Playa Post Archive 2008
- CRP Provides Big Benefits for Many Mixed Grass Birds
- PLJV Assessing Impacts of Climate Change on Playa Region
- ConocoPhillips Names Dan Hunter to PLJV Board, Rob Hosford of FSA Departs
- Playas, Prairies and Platte River to Be Protected via NAWCA
- Producers Help Wildlife and Warming via Carbon Banking
- PLJV Presents Best Thinking on Conservation Design and Delivery at PIF
- PLJV Helps Partners Implement Strategic Habitat Conservation
Vol. 6, Issue 1: February 2008
- PLJV Board Moves Forward on Climate, Recharge and Policy
- Climate Change Expert Calls for New Framework for Conservation
- PLJV Seeks Conservation Policy Director
- Unique Conservation Post Created in Nebraska
Top Stories
April 2008:
CRP Provides Big Benefits for Many Mixed Grass Birds
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 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).
“It’s pretty impressive when you look at certain species like Dickcissels. In the mixed grass prairie region of some states, the CRP is supporting a third or a half of the carrying capacity for the species. That is pretty surprising and powerful,” said Charles Rewa, wildlife CEAP coordinator for the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS).
The CEAP assessment involved analyzing national and regional bird population goals and landscape carrying capacities for 12 priority birds in BCR 19, and determining how much CRP is contributing to those goals. The evaluation found that CRP contributes more than 15% of the population goal for Dickcissels, Grasshopper Sparrows and Eastern Meadowlarks in at least two of the four states assessed, and that the program contributes significantly to population goals for other priority species such as Cassin’s Sparrows, Lark Buntings, Northern Bobwhite Quail, Ring-necked Pheasants and Western Kingbirds.
PLJV used GIS-based spatial data to place the CRP within the context of other bird habitats. What they found was that not only does CRP provide significant percentages of habitat for many priority birds, but that it also helps create large blocks of grassland habitat important for Lesser Prairie-Chickens.
“CRP on its own wasn’t that important for Lesser Prairie-Chickens, but when you look at contracts adjacent to grasslands, the story changes. Straight CRP coverage provides less than 1% of the goal for Lesser Prairie-Chickens. But with contracts adjacent to grasslands that make up large blocks of habitat, CRP helps provide 6% of the goal. This illustrates the importance of where these enrollments are on the landscape with respect to their wildlife value for some species,” Rewa said.
“Given what we have learned through this CEAP process, we can now target CRP enrollment to nearly recover Lesser Prairie-Chickens,” said PLJV Coordinator Mike Carter.
This study of CRP was the first to quantify the impact of the program on regional bird populations and explicitly answer the question – how many birds does CRP support? PLJV and USDA partners were able to answer this question by calculating the carrying capacity of CRP for priority birds in the study area, and comparing those numbers to national and regional population goals. This was done using the PLJV’s Hierarchical All-Bird Conservation System database.
“Not only were we able to assess the effects of CRP for bird species, but also put it in the context of population objectives. If the goal is to double the population for a species and you find out that 20% is supported by CRP, that is a pretty important piece of the landscape,” Rewa said.
This study was a joint effort between the PLJV, Great Plains GIS Partnership, NRCS and the Farm Service Agency, and plans are in the works to conduct another CEAP project to assess the impact of CRP on priority birds in the shortgrass prairie Bird Conservation Region (BCR 18).
“This project is a good example of how productive partnerships work. The USDA had the need to assess CRP, and the PLJV and Great Plains GIS Partnership had the tools and mutual interest to put a project together that is technically sound and produced useful outputs,” Rewa said.
The USDA will use the results to help improve how the agency operates in the field, and is currently working on a blueprint for putting all CEAP findings into practice. NRCS will also soon release a Conservation Insight related to this project.
“In addition to evaluating the past, the project gives us good insight on how to do better for bird populations in the future,” Carter said.
The full CEAP project report can be downloaded from the PLJV website. You can also listen to a recent Playa Country interview with PLJV GIS Analyst Megan McLachlan about the project.
PLJV Assessing Impacts of Climate Change on Playa Region
This is the fourth installment in our ongoing series on climate change in the PLJV region.
In an effort to conserve birds now and into the future, the PLJV is conducting an assessment of the ongoing and predicted impacts of climate change on playas and other bird habitats in the region. The JV is working with Dr. John Matthews, Climate Adaptation Specialist for the World Wildlife Fund on the assessment, and a summary of Dr. Matthew’s findings is now available as a Microsoft Power Point presentation.
“A better understanding of climate change is absolutely necessary if the PLJV is going to be successful in meeting its future wildlife goals,” said PLJV Chairman Jeff Ver Steeg. “That’s why the Joint Venture commissioned an assessment of the impact of climate change on the PLJV region. We hope the information will stimulate both dialogue and action among our many friends and partners.”
The assessment describes potential future conditions of playas and other bird habitats, how birds may be impacted, and is based on a review of more than 80 studies. While there is limited research specific to the playas, regional climate trends and weather patterns paint a fairly clear picture of how birds and habitats might be affected.
According to the assessment, the region will experience more extreme droughts and flooding, increased spring and decreased summer precipitation, and earlier springs and longer summers and falls. These trends will affect bird habitats in a variety of ways, from increased invasive vegetation and disturbance by fire, to the drying up of playas and other shallow wetlands in the south and southwest. Migratory bird corridors are expected to shift toward more reliable water sources and east of current routes. Over-wintering waterfowl and shorebird species will be more concentrated on fewer and smaller water bodies, leading to increased avian disease. Habitat generalists, species that breed in the spring and species that primarily consume insects rather than amphibians are expected to do well despite climate change. These findings are now being incorporated into PLJV biological planning.
The PLJV encourages its partners to view the presentation and share it with colleagues. The full assessment report will be available soon and will be announced in a future Playa Post.
ConocoPhillips Names Dan Hunter to PLJV Board, Rob Hosford of FSA Departs
Dan Hunter, Manager of Health, Safety and Environment for ConocoPhillips, has joined the PLJV Management Board, replacing Mike Johnston who retired earlier this year. Hunter has been involved in the company’s wildlife conservation efforts for years, and currently serves on the board of the Wildlife Habitat Council (WHC) – an alliance of corporations, conservation groups, agencies and academic institutions dedicated to restoring and enhancing wildlife habitat. Hunter is no stranger to the PLJV, having sponsored Joint Venture participation at a WHC Symposium in November 2003.
The Farm Service Agency (FSA) representative to the Board, Rob Hosford, also stepped down earlier this year. Hosford, as FSA’s former Chief of Staff, was instrumental in establishing close ties between the PLJV and high-ranking FSA officials, which are leading to new opportunities to target the Conservation Reserve Program for the benefit of birds. The FSA has not yet named a replacement for Hosford, who was recently honored for his service by PLJV Coordinator Mike Carter during a recent trip to the FSA headquarters in Washington, D.C.
Playas, Prairies and Platte River to Be Protected via NAWCA
More than 55,000 acres of playas, prairies and Platte River wetlands will be protected in perpetuity in Colorado and Nebraska thanks to two recently-approved North American Wetlands Conservation Act (NAWCA) proposals developed by PLJV partners. The projects will help ensure common birds such as Mallards and Sandhill Cranes continue to thrive in the region, and species at risk such as Northern Pintails and Mountain Plovers get the additional support they need.
The Steel’s Fork Playas and Prairie project in Colorado was spearheaded by The Nature Conservancy (TNC) which worked with the Colorado State Land Board to purchase and create a 49,000-acre ranching and wildlife preserve. The Steel’s Fork Ranch features native range in pristine condition and more than 200 playas. The ranch is now being managed by the Round River Resource Management (RRM), a group of Colorado ranchers who are award-winning land stewards who will continue to operate the ranch according to a wildlife management plan drafted by project partners.
Partners involved in this project in addition to TNC and the State Land Board include: Colorado Open Lands, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Rocky Mountain Bird Observatory, Natural Resources Conservation Service, the Smith family who donated the easement on the land, among others. The project was awarded a $828K NAWCA grant, which was matched with $1.6M by partners and another $8.3M in non-matching partner support. The new ranch manager, Louis Martin of RMM, was recently interviewed on Playa Country radio about his new ‘dream job’ managing the property.
The Platte River Wetlands Partnership spearheaded by Ducks Unlimited (DU) was also successful in its NAWCA bid. The Partnership was awarded $1M a NAWCA grant, which was matched with $2.4M by partners and another $1M in non-matching support to protect nearly 6,000 acres of wetlands, riparian areas and uplands along the Platte River in Colorado and Nebraska.
When completed, the project will provide 10% of the waterfowl population goal for Bird Conservation Region 18 portions of Colorado and Nebraska, according to PLJV planning. Partners involved in this project in addition to DU include: Colorado Open Lands, Colorado Division of Wildlife, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Nebraska Environmental Trust, Rocky Mountain Bird Observatory, Natural Resources Conservation Service, and a host of other partners including several landowners who contributed more than $800K to the project.
In addition to these two Standard NAWCAs, PLJV partners were recently awarded four Small NAWCA grants in Texas, Colorado and New Mexico. Projects awarded funding include: Playa Management and Restoration in the Texas High Plains ($55K) submitted by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department; Kiowa Creek Natural Area ($5K) submitted by the Kiowa County Economic Development Foundation; Playa Protection in Curry and Quay Counties ($75K) submitted by The Nature Conservancy of New Mexico; and Jenna Welch Playa Preserve Project ($75K) submitted by the I-20 Wildlife Preserve and Jenna Welch Nature Study Center (Texas). All projects combined will acquire, enhance and restore more than 1,000 acres of wetlands and adjacent uplands.
The PLJV congratulates its partners on yet another successful NAWCA cycle.
March 2008:
Producers Help Wildlife and Warming via Carbon Banking
This is the third installment in our ongoing series on climate change in the PLJV region.
Agricultural producers across the PLJV region are raising a new commodity that reduces global warming and benefits wildlife – carbon banking. Conservation practices such as no-till, grass restoration and range management keep carbon in the soil and wildlife on the land, all while benefiting producers’ pocketbooks.
“Anything we can do to make conservation practices more attractive and cost beneficial to agricultural producers, the better,” said Liz Mathern, Program Specialist for the National Farmers Union (NFU) Carbon Credit Program. The NFU is a carbon offset aggregator, meaning they pool offsets generated by multiple producers engaged in carbon sequestration practices and sell them on the Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX), then give the profits back to landowners.
Over the past two years, the NFU has pooled over 3.5 million acres of no-till or new grass land from 2,300 agricultural producers nationally, bringing in about $4.8 million in payments to enrollees so far. They are also bringing their first pool of range management offsets to market this year with about 150 - 200 ranchers onboard and 1 million acres enrolled so far. Landowners must commit to carrying out carbon sequestration practices for five years to become part of a pool. Pools are open for enrollment for about a year and then brought to market around the first of the following year. So, for example, landowners who entered the 2007 NFU pool will start receiving payments for that year in mid 2008. NFU will be moving to aggregating and selling two pools per year soon.
The amount a landowner gets paid depends on a national rating scale of an area’s ability to store carbon based on its soils and vegetation. For example, in the northern part of Bird Conservation Region 18, grass restoration is rated at storing 1 metric ton of carbon per acre per year, whereas the southern portion of the BCR is rated at storing .4 metric tons per acre per year (see map). Currently, carbon offsets are trading on the CCX at about $4.50 per metric ton. So a landowner in the BCR 18 portion of Nebraska or Colorado would earn $4.50 per acre per year, and a landowner in the BCR 18 portion of Texas or New Mexico would earn $1.80 per acre per year, minus whatever fees the aggregator charges. Prices can change over the course of a 5-year contract and so payments will vary each year.
Carbon offset buying and selling is a relatively new financial market. The CCX opened its online trading floor in 2003, and since then hundreds of industrial and energy companies and carbon offset aggregators and providers have joined. The market is wholly financed by private industry, state and local governments and other entities that have voluntarily committed to reduce and offset their carbon emissions. Since the funding is private, landowners receiving Federal payments for restoring grass like through the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) can stack carbon offset payments on top.
“Farmers are able to help bridge the carbon gap as the nation recognizes the need to lower emissions. If a carbon emitter cannot meet its greenhouse gas reduction goal, they can buy offsets from farmers. It really acknowledges the positive impact that agricultural producers can have on the environment,” Mathern said.
Although relatively new, carbon banking is taking off in the PLJV region. Especially in eastern Colorado and western Kansas and Nebraska where NFU has pooled and is selling offsets produced on 300,000 acres from 300 landowners involved in no-till, grass restoration and range management. There are other aggregators working in the region, such as AgraGate which is a subsidiary of the Iowa Farm Bureau. Even conservation groups such as Ducks Unlimited are getting into the carbon sequestration business in the Prairie Pothole region.
PLJV recently interviewed a landowner in Logan County, Colorado who has enrolled his CRP land into a carbon offset program on Playa Country Radio, as well as Tony Frank, Director of Renewable Energy Development for the Rocky Mountain Farmers Union (RMFU), about the burgeoning carbon credit market. On March 18, the RMFU will host a community meeting in Lamar, Colorado, about qualifying practices and how to enroll in carbon credit programs. And the Kansas Farm Bureau will be hosting free informational meetings on the emerging carbon credit market in Colby and Hoxie on March 5, and Dodge City and Garden City on March 6.
PLJV Presents Best Thinking on Conservation Design and Delivery at PIF
PLJV staff recently attended the Partners in Flight 4th International Conference in McAllen, Texas, where they led presentations on the Joint Venture’s full-scale approach to bird conservation, from science to strategic communications. The conference was attended by more than 700 bird conservation professionals from throughout the Western Hemisphere.
“I was amazed at how youthful and energetic the participants were. There always seems to be a can-do spirit associated with the PIF crowd,” said PLJV Coordinator Mike Carter
The conference gave the PLJV the opportunity to demonstrate its unique Hierarchical All-Bird Strategy (HABS) database which models where, how much and what types of habitat are needed to meet continental bird population goals. Joint Venture staff also presented findings from its Conservation Effects Assessment Project being conducted in partnership with the Farm Service Agency to assess the effects of the CRP on priority birds in the mixed-grass prairie. Not only did PLJV present the scientific aspects of its work, but also how the Joint Venture implements conservation on the ground through Local Conservation Partnerships and strategic communications targeted to playa landowners.
Several PLJV Board members were also in attendance, including Bob McCready of The Nature Conservancy, EmilyJo Williams of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and former USFWS board member Nancy Gloman, plus dozens of staff members from other JVs from around the nation.
PLJV Helps Partners Implement Strategic Habitat Conservation
Since 2002, the PLJV has been building its foundation for strategic bird habitat conservation by aligning science, spatial habitat data, partner capacity and communications into an integrated structure and set of tools. Recently, the PLJV has been applying this strategic approach to help partners target Farm Bill programs, implement state action plans, and promote the strategic habitat conservation concept regionally.
In a nutshell, strategic habitat conservation, or SHC, follows a framework of biological planning, conservation design, conservation delivery and monitoring and research. Conservation delivery is often the hardest part of the process for agencies and the scientific community to define and implement. But the PLJV – like many JVs – have much to offer partners on delivery, as well as other components of SHC.
Perhaps the best demonstration of SHC the PLJV is currently undertaking is its work with the Farm Service Agency to help target enrollment of the CRP to benefit high priority playas and Lesser Prairie-Chickens (LEPC). The PLJV is using its spatial bird habitat data and GIS capabilities to identify the intersection of playas, cropland and LEPC range and prioritize those areas for CRP enrollment. The strategy also involves boosting local partnership and USDA field staff capacity to enroll landowners, as well as launching a strategic marketing campaign in areas targeted for enrollment. Each component has its methods for researching and monitoring effectiveness and applying what is learned back into the program.
The PLJV is also helping partners in Nebraska implement its state action plan, the Nebraska Natural Legacy Project. Partners recently hired a HABS coordinator to assist local resource managers in assessing and designing conservation projects in the state’s Biologically Unique Landscapes, or BULs, which are areas targeted for biodiversity conservation in the Legacy Project. The PLJV’s HABS database provides partners a way to be more efficient and effective in their habitat work. The database is used to model the effects of various habitat conservation programs and projects on bird populations. It can also be used to assess the benefit of already-implemented habitat projects on bird populations.
The SHC concept was officially coined and defined by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Service is working to institutionalize SHC agency wide. The PLJV was recently invited to present its work on SHC at a USFWS Project Team Leaders meeting for Region 2. The PLJV demonstrated the LEPC component of the targeted CRP enrollment project mentioned above. The PLJV plans to continue to help USFWS promote SHC within in its regional offices and to partners across the Joint Venture.
February 2008:
PLJV Board Moves Forward on Climate, Recharge and Policy
The Playa Lakes Joint Venture Management Board took action on several important conservation fronts during its winter meeting in Dodge City, Kansas, January 22 – 24. Of major significance was unanimous board approval to hire a non-lobbying policy position, and endorsement of two critical literature reviews on the impact of climate change on birds and playas, and on playas and aquifer recharge.
The decision to hire a policy position was a strategic move by the Board to further the JV’s efforts to increase conservation of playas and other bird habitats via Farm Bill programs, in particular the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), as well as advocate for wildlife amid other regional policy issues such as wind and biofuel development. The PLJV announced the position opening this week (see conservation policy director story below) and plans to fill it in March.
Special guest at the meeting was David Hoge, Conservation Program Specialist with the Farm Service Agency in Washington, D.C. Hoge was invited by the Board to join the meeting as well as tour CRP buffers on playas, Lesser Prairie-Chicken habitat adjacent to CRP and other CRP sites. The tour was organized by Craig Curtis and Randy Rodgers of the Kansas Dept. of Wildlife and Parks.
In response to growing political attention on playas as the primary source of recharge for the Ogallala Aquifer, the Board approved funding for a literature review and white paper on playas and recharge to be conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey. The review and paper are expected to further confirm playas’ important role in recharge, as well as make a case for maintaining natural playa function.
The Board was also briefed on progress made on a literature review about the impacts of climate change on bird populations and aquatic habitats in the JV region. The climate change review is being conducted by Dr. John Matthews, Global Freshwater Climate Change Adaptation Specialist for the World Wildlife Fund (see climate change story below).
ConocoPhillips continued its annual financial contribution to the JV, and the Board awarded $104,269 from the donated funds to support six project proposals received under the ConocoPhillips grant program: Drummond Flats NAWCA in Oklahoma; a wind and wildlife symposium for the Texas Panhandle; playa festivals and teacher trainings in Texas, Colorado and Kansas; enhancement of the Kiowa Wetland Management Area and grassland and forest management in the Pine Ridge in Nebraska; and a study of playa buffers in Nebraska. Since 1990, ConocoPhillips has donated more than $1.6 million to the PLJV to help fund more than 350 habitat, education, outreach and research projects region wide.
On the heels of a successful year of NAWCA submissions – with five Standard and five Small grant proposals submitted in 2007 - the board set a goal of submitting three Standard proposals a year starting in 2008.
The Board underwent several membership changes, as longtime board member and former chairman Ross Melinchuk of Ducks Unlimited stepped down, as well as Mike Johnston of ConocoPhillips and Rob Hosford of the Farm Service Agency. The board honored and thanked them for their outstanding contributions and service to the Board. DU appointed Scott Manley, Director of Conservation Programs for the Southern Regional Office to fill its seat, and ConocoPhillips appointed Dan Hunter, Manager of Health, Safety and Environment. The Board will be recruiting a new FSA representative in the near future.
The next PLJV Management Board meeting will take place June 17-19 in Nebraska.
Climate Change Expert Calls for New Framework for Conservation
This is the second installment in our ongoing series on climate change in the PLJV region.
Conservation planning in the age of climate change will require a new framework. One that can adapt – as wildlife adapts - to changing ecological communities and weather patterns, says a leading climate change expert.
“You might say we are in a crisis,” said Dr. John Matthews, Global Freshwater Climate Change Adaptation Specialist for the World Wildlife Fund. “We tend to say – it must be healthy if it looks like it did in the past. But possibly that isn’t true, and in a few decades, it won’t be true.”
What we know about ecological systems is largely based on the past few centuries when the climate was fairly stable. Now conservation professionals are facing planning for birds as global temperatures are on the rise and weather patterns in flux. Biological models must account for how species will adapt to this change and how their relationships to other species will change.
“The way we assess how species are doing might be entering a period that has to show some flexibility and change. My work is about adaptation. Adaptations call for being aware that it’s not going to look like that in the future and you have to look forward to something else. It’s quite humbling actually,” Matthews said.
For example, playas in the Southern High Plains will be facing increased periods of drought and an overall net drying effect, so less of the wetlands will be available for birds during migration. Conservation models should already be accounting for this drop in habitat availability.
“When we think about species in isolated wetlands like playas, those that are probably going to be able to adapt are those who can get around the easiest,” Matthews said. “So there is less concern about birds, which can alter migratory routes. But lots of species - like fresh-water mollusks - will have greater difficulty in responding.”
But shifts in birds’ patterns, migrations and relationships to habitat will require conservation planners to re-think species-and-habitat association models. Birds that might flock together today may not in the future, or might not use the same habitat as before. The same is also true for other types of wildlife.
“We might see in the future the disassembly of communities that we know and re-formation of new communities,” Matthews said. “That is what we see when we look at long term records. Associations of species don’t seem to make sense as we look back five, 10 or 20 years. Playas have changed quite a bit. There have been otter bones found in some old playas dating back to glacial period when there was more water. They moved east and could handle it.”
Playas may be the canary in the coal mine for climate change. Scientists are seeing the earliest impacts of climate change on small, isolated freshwater systems like playas and prairie potholes. Not only are playas highly vulnerable, they are also some of the most challenging wetlands to study.
“One of the real weaknesses with small isolated wetlands is that we often don’t know very much about individual systems,” Matthews said. “We don’t have decades of information on how much variation occurred in the past. It’s going to be tough to develop good plans and test the limits of adaptive management.”
It is these complex challenges and more that the PLJV and other Joint Ventures are trying to accommodate for in their biological models and plans. As Matthews aptly sums up:
“I think that climate change is not just impacting ecosystems and people, but affecting science itself.”
PLJV Seeks Conservation Policy Director
The Playa Lakes Joint Venture is seeking applicants for a newly created Conservation Policy Director position. This position will provide direction to the PLJV in non-lobbying policy initiatives focused on but not limited to Farm Bill programs. Successfully applicants should be well-versed about playas, the importance of playas to wildlife and High Plains economies, and how to shape Farm Bill policy to benefit playas and local economies. Other policy initiatives may involve wind energy, water, ethanol and biodiesel development and energy and human transportation corridors. Applicants should be well versed in these issues as well.
Complete position description
The PLJV is a habitat-based partnership with a mission to conserve approximately 60,000 playa lakes, other wetlands and associated landscapes through partnerships for the benefit of birds, other wildlife and people within six-state area encompassing parts of Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas. The Joint Venture is managed by a 14-member Management Board comprised of representatives from state and federal resource agencies, private not-for-profit conservation organizations, academic institutions and corporations. The Board is assisted in its mission by a Coordinator and four other staff as well as two standing committees of the Management Board: Monitoring, Evaluation, and Research Team (MERT) and Education and Outreach Team (EOT).
Interested parties should send, via e-mail, a cover letter stating their interest and qualifications not detailed in your résumé to Mike Carter by 5:00 pm February 28, 2008. PLJV will acknowledge receipt.
Unique Conservation Post Created in Nebraska
Nebraska partners have created a one-of-a-kind position to bridge the gap between bird conservation planning and on-the-ground habitat work. The new HABS Coordinating Wildlife Planner will work to develop and refine bird habitat conservation plans for focus areas identified by the Nebraska Natural Legacy Plan. The position was recently filled by Jill Liske-Clark, a biologist with roots in central Nebraska.
“What we’ve done is taken what traditionally would be two different positions and combined them into one,” said Pete Berthelsen of Pheasants Forever which will be employing the position. “This is a very unique position and required a candidate that had a broad skill set. Jill has these skills, was born and raised in central Nebraska and has a passion for wildlife management and specifically for this new position.”
Several organizations are contributing to the position, including Pheasants Forever, PLJV, Rainwater Basin Joint Venture, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Region 6, Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, The Nature Conservancy, and Ducks Unlimited. The position is for two years and will be stationed at the Great Plains GIS Partnership office in Grand Island.
“Pheasants Forever has a long history of supporting partnership positions and they work extremely well,” Berthelsen said. “In the 21st century, if you want to accomplish things for the resource you need to do it in a partnership format.”
Liske-Clark will have to wear many hats in her new role, as well as interface with various conservation professionals – including GIS analysts, biological planners, land managers and other field staff. She will be trained in how to use the PLJV’s Hierarchical All-Bird System (HABS) database and apply it to site-specific habitat planning and projects.
HABS was created to determine current carrying capacity of bird species on the PLJV landscape. The database allows users to compare carrying capacity to stepped-down national bird plan objectives to determine where and what kind of habitat work needs to be done. This system is used to evaluate scenarios involving habitat programs and their likely affect on targeted species as well as associated species. Further, results of habitat programs can be evaluated with the same system to determine species and numbers of birds supported by past habitat programs to answer the question "are we being efficient?"