbonizing the grid – cleaning up the electric grid by reducing the use of fossil fuels and increasing renewable energy sources like wind and solar.
E
Ecosystems – natural areas, or specify land, air, water
Ecosystem services – natural benefits
Endangered species – fish and wildlife
Environment – land, air, and water
Environmental groups – conservation groups, organizations protecting land, air, and water
Exclosure – fenced-off area
F
Flaring – explain the term on first use, e.g. “When oil and gas operators burn methane onsite as a waste product. This results in emissions of mostly carbon dioxide and water vapor, but some methane still escapes too.”
Forb – wildflower, flowering plant
G
Green jobs – clean energy jobs, jobs that help protect clean water, air, land
Grandfather in, grandfathered in – avoid this expression, given the racial history of this term, instead, to indicate that something has been allowed to go ahead under old rules, despite new rules, use “exempt” or “exempted” or similar.
H
Hardrock mining – instead of saying “hardrock,” name the minerals you’re referring to (like uranium). If you must use this term, define it, using examples.
I
Impoundments – waste ponds, waste pits
Incised streambed – streams with steep, eroded banks
L
Landspace-scale conservation – large, connected natural areas
M
Mineral leasing – mining and drilling
Moqui – avoid the use of this term. For marbles, use “spherical iron concretions that resemble marbles” or similar, for steps, use “hand and toe routes.” (It’s possible it derives from the Hopi word for “dead” (mookwi), which is not a respectful way to refer to ancestors.)
Multi-stakeholder collaboration – name the stakeholders or types of stakeholders (e.g. farmers, ranchers, business owners, the Forest Service).
N
Native – use for Indigenous people and species (plant and animal) only. Do not use colloquially for non-Indigenous people. For example, do not write: Sally is a native of Chicago.
O
OHV – use “off-road vehicles.”
P
Persistent aspen – aspen stands without many [list names of conifers – e.g. firs, spruces]
Penstock – large metal pipe
Pinyon and juniper woodlands – use pinyon and juniper forests
R
Rare earth minerals – list the names of the minerals to avoid engaging in the industry narrative. Call these minerals what they are: lithium, cobalt, nickel, copper, etc.
Regulations – safeguards, protections
Riparian – land along lakes, rivers, and streams
Rock art – there is some sensitivity about this term – consider using “rock writing,” “petroglyph,” or “pictograph” instead.
Ruin – cultural site or archaeological site. (Avoid using the word “ruin” to describe these sites as many Native peoples of the Colorado Plateau consider these sites to be living, not abandoned.)
Rushes – cattails and aquatic plants
S
Seral aspen – aspen mixed with [list names of conifers – e.g. firs, spruces]
Sedges – cattails and aquatic plants
Sensitive areas – see “special places”
Snake – be mindful when using, including as a verb (e.g. a river snaking through a landscape) that this word is triggering for some Colorado Plateau cultures and some readers may find is disruptive or distressing to read.
Special places – messaging research shows people associate this term with genitalia. Use a different adjective (stunning, spectacular, etc.) or a more descriptive phrase (important waters, national parks, etc).
Strategic minerals – list the names of the minerals to avoid engaging in the industry narrative. Call these minerals what they are: lithium, cobalt, nickel, copper, etc.
Superfund site – explain upon use of the term, i.e. contaminated places that are badly polluted and prioritized for cleanup using federal funds, America’s most polluted places, etc.
Superfund National Priorities List – a list of contaminated sites across the country that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has determined pose the greatest threat to public health and the environment.
T
Tailings – use concrete language (dirt and rock, mining waste)
Thought leader – use concrete language to explain the specific experience or form of expertise or leadership a person brings. For example: Lucinda is a farmer and brings decades of experience in planting, growing, and harvesting crops. Or: Herman is an educator whose 40 years of experience make him a leader in thinking about how best to educate students.
Transect – explain the method of scientific study, e.g. we extended a tape measure for 100 feet in a straight line, and then measured and recorded the number and height of aspen under six feet tall within three feet on either side of the tape measure.
U
Ungulate – hoofed animal, or name the animals, for example: deer, elk, goats
Urban sprawl – poorly planned growth, development
Utilization – the percentage of plants that livestock are allowed to eat and offer context by explaining why lower rates mean healthier land, and describe any other benefits.
V
Valid existing rights – explain the term, for example: a mine can be said to have “valid existing rights” under the 1872 Mining Law if it has demonstrated that it can profitably mine a valuable mineral deposit.
Vegetation treatment – explain the term using concrete nouns that describe the treatment methods, e.g. changing the types of plants growing in an area by using woodchippers, bulldozers, and chainsaws to unroot or cut trees.
Venting – explain the term on first use, e.g. “when oil and natural gas operators intentionally release methane from wells as a waste product (usually because they’re after the oil, not the gas that comes with it).”
W
Watershed – land around lakes, rivers, and streams
Woodlands – use forests
Woodland products – use common, concrete nouns like trees, bark, lumber, shingles, mulch, to explain what “products” are.
Woodland product removal – use concrete verbs that describe “removal” like logging, herbicide spraying.
Y
Youth – young people (or list age-range, e.g. artists between the ages of 15 and 19)