Playa Lakes Joint Venture
Vol. 8 Issue 3, April 2010
Playa Post
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Top Stories

CRP General Signup and New Acres Not Enough to Help Lesser Prairie-Chicken

On Feb. 27, U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced plans for a new Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) general signup, as well as increased acreage allotments for three Continuous CRP practices: Upland Bird Habitat Buffers (CP-33), Prairie Pothole Duck Nesting Habitat (CP-37) and State Acres for Wildlife Enhancement (CP-38).

The new general CRP signup slated for later this year will be the first general signup since 2006 and addresses the 4.4 million acres of CRP expiring on September 30, 2010.

“The additional Continuous CRP acres will be helpful for quail, pheasants and ducks,” says Barth Crouch, PLJV Conservation Policy Director, “but we are disappointed that the announcement did not include enough acres in targeted areas to help the Lesser Prairie-Chicken.”

The State Acres for Wildlife Enhancement (SAFE) program focuses on environmentally sensitive land, as well as species that have suffered significant population declines and/or are considered to be socially or economically valuable. An additional 150,000 acres have been allocated to this practice in the general signup, but a more targeted approach is needed to create large habitat blocks for the chickens.

In order to survive, and thrive, the Lesser Prairie-Chicken requires large, intact patches of grassland greater than 2,000 acres. “At a minimum, we need 500,000 targeted Continuous CRP acres, spread across the five states with Lesser Prairie-Chickens,” says Crouch.

At this time, within the area where Lesser Prairie-Chickens live, there are approximately six million acres enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program, but 76 percent of those acres are due to expire in the next four years.

“While the CRP general signup will give us some of the required acres, closer targeting than is currently offered under the general signup’s Conservation Priority Areas is needed,” says Crouch. “For example, we could easily sign up 750,000 acres in Kansas under the general CRP signup, with only 10-15 percent of those acres actually helping to create good habitat blocks for the birds.”

 

Q&A About Lesser Prairie-Chickens and the Endangered Species Act

As biologists and wildlife conservationists, we sometimes take our knowledge for granted and assume that everyone knows about and understands the issues surrounding high-risk species. We were recently reminded of this when asked about the Lesser Prairie-Chicken. Below is a Q&A with Barth Crouch, PLJV Conservation Policy Director, and Mike Carter, PLJV Coordinator.

  1. Who has legal standing to petition the US Fish and Wildlife Service or National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to declare a species threatened or endangered? 

    An individual or organization may petition to have a species listed or the agencies can list a species through their candidate assessment program.

  2. How many Lesser Prairie-Chickens are there? How few can there be before they are in danger of extinction?

    The Lesser Prairie-Chicken (LEPC) biologists in the five states where they are found estimate there are 35,000 to 45,000 total birds. The majority of those birds are found in Kansas (18,000-29,000) and New Mexico (6,300-8,000) with much smaller estimates for Texas, Oklahoma, and Colorado. The total number of birds isn’t as important as the assessment of impending habitat loss throughout their range and the documentation of conservation measures being implemented toward recovery of the species.

  3. What population number would signify a thriving population?

    The population goal set by the five states and US Fish and Wildlife Service, working through the LEPC Interstate Working Group, was 80,000 with individual goals set for each state.

  4. Would it be possible to move them to a different location or set up a “preserve area” where the birds could be moved if their habitat was fragmented or destroyed?

    It is an extremely difficult task to relocate wild birds, especially prairie grouse. A review of the professional literature about relocations or translocations of prairie grouse species, including prairie-chickens and sharp-tailed grouse, shows long-term failure with few exceptions. They do not handle captivity well, are prone to returning if moved short distances, and tend to not stay where released unless it is only recently vacated historic range in good condition. Setting up a “preserve” would be useful only to insure the continuing habitat conditions necessary to long-term survival of an existing population. Ongoing work with the endangered Attwater’s Prairie-Chicken in Texas is not showing positive results for adding extra birds to a less than optimal habitat situation.

  5. Does it matter if Lesser Prairie-Chickens survive? Isn’t extinction a normal reaction to changing habitat situations when a species is not able to easily adapt?

    That is a very metaphysical question. Let’s answer it two ways. From an evolutionary standpoint, this species has evolved over many millions of years to a certain type and configuration of habitat. Today its habitat is changing faster than the species can adapt or evolve so it is declining in numbers to reflect the amount of habitat left. Humans may be the only species that is able to adapt as fast as we can change our environment. From a spiritual standpoint, God put these species here and gave us dominion over them. Most interpret this to mean we should exercise good stewardship by keeping them in existence and find ways to continue their habitat.

 

Landscape Conservation Cooperatives (LCCs) Look at the Big Picture

You may have recently heard some talk about LCCs or Landscape Conservation Cooperatives. So what is a LCC? And how is it different from other conservation cooperatives?

Landscape Conservation Cooperatives are applied conservation science partnerships between the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and other federal and state agencies, NGOs, universities and stakeholders within a geographically defined area.

Landscape Conservation Cooperatives, which play a major role in the FWS and Interior Department’s climate change strategy, look at the “big picture” and help manage the resources needed to address landscape-scale issues such as habitat fragmentation, genetic isolation, spread of invasive species, and water scarcity — all of which are accelerated by climate change.

According to the LCC Fact Sheet prepared by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service:

“LCCs provide scientific and technical support for conservation at ‘landscape’ scales — the entire range of an identified priority species or groups of species. They support biological planning, conservation design, prioritizing and coordinating research, and designing species inventory and monitoring programs. LCCs also have a role in helping partners identify common goals and priorities to target the right science in the right places for efficient and effective conservation. By functioning as a network of interdependent units rather than independent entities, LCC partnerships can accomplish a conservation mission no single agency or organization can accomplish alone.

Great Plains LCCCollectively, LCCs will comprise a seamless national network supporting landscapes capable of sustaining abundant, diverse and healthy populations of fish, wildlife and plants. They will provide a strong link between science and conservation delivery without duplicating existing partnerships or creating burdensome and unnecessary bureaucracy.”

With an initial federal investment of $25 million in 2010, the FWS and USGS will begin forming eight LCCs across the country, including one for the Great Plains (GPLCC). The geographic area of the GPLCC encompasses parts of eight states — New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, and Wyoming — and corresponds with the borders of the Playa Lakes Joint Venture and the Rainwater Basin Joint Venture (see Figure 1). Some of the most imperiled habitats in the U.S, along with a number of imperiled species, are found in this area.

For more information and maps about LCCs, visit http://www.fws.gov/science/shc/lcc.html.

 

Playa Lakes Joint Venture Seeks GIS Analyst

Playa Lakes Joint Venture (PLJV) is hiring a full-time GIS Analyst to expand its current GIS capacity. The GIS Analyst will work with the Lead GIS Analyst to develop spatially-explicit tools to drive effective conservation of wildlife and their associated habitats, including both terrestrial and aquatic systems. Work will focus on conservation of all priority wildlife in the PLJV region, including birds, mammals, fish, reptiles, amphibians, and invertebrates. Learn more...

 

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