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CRP Provides Big Benefits for Many Mixed Grass Birds
April 1, 2008 - The Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) is doing more for some birds than any other conservation practice in the mixed-grass prairie, and loss of CRP would have a drastic impact on regional bird populations. These findings and more are part of a new wildlife Conservation Effects Assessment Project (CEAP) study conducted by the Playa Lakes Joint Venture (PLJV) and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to quantify the effects of the CRP on priority birds in the mixed-grass Bird Conservation Region (BCR 19). (More...)
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Assessment Highlights Need for Climate-Aware Conservation
This is the fifth installment in our ongoing series on climate change in the PLJV region.
Climate change is impacting birds and their habitats in dramatic and different ways, necessitating a move toward “climate-aware conservation” – the science of incorporating future climate scenarios into today’s species conservation planning and programs. This recommendation and others were recently put forward in a new assessment of climate change impacts in the playa lakes region.
The assessment, Anthropogenic Climate Change in the Playa Lakes Joint Venture Region: Understanding Impacts, Discerning Trends, and Developing Responses, was conducted for the PLJV by Dr. John Matthews, Climate Change Adaptation Specialist for the World Wildlife Fund. The assessment serves to inform PLJV partners of the realized and potential impacts of climate change to bird habitats and populations in the region, and to recommend appropriate habitat conservation actions to compensate for these impacts. The full report is now available on the PLJV website.
Nearly 100 research papers, reports and other sources were reviewed and analyzed for the assessment. The assessment provides an overview of ongoing and predicted climate and weather changes and trends, and how these changes are impacting birds and bird habitats now and into the future.
Impacts to the region vary by area – with the South and Southwest experiencing more severe and frequent droughts, potentially reaching dust-bowl like conditions by mid-century. In the North and East, springs and winters are becoming more wet and warm. Increased intensity in rainfall events is expected to cause flooding and increased sediment runoff into playas and other aquatic habitats.
How birds will respond to changing climate and habitat conditions varies widely based on their ability to adapt. In general, a majority of studies show that breeding and over wintering populations of birds will shift north. Avian communities of today might look different in the future as species respond to climate change at different rates and form different assemblages. Species most vulnerable to climate change are those with already restricted ranges, specialized habitat needs and migrant species.
Planning for bird conservation in light of climate change will require conservationists to let go of old notions that today’s climate is the norm, wrote Matthews in the assessment. Regional and global shifts in climate always have occurred, sometimes quite dramatically. However, this current phase of change is exponentially more rapid than ever before, making it more important than ever to incorporate climate as an integral factor in conservation programs. Those that don’t risk becoming irrelevant, he asserted.
New Conservation Policy Director to Focus on Farm Bill Programs
PLJV’s new Conservation Policy Director Barth Crouch is no stranger to Farm Bill programs. Which is a good thing considering how much these programs – particularly the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) -- benefits birds in the region.
“In the early 1990s, the wildlife community was just beginning to realize the value of the Conservation Reserve Program for birds,” Crouch said. “Today it is even more important to keep as much grass out there as possible.”
Crouch was recently hired by the PLJV to fill the newly-created Conservation Policy Director position. Crouch most recently worked as a regional biologist with Pheasants and Quail Forever, where, in addition to biological and chapter duties, he was front and center in the organization’s efforts to target existing Farm Bill programs for the benefit of birds.
Some of Crouch’s immediate responsibilities with the Joint Venture will be to help draft a cooperative agreement with the Farm Service Agency (FSA) to enhance delivery of the CRP for playas and Lesser Prairie-Chickens, and foster relationships with key contacts at the FSA and Natural Resources Conservation Service – the two Federal agencies that administer Farm Bill programs.
The creation of the Conservation Policy Director position was approved by the PLJV Management Board in January, and the candidate search began soon after. The Joint Venture was awarded a Wildlife Action Opportunities Fund (WAOF) grant to help fund the position, which will be matched by non-Federal sources. The WAOF grant program was created by the Wildlife Conservation Society with support from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. The program supports implementation of priority actions of State Wildlife Action Plans. This award to the PLJV will help partner states implement several playa conservation and policy-related strategies identified in their plans.
Crouch’s official first day with the PLJV is May 5, and he will be based in Salina, Kansas. He can be contacted via his new email address: barth.crouch@pljv.org.
More than half of all CRP Acres in PLJV Region to Expire by 2012
The PLJV region will face significant losses in CRP acres over the next five years, as more than 8 million out of the 11 million acres currently enrolled in the program will expire by 2012. The loss brings both bad and hopeful news for birds. While loss of CRP could negatively impact bird populations, some acres will be re-enrolled or extended, and if targeted correctly, could end up doing more for some birds than they do today.
CRP is a major supporter of many bird populations in the PLJV region, as evidenced in a recent Conservation Effects Assessment Project (CEAP) to quantify CRP benefits to mixed-grass prairie birds conducted by the Joint Venture and U.S. Dept. of Agriculture. The assessment found that in Texas and Kansas alone, CRP supports more than 15 percent of the population of Dicksissels, Grasshopper Sparrows and Eastern Meadowlarks. The loss of 8 million CRP acres – nearly 75 percent of the total CRP acres in the region - could drastically impact these birds and other grassland species. The PLJV recently incorporated FSA’s CRP expiration by county data into a region-wide map showing the trend through 2012. At right is a map showing this data for eastern Colorado. Click here for a map of the entire region.
But along with expirations come re-enrollments, extensions and perhaps more CRP sign-ups in the new Farm Bill. These acres could be targeted to the highest priority bird habitats in the region and help restore some species better than has been done in the past.
For example, the Lesser Prairie-Chicken -- a species that is a candidate for listing under the Threatened and Endangered Species Act -- receives only moderate benefit from the CRP today. According to the PLJV CEAP assessment, CRP contributes to about 6 percent of the birds’ population goal. That includes both CRP contracts containing prairie-chicken populations and contracts that are adjacent to existing populations and prairie-chicken range, helping to form large blocks of habitat, which the birds need to survive. If CRP were targeted to not only maintain contracts with existing chickens and create additional large blocks of habitat within the birds’ range, prairie-chicken populations could be restored in the shortgrass Bird Conservation Region, according to PLJV biological models.
Models aside, the fact remains that contracts are expiring and the number of acres coming out of CRP will peak between 2009 and 2012. For example, in 2008, only about 183,000 acres are set to expire, and in 2009 that number jumps to 2.1 million acres. That is why it is more important than ever for PLJV to get engaged in targeting Farm Bill programs to benefit bird conservation.
PLJV Bids Farewell and Thanks to Brian Sullivan
Biological Team Leader Brian Sullivan spent his last days in the PLJV office remembering what it was like as a new staff member six years ago – before the Joint Venture had a science foundation, bird planning teams, or even basic GIS landcovers. Sullivan recently left his post as Biological Team Leader to take a new job as the Wetlands Program Coordinator for the Colorado Division of Wildlife (CDOW).
“I remember six years ago wading through old project files and plans, trying to make sense of our history,” Sullivan said. “It’s been great to be a part of helping shape what the JV is today.”
The PLJV has come a long way in the past six years, thanks in large part to Sullivan’s role in establishing the JV’s science foundation. Sullivan led the formation and helped guide the work of two multi-state planning teams for waterfowl and shorebirds. These expert bird scientists, along with a land bird team, provided valuable input to help the PLJV create a revised overall JV and state-based implementation plans and biological process that takes into account all birds and habitats of the JV. Sullivan also helped develop and worked with partners to use the PLJV’s Hierarchical All-Bird System database which relates bird species information to habitat conditions to help design and evaluate conservation programs’ benefits to birds.
Sullivan now will lead the Wetlands Program for the CDOW, which is a statewide initiative that fosters local conservation partnerships to conserve valuable wetland habitat for all wildlife. Program partners include the South Platte and Prairie and Wetlands Focus Area Committees in eastern Colorado, groups the PLJV also works with closely.
The PLJV recently honored Sullivan for his service with a carved Blue-winged Teal decoy, Sullivan’s favorite bird.
The PLJV extends is heartfelt thanks to Sullivan for his work with the Joint Venture and partners, and wishes him well in his new venture. To contact him, email: brian.sullivan@state.co.us.
Kansas Ranchers Striking Balance with Prescribed Fire
With spring comes new growth on the prairie. But too much old growth or residue is not always good for prairie habitat, the wildlife it supports or for livestock. A solution for many landowners is prescribed fire.
Prescribed fire lets landowners combat old growth while specifically targeting invasive plant species and helps stimulate growth of warm-season grasses and forbs making them more palatable to livestock and improves habitat for many wildlife species.
In Kansas there is a growing interest and trend in prescribed fire with ranchers and farmers, and the Kansas Grazing Land Coalition (KGLC), which was founded to help regenerate Kansas grazing lands, is responding with increased education and outreach.
“Prescribed fire is a key issue for sustaining long-term rangeland health,” said Tim Christian, coordinator of KGLC. “If you want to manage your grasslands properly, fire has to be part of that. Most native grasses and forbs respond well to fire and wildlife has adapted. It makes habitat better if completed properly. It’s also much cheaper than chemicals or mechanical cutting to provide brush control.”
Prescribed fire is meant to deal with a specific problem or condition. There are many benefits to prescribed fires if used properly. Native prairies that are burned are actually more productive for ranchers and farmers. Cattle gain more from burned than from non-burned pastures. This increase in cattle gains is a result of increased forage quality and intake from cattle grazing on these burn areas.
The prairie cannot exist without fire. But annual or frequent burns may be detrimental to habitat and wildlife, even though it may benefit livestock. The ideal balance for grasslands is long-term fire rotation. Depending on the grassland type, rotations may be as long as seven years. This is frequent enough to keep the woody invasive species under control for ranchers and farmers but not damage the grasslands ecosystem.
If managed properly and with a longer cycle rotation of at least five years, prescribed fire actually can be favorable to species such as prairie chickens, various songbirds and Northern Bobwhite Quail.
“Everyone needs help getting started burning so education is important because it’s tricky with wind speeds and humidity,” said Bill Sproul, a KGLC board member and rancher in Sedan, Kansas. “I truly believe that to manage this grassland fire is needed. Economics drives us. But wildlife is an indicator of the health of the prairie and long-term to keep the ecosystem sustainable you don’t want to over burn or overgraze.”
“We like what the KGLC is doing and are happy to help out with our Capacity Grant program,” said PLJV Coordinator Mike Carter.
The KGLC works with smaller multi-county ranches, farm groups and local agencies to educate people who have an interest in using prescribed fire on their land. Several agencies and associations KGLC is working with on the local level include the Natural Resources Conservation Service, the Cooperative Extension Service and the Red Hills Prescribed Burning Association.
Education and outreach by these local groups includes workshops, tours and field days with an emphasis on the value of prescribed burning. This provides landowners with guidelines and safety techniques. KGLC also is working to develop a statewide prescribed burn council to help enhance and coordinate efforts. The first planning meeting is May 13.
The KGLC also is hosting a three-day ranching school with an emphasis on prescribed fire August 19-21 at Camp Aldrich, near Great Bend, Kansas. For more information, visit www.kglc.org.
Learn more about prescribed fire from Kansas rancher Ted Alexander who was recently interviewed on Playa Country Radio.