The Surprise Link Between Your Bank Account and Conservation

On a recent Prairie Farm Podcast episode, Nicolas Lirio, Kent Boucher, and Chad Graeve from Pottawatomie County Conservation had a conversation that starts with your bank account and ends up revealing something profound about conservation.

Why We're Talking About Money

Back in college, a friend came to Nicolas crying about hidden credit card debt. The shame around those financial struggles looked eerily similar to shame about other hidden issues.

"Shame doesn't care what you're struggling with," Nicolas explained. "It'll hide in any way."

So he started asking people a question that makes most of us squirm: "How much money do you have in your bank account?" That vulnerability matters for more than just financial health.

Money and Conservation: Intimately Tied

When the podcast started three years ago, the hosts didn't expect such a strong connection between finances and conservation. But as Kent put it, they're "at least stepsisters."

Chad broke it down: "They're limited. It's a finite thing, technically. Both of them are." How you treat money and natural resources both reflect what's going on inside you—what you value, what you fear.

Money is just currency for resources. "Conservation is all about natural resources," Chad said. "So finances and conservation are intimately tied."

What Money Really Represents

Nicolas pushed deeper. Money often represents something beyond hours worked.

"It represents the acceptance of your father you didn't get, or the status you never had in school, or the safety because your household was unsafe," Nicolas said. "When I find myself wanting more money, it is a great time to journal."

Kent added that money gives us the illusion of control. And that desire for control? That's what gets us in trouble with conservation.

"We love to control nature," Kent said. "And that's when our environment suffers—when we try to control it."

The Control Problem

The same impulse that makes us hoard money for security makes us try to dominate nature. We till every inch, eliminate diversity, drain wetlands—all for control.

But the people most secure financially aren't white-knuckling every dollar. And the most productive landscapes aren't the ones we've beaten into submission.

Both require letting go. Working with systems instead of against them.

Chad's work at Hitchcock Nature Preserve demonstrates this. When they restore woodlands, they restore natural processes like fire and proper light, then let native plants do their thing.

"We thin the woods out to get enough light down to the ground," Chad explained. "And then the native plants come back because they're not starving to death anymore." The invasive garlic mustard goes away on its own.

Listening to the Land

Chad emphasized something critical: "The first thing I always recommend people do is not listen to me, but listen to the land."

Find a healthy example of what you're trying to create. Pay attention to what's actually growing there.

That approach—working with natural systems—creates lasting change in conservation. And probably in our finances too.

What This Means for You

If you're managing land, ask yourself: Am I trying to control this land, or work with it?

The same question applies to finances. Are you hoarding resources out of fear, or using them wisely?

It's all connected. How we treat money reveals how we'll treat land.

Conservation doesn't start with new regulations or different practices—though both help. It starts with a mindset shift. A willingness to examine our relationship with control and fear.

Here's a challenge: Pick one area where you're trying to maintain too much control, and practice letting go. Maybe that's in your finances—finding someone to be vulnerable with. Maybe that's in your land management—choosing to restore native habitat.

If you're ready to start restoring native habitat, Hoksey Native Seeds has the locally-adapted seed mixes to help you work with your land's natural systems—not against them.

Because conservation happens one mind at a time. And sometimes that mind shift starts with taking an honest look at your bank account.

This blog post was inspired by an episode of the Prairie Farm Podcast featuring Chad Graeve, operations supervisor with Pottawatomie County Conservation.