Conservation Tactics Resource

Increasingly, landowners are interested in managing their properties in a manner that is beneficial to wildlife. This is due not only to the aesthetic values they provide but also because of the income potential. The article linked below will lead to a bibliography of published works available for best management practices for various species. Intended for wildlife professionals, it is also valuable to landowners seeking to maximize the wildlife potential of their properties.

Conservation Tactics to Help Fish and Wildlife Thrive Featured in New Bibliography

More on Wild Horses

My last post about "wild" horses received a lot of comments. I think that I will just post the link and leave any commentary to visitors.

A Dramatic Rescue for Doomed Wild Horses of the West

Increasing Deer Numbers Provide Surprising Benefits

The article linked below discusses some surprising new findings regarding high deer populations and their effect on other creatures within their ecosystem. It provides more evidence that we don't know what we think we know....

High deer population may benefit forest critters

Deer are often blamed for damaging forest habitats by overgrazing

Ecosystem Approach to Preservation

It is important that critical habitats be reserved for endangered species. This new ecosystem approach might speed the process.

Feds Propose Putting 48 Hawaiian Species on Endangered List at Once

HONOLULU — The federal government took a new, ecosystem-based approach to the endangered species list on Tuesday, proposing an all-at-once addition of 48 species, including plants, two birds and a fly, that live only on the Hawaiian island of Kauai.

The action by the Interior Department would designate about 43 square miles as critical habitat for all the species rather than considering each species' habitat separately, which has been the practice for three decades. Officials said considering...(complete article here).

New Funds for Wetlands Protection

Protection of wetlands is critical for waterfowl and for protection of our water resources.

Secretary Kempthorne Announces $26 Million for Wetlands Grants, $4.1 Million for Refuge Acquisitions

Managing for Cryptic Species

What is the best approach when a species becomes endangered to the point that it is difficult or impossible to observe?

Study shows when to manage species

Tuesday, 26 August 2008
Stephen Pincock
ABC

Conservationists should carry on managing the environment as if a seemingly vanished species is still around, rather than rushing to check whether it is extinct, say researchers.

A team from Australia, France and the United Kingdom have used...(complete article here).

New Pacific Island Sanctuaries Fast-Tracked

I love it -- from the President the Environmentalists love to hate....

Bush proposes protections for Pacific islands, atolls and reefs

The plan to guard against mining and fishing is expected to be finalized before the president leaves office.

By Kenneth R. Weiss,
Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
August 26, 2008

President Bush on Monday signaled his intention to protect some of the Pacific Ocean's most remote and unspoiled islands, atolls and coral reefs from fishing and deep-sea mining.

In a memo to three Cabinet secretaries, the president asked for a plan that would protect parts of the Mariana Trench, the deepest place on the planet, as well as waters around Rose Atoll in American Samoa and various islands and reefs in the central Pacific that are under U.S. jurisdiction.

The proposal, expected to...(complete article here).

Wind Turbines Effect on Bats

I recently attended the Panhandle Wind and Wildlife Conference in Amarillo, Texas. One of the topics discussed was the effect of wind turbines on birds and bats. The speaker was Ed Arnett of Bat Conservation International who is one of the experts cited in the article below. One of the points discussed was the role of bats in controlling insects.


Wind Turbines Kill Bats Without Impact

Jessica Marshall, Discovery News

Aug. 25, 2008 -- Researchers have found the cause behind mysterious bat deaths near wind turbines, in which many bat carcasses appeared uninjured.

The explanation to this puzzle is that the bats' lungs effectively...(complete article here).

New Canadian Wildlife Areas

One of the more important aspects of this agreement is in relation to waterfowl.

Canada creates new wildlife areas in far north

TORONTO (Reuters) - The Canadian government and a number of Inuit groups unveiled a pact on Friday that will shelter the habitat of polar bears, bowhead whales and other animals in the country's northern Nunavut territory.

Canada will spend C$8.3 million ($7.9 million) on the agreement, which will...(complete article here).

Report on the Panhandle Wind and Wildlife Conference

The Panhandle Wind & Wildlife Conference was held this past weekend in Amarillo, Texas. The article linked below was written about that conference.

Learning a bit about wind, wildlife

It is important that we use a "whole landscape" approach to new energy development. We have an opportunity to do a better job of considering the implications of development and the potential impact on the environment in a manner that was unheard of when oil and gas development began.

Related links:

http://kvii.com/news/news_story.aspx?id=172380

http://www.wind-watch.org/news/?p=16593

http://www.newschannel10.com/global/story.asp?s=8813945

Endangered Species Regulations: New Approach

A new approach to federal evaluation of projects and their impact on Endangered Species.

Bush to relax protected species rules

By DINA CAPPIELLO

WASHINGTON - Parts of the Endangered Species Act may soon be extinct. The Bush administration wants federal agencies to decide for themselves whether highways, dams, mines and other construction projects might harm endangered animals and plants.

New regulations, which don't require the approval of Congress, would reduce the...(complete article here).

For additional reading: Secretary Kempthorne Proposes Narrow Changes To ESA Consultation Process

Kenedy Wind Farm Lawsuit Dismissed

Wind and wildlife -- the conflicts are only beginning.

Federal judge dismisses Texas wind farm lawsuit

Kenedy County wind farm could open by end of year

By Christopher Sherman
ASSOCIATED PRESSSaturday,
August 09, 2008

McALLEN — A federal judge dismissed a conservation group's lawsuit challenging two wind farm projects under construction in Kenedy County, clearing the way for their completion by year's end.

The Coastal Habitat Alliance had sought...(complete article here).

New Conservation Mechanism Announced

Finding threatened or endangered species on private land sends shivers up the spine of the land owner. The Endangered Species Act penalizes landowners through restrictions. New ways to incent landowners to report threatened or endangered species and to gain their cooperation in preservation or recovery efforts is good.


Secretary Kempthorne Announces New Conservation Mechanism for Threatened and Endangered Species

Washington, D.C. – Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne today announced that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has developed an innovative new tool designed to help federal agencies conserve imperiled species on non-federal lands. The recovery crediting system will give federal agencies greater flexibility to offset impacts to threatened and endangered species caused by their actions by undertaking conservation efforts on non-federal lands, with the requirement that there is a net benefit to...(complete article here).

Fire Ant's U.S. Origins

Fire ants are a perfect example of how invasive species are inadvertently introduced and spread.

Nine to 20 Individual Fire Ant Queens Started U.S. Fire Ant Population

By Sharon Durham
July 30 , 2008

The current U.S. population of red imported fire ants--which infest millions of acres across the southern states--can be traced back to nine to 20 queens in Mobile, Ala.

That's according to a genetic study by Agricultural Research Service (ARS) entomologist D. DeWayne Shoemaker and University of Georgia entomologist Kenneth G. Ross. The results are reported in the Proceedings of the Royal Society, Biological Sciences.

The red imported fire ant (Solenopsis invicta), native to South America, is a...(complete news release here).

Oh, Give Me A Home....

Photo: Angela Schneider / AP

Bison fans aim to seed West with new herds

Scientists screen animals for disease, but cattle ranchers still worried


CORWIN SPRINGS, Mont. - More than a century after Buffalo Bill and others hunted America's wild bison to near-extinction, researchers at a compound near Yellowstone National Park have launched an ambitious restoration effort.

Inside the Corwin Springs compound, government veterinarians...(complete article here).

I see buffalo frequently. I see them in pastures and in feedlots. There are a few areas in the country with sufficient tracts of contiguous land to accomodate buffalo in a state similar to their original, unfettered nature, but very few. Many of those tracts are currently leased to ranchers for grazing cattle.

I expect that we will see escalating conflict between ranchers and those idealists who would like to drive by and see wild herds roaming the prairie. The trouble is, if they drive by in their car on a road to look at them then they are already interfering with the wild state of the animal. We can't go back folks. The days of aboriginal Americans roaming the prairies on horses to hunt the buffalo are long gone. There are places where you can experience those hunts however. For a fee. You can even sleep in a teepee.

To restore them to nature you would need to restore complete ecosystems. They need predators. Yes, wolves have been restored in a few places. Do you want them roaming your back yard? It would take much larger populations of wolves to control buffalo than what people would tolerate.

I'm not that fond of buffalo burger myself. Beef is juicier.

Brush, Water, Grass and Carbon Sequestration

The article below is one that opens a lot of issues for me. Juniper, mesquite and other woody brush referred to in the article are invasive species overrunning grassland. One of the reasons the grassland has been overrun is fire suppression practices.

The article discusses the concept that allowing the brush to remain is a method for sequestering carbon in an effort to combat "global warming." The natural order would be to allow fire to periodically remove large portions of the brush and sculpt a mixed prairie grassland with patches of brush interspersed with large open areas of grassland and occasional oak trees. Of course fire would release carbon into the atmosphere. It seems that failure to burn brush in California has created an extreme fire hazard.

I keep getting the feeling that we don't know enough to know what we don't know....

Research Could Change Perception of Woody Species Use of Water in Edwards Plateau

July 30, 2008
Writer(s): Blair Fannin, 979-845-2259,b-fannin@tamu.edu
Contact(s): Dr. Jim Heilman, 979-845-7169, j-heilman@tamu.edu

COLLEGE STATION – New research suggests that juniper, mesquite and other woody brush that have overrun grasslands on the Edwards Plateau of west-central Texas aren’t the water hogs that they were thought to be.

Further, bulldozing this brush may not be wise, because it would remove plants that take in lots of carbon from the atmosphere, making them a potential ally in efforts to counter global warming.

These are the findings of Dr. Jim Heilman, a Texas AgriLife Research scientist and professor of environmental physics in the Department of Soil and Crop Sciences at Texas A&M University.

“People have this idea that trees are suction pumps, that if you have all of this landscape and big trees, much more water is used,” he said. “Not true. What drives water use is...(complete article here).

New Capture Apparatus for Deer

For the uninformed: Bambi can be a dangerous critter. Between sharp hooves and antlers, they can defend themselves fairly well. Capturing them for research purposes can be hazardous to both the humans and the animals involved. Safe-handling apparatus is beneficial to both the captor and the captured.

ARS-Developed Apparatus Captures Deer Safely, Effectively and with Minimal Trauma

By Alfredo Flores
July 25, 2008

A portable device that allows researchers to humanely trap deer and other wildlife as part of field studies to control ticks and other parasites has been developed by an Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientist.

The apparatus...(complete news release here).

Wind and Wildlife Research Projects

It is important to examine all of the implications of new technology on the environment. This important research will help to evaluate the impact of wind energy production on wildlife. Such impacts are also the subject of the Panhandle Wind and Wildlife Conference to be held August 8-9 in Amarillo, Texas.

Wind Power-Related Research Projects at Patuxent Wildlife Research Center

Interest in electricity from wind energy has been growing internationally. Large “wind farms” have sprung up around the world, each consisting of scores of turbines standing several hundred feet high with blades at least 100 ft across. Wind energy is relatively inexpensive and clean, without the air pollution and green-house gases that are by-products of coal-burning power plants or the worry about where to dispose of nuclear wastes. This makes the production of electricity from wind attractive.

However, wind turbines can have adverse effects on wildlife. Some wind farms have...(complete article and related links here).

Wind Infrastructure Approval in Texas

Regulatory approval may have been the easy part. Now the battle will be engaged to determine the routes. That will also likely include eminent domain battles with landowners who don't wish to have their property cut by new transmission lines. It also may generate battles with a few environmental groups because some of those lines could cross key wildlife habitat.

The Panhandle Wind and Wildlife Conference in Amarillo on August 8 and 9 will be an important venue for discussing many of the issues surrounding wind energy and wildlife. It is expected to draw interested persons from a very wide area.

Texas Approves a $4.93 Billion Wind-Power Project

By KATE GALBRAITH
Published: July 19, 2008

Texas regulators have approved a $4.93 billion wind-power transmission project, providing a major lift to the development of wind energy in the state.

The planned web of transmission lines will carry electricity from remote western parts of the state to major population centers like Dallas, Houston, Austin and San Antonio. The lines can handle 18,500 megawatts of power, enough for 3.7 million homes on a hot day when air-conditioners are running.

The project will...(complete article here).

Black-footed Ferrets Get Vaccine

The black-footed ferret is one of my favorite critters. Sometimes it is difficult to walk the line between interference and rescue. This is an interesting effort to control pague in the wild.

Ouch! Taking a Shot at Plague: Vaccine Offers Hope for Endangered Ferrets in Plague Outbreak

Endangered black-footed ferrets, like children, aren't exactly lining up to be stuck with a vaccine, but in an effort to help control an extensive outbreak of plague in South Dakota, some of the ferrets are getting dosed with a vaccine given by biologists.

This is the first time the vaccine has been used during a major plague epizootic—an animal version of a human epidemic. Sylvatic plague is an infectious bacterial disease usually...(complete article here).