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U.S. & Wildlife Service November/December 2015 | Vol 12, No 6 RefugeUpdate System www.fws.gov/refuges

INSIDE: The universally accessible boardwalk at Kealia Pond National Wildlife Refuge is a wonderful place for nature lovers who want to veer slightly off the beaten path on the Hawaiian island of . The Revival Kealia Pond is one of 31 refuges and four marine national monuments in the Pacific and the Caribbean. See the Focus section, which is titled “Tropical Island Habitats” and begins on page 6. (Rick Long) Of ’s Willapa Bay Urban Wildlife Refuge Partnership Gives By Bill O’Brian Students a Taste of Science y 2003, almost 30,000 acres of By Erik Lopez, Taylor Pauls and Kathiana Torres invasive Spartina alterniflora Bwere choking avian and aquatic ver the past three years, the three of us and 15 other students from our high life in Willapa Bay on Washington’s school, Common Ground, have collected vegetation and invertebrate data from Pacific Coast. Today, after a massive six habitat restoration study plots at two sites in our hometown, New Haven, CT. eradication effort led by Willapa O National Wildlife Refuge, just .7 acres All told, we have planted approximately 100 native plants and collected and identified of spartina biomass remain in the bay. 5,148 insects at the study plots. We’ve used 13 pairs of tweezers, 10 microscopes and a range of skills and academic disciplines to do it. “It’s probably one of the largest, most successful eradication We are members of the nonprofit Common Ground Green Jobs Corps, which is programs in the entire country, could conducting a three-year study at two sites – West River and Beaver Pond – to better be the world,” says refuge project understand the effects of habitat restoration in the city. leader Jackie Ferrier. “I didn’t start it, but I sure want to be here to finish it.” It’s all part of the New Haven Harbor Watershed Urban Wildlife Partnership, one of 17 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service-led public/private partnerships across the country The person who started it, essentially, designed to connect city residents with nature (http://www.fws.gov/urban/ is Ferrier’s predecessor, Charlie partnerships.php). Stenvall, Willapa Refuge project leader from 1997 to 2011. Within the New Haven city limits, Common Ground (http://commongroundct.org/) includes an urban farm, an urban forest, an environmental center and our high continued on pg 18 continued on pg 19 FOCUS: Tropical Island Habitats, pages 6-13 Chief’s Corner Marine National Monuments: Singular Achievements RefugeUpdate

Sally Jewell Address editorial Secretary inquiries to: Department of Refuge Update the Interior U.S. Fish and Dan Ashe Wildlife Service Director Mail stop: NWRS U.S. Fish and 5275 Leesburg Pike Wildlife Service Falls Church, VA 22041-3803 Cynthia Martinez Phone: 703-358-1858 Chief Fax: 703-358-2517 National Wildlife E-mail: Refuge System [email protected] Martha Nudel Editor in Chief This newsletter is published on recycled Bill O’Brian paper using soy-based Managing Editor ink. C

Soldierfish cruise a at National Wildlife Refuge, which is part of Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument. (Jim Maragos/USFWS)

t’s mind-boggling to think about the The marine national monuments are range of habitats and wildlife that essential for the conservation of critical I the Refuge System protects – and species as we work to conserve a natural Inside how they are spread nearly around the world for future generations. globe. The sun almost never sets on the Free App Sorts Images National Wildlife Refuge System. President Obama expanded the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Does your refuge have a bunch of Maybe nothing illustrates that better Monument in September 2014. That trail-camera photos that need to be than this issue’s focus on tropical islands monument alone protects nearly 490,000 catalogued? There’s an app for that. – from 22 refuges and four marine square miles around the islands and Page 5 national monuments that are also protected as national in the wildlife refuges. That monument is one Focus: Tropical Island Habitats to nine refuges of the last havens for fish and wildlife in The refuges of the Pacific and in the Caribbean the world – home to one of the largest the Caribbean – and the marine Sea. The marine and most pristine collections of coral reef, national monuments of the Pacific – national monuments and shorebird protected areas on provide habitat for some of the most are: Marianas the planet. Millions of forage in distinctive species in the Refuge Trench, Pacific the monument’s waters and raise their System. Page 6-13 Remote Islands, young on the islands and atolls. Papahānaumokuākea Fire, Fire Everywhere Cynthia Martinez and Rose . Renowned oceanographer Sylvia Earle, named by Time magazine in 1998 as its 2015 was a record season on public Perhaps you think that the marine first Hero for the Planet, has called the lands in the . Page 14 national monuments are so distant ocean the “blue heart of the planet.” She from the continental U.S. that their has called the marine monuments “hope significance is limited. After all, the spots” – places that not only feed the Correction marine national monuments are dots in world, but are also critical to the life and The name of Julia Butler Hansen the vast Pacific Ocean. Wrong! In fact, health of the Pacific Ocean. Refuge for the Columbian White- they are some of the most important, tailed Deer was incorrect in a And they are places that inspire us. The intact, functioning marine ecosystems on September/October article about the mystery of the Marianas Trench – the Earth. endangered deer.

continued on pg 18 2 • Refuge Update Rue Mapp, the founder and CEO of Outdoor Afro: “The act of getting outdoors in the wild involves taking risks, acknowledging a history and a culture that haven’t always been welcoming to all groups.” (OutdoorAfro.com)

Celebrating African-American Participation in Nature

By Bill O’Brian events and meetups in outdoor settings. available to them,” says Mapp. “It’s a It has about 13,700 followers on Facebook way that people can take better care rowing up in Oakland, Rue Mapp and 6,200 on Twitter. It is a nonprofit with of themselves. We know that there spent a lot of time with her no paid membership. It exists primarily are better physical and emotional and G family in Northern to get people outdoors. spiritual outcomes that come from woodlands, where she learned to fish connections with nature. It’s also and hunt. With Girl Scouts and Outward “We don’t spend time talking about important as we think about the future of Bound, she experienced camping, why African-Americans don’t have a conservation in this country.” mountaineering, rock climbing and other relationship with nature,” Mapp says. outdoor activities. “Instead, we talk about how we do. And Mapp thinks often about the future we hold up historical examples. We ask of conservation. She believes that “In the more remote areas,” she says, “I people to share experiences in their if a diverse range of people have realized that there weren’t enough people families, and we use social media to help relationships with wild places, they will who look like me who were participating shift the view or narrative, in a certain protect those places – and benefit from in those activities, and I wanted to create sense of the word.” them. a platform where people could have a wide range of opportunities to have those Outdoor Afro’s 30 leaders nationwide are In a June 2015 High Country News essay experiences but to also see themselves in volunteers selected via an application after a visit to , Mapp wrote: those experiences.” process. Last spring the organization “The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge convened those leaders for training at the inspires us because it reveals an So in 2009, Mapp, now in her forties, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s National elemental connection between people and founded Outdoor Afro. Conservation Training Center in West nature. That connection is more “Outdoor Afro celebrates and inspires . The three-day training, which important today than ever before in our African-American participation and was facilitated by NCTC’s Ora Dixon wired world … Through my work to leadership in nature so that people can and a dozen other Service employees, reconnect African-Americans with the take better care of themselves, their covered a range of topics, including outdoors, I’ve seen the benefits of communities and the planet,” Mapp says. risk management; healthy life balance; tapping into the power of nature. The act “We do this through a national network camping/campfire tips; and best practices of getting outdoors in the wild involves of leaders. We have 30 leaders around the for connecting black people to nature. taking risks, acknowledging a history and a culture that haven’t always been country who invite people to get out and “The way they bring people together is do a range of outdoor activities. People welcoming to all groups …When I think fascinating to me,” Dixon says of Outdoor back to my visit to the Arctic National of all ages and all abilities are always Afro. welcome.” Wildlife Refuge, I realize I may have “We want to see people – all people – out been one of the first African-American Outdoor Afro, which started as a blog, is and enjoying the outdoors in proportion women to gaze upon the coastal plain in a national community of about 7,500 core to their population and what they have its wild state. I fervently hope I am not members who regularly participate in the last.” Refuge Update • 3 Science Applications + Refuges = Landscape-Scale Progress

By Paul Souza The California LCC is evaluating the existing refuges. Sandhill cranes are the impact of sea-level rise on tidal marshes focus – a species that signals the health of am a firm believer in the “One along the Pacific Coast. The LCC has the ecosystem. With help from Southwest Service” philosophy, which means held workshops for Service staff at San Region zone biologist Bill Johnson, Smith I that we in the U.S. Fish and Diego National Wildlife Refuge Complex, is working with the Great Plains LCC Wildlife Service can do more for our Don Edwards Bay Refuge and others to understand how cranes use mission when we set shared priorities and Humboldt Bay Refuge. The meetings this landscape and to evaluate how lands across programs, roll up our sleeves enabled local partners to talk directly can be better managed [see September/ and use our distinctive talents for a with scientists about individual sites. October 2015 Refuge Update: http://1. common purpose. Collaboration between usa.gov/1OgAtvZ]. landscape conservation cooperatives It has been important for the California (LCCs) and national wildlife refuges LCC to work directly with refuge A growing list of joint successes between embodies that concept. leaders, not only because individual the Refuge System and Science wetlands respond differently to sea- Applications is evidence that our LCCs, the national network of 22 ​ level rise – and thus management needs complementary capacity can get more for public-private partnerships​ that receive vary – but also because the LCC team our mission. All LCCs are committed to funding and support from the Science members help managers bring projected completing landscape conservation Applications program, are helping future climate conditions into their work. designs that by definition can help refuge Service land managers do amazing work. planning. Other science investments can The Southern High Plains region of Examples abound. help refuge field leaders effectively and supports a manage precious resources. In turn, the The North Atlantic LCC is working with community of ranchers and farmers engagement of Refuge System Silvio O. Conte National Fish and Wildlife who enjoy their rugged lifestyle and brainpower in the development of these Refuge in New England to prioritize work hard to make a living on the arid tools ensures they will meet the needs of conservation actions, addressing landscape. The region is also home to the managers and be refined over time, terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems and Muleshoe-Grulla-Buffalo Lake National helping the Service and the broader 14 species – including brook trout, black Wildlife Refuge complex, managed conservation community get better each bear and woodcock – that represent for waterbirds that depend on playa day. needs of hundreds of others. Together wetlands and saline lakes. Paul Souza is the U.S. Fish and Wildlife with information about climate change Complex project leader Jude Smith and future development, the resulting Service’s assistant director for science understands that long-term success applications. landscape conservation design will help requires the Service to think bigger than refuge staff make strategic decisions for acquisition, forest management, fish passage and more. “Through this collaborative process, we have generated products grounded in science that illustrate the relevancy of the refuge and reinforce our conservation priorities,” says Conte Refuge manager Andrew French. Refuges in Alaska play an important role in maintaining landscape connectivity. By working with the Northwest Boreal LCC, Kanuti and Yukon Flats National Wildlife Refuges see how they contribute to a network of protected lands. LCC and refuge staff members are incorporating landscape conservation design into the comprehensive conservation plan (CCP) for Yukon Flats Refuge, which provides The California Landscape Conservation Cooperative (LCC), funded in part by the Science Applications important habitat for lesser scaup, white- program, is evaluating the impact of sea-level rise on tidal marshes along the Pacific Coast. Such marshes winged scoter, chinook and chum salmon, provide critical habitat for the federally endangered light-footed Ridgway’s rail and other marsh bird among other priority species. species. A list of all 22 LCCs is at http://lccnetwork.org/lcc-staff (Rinus Baak/USFWS)

4 • Refuge Update U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service remote trail cameras capture a steady stream of images of wildlife, such as this one of a coyote chasing pronghorn at Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge in New Mexico. The Southwest Region inventory and monitoring team has developed a crowd-sourcing app to help sift through and label the images. (USFWS) New App Helps Sort Millions of Trail Camera Images

By Grant Harris useful for addressing management and The app was designed this year by conservation priorities. Jason Baird, a 22-year-old whiz kid from emote trail cameras capture Trinity College in Connecticut interning millions of images of ocelots, “Biologists often depend on those at the regional office in Albuquerque. R bighorn sheep, elk, pronghorn, photographs to help them understand He developed Moniker for roughly birds and other wildlife sparring, visiting what is happening on the ground,” says two-thirds the cost of conventional app water, foraging, marking territory and Southwest Regional Director Benjamin design. more within the National Wildlife Refuge Tuggle. “Trail camera images actually System. But before those images can be help them make better decisions about To try the app, go to the App Store on useful for scientific purposes, they must wildlife and habitat management because your iPhone (model 4, OS version 8.4.1 or be sorted and labeled. they provide a definitive snapshot record newer) and iPad (model 2 or newer) and of the species that are out there … Staff search for “Moniker.” Moniker may not Thanks to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife can spend their time in the field doing immediately pop up in the suggestions, so Service Southwest Region inventory and more hands-on conservation and still hit the Search tab again and it will. monitoring team, there’s an app for that. have the information support they need Even after sorting, analyzing millions of from the images.” It’s called Moniker, and it’s available free images still is a lot of work. Fortunately, at the App Store for iPhone and iPad The app operates by downloading 15 still there is a solution for this, too. Since users. (not video) images at a time to an iPhone 2010, the Service has been collaborating At New Mexico’s Sevilleta National or iPad. The app pulls up each image internationally with camera trapping Wildlife Refuge alone, 36 cameras individually, and the user classifies the experts, designing a process that amassed 2.7 million images in four species captured via a scrolling wheel. simplifies analysis and information years. Typically, sorting that mountain The user then identifies the number sharing. The approach relies on of imagery for scientific analysis means of individual animals. Because most generating a text file for every image bribing family, friends, volunteers and images contain one or two individuals, that includes camera location, date and neighbors. Meanwhile, more cameras the app has buttons for these. Otherwise, time, species and number captured. The are positioned and the imagery backlog the number of individuals is keyed text file, and not the image, is then mushrooms. in. If something, say blowing grass, analyzed and shared across projects to triggers the camera without capturing encourage meta-analyses. The Moniker app allows anyone, a wildlife species, the code “ghost” is Grant Harris is chief of biological anywhere to sort camera-trap imagery. used. Ultimately, this process sorts the services for the Southwest Region. For The crowd-sourcing approach helps images and stores them on a remote more information on how the app can be manage the imagery backlog, while the server, where they are ready for project used for scientific analyses, contact him app helps generate public appreciation use. To ensure data quality, each image at [email protected]. of America’s wildlife that the Service is sorted multiple times and majority manages and conserves. In return, opinion prevails. The final sort is the Service obtains sorted images subsampled and checked for accuracy before analysis. Refuge Update • 5 ...Tropical Island Habitats From the Pacific to the Caribbean, Island Refuges Are Distinctive

By Christopher Eng sland ecosystems are of disproportionate ecological importance to conservation. While islands make up less than 5 percent of I Earth’s land, they are home to 40 percent of the species at risk of extinction. Historically, 80 percent of extinctions have occurred on islands. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service manages islands at more than 200 national wildlife refuges, where up to 161 threatened and endangered species are protected. There are 31 refuges in the Caribbean, the Pacific and – and four marine national monuments in the Pacific. This Refuge Update highlights tropical island habitats at a few of them. Island habitats are distinctive for a number of reasons. Some islands’ native species do not naturally occur anywhere else on Earth. For example, Desecheo National Wildlife Refuge off is home to three lizard species, two spiders and a scorpion found only there. Higo chumbo cactus is found only there and on two nearby islands. Refuge alone supports finch, Nihoa millerbird, finch, Laysan ducks and Nihoa loulu palm. Culebra Refuge off Puerto Rico hosts Leptocereus Gratianus, an almost spineless cactus [see page 9]. “Islands are special because of the sheer numbers of individuals within a species that they help support and the diversity of species as well,” says John Klavitter, the Refuge System’s invasive species coordinator who has worked within at least nine island ecosystems during his career, including 11½ years as biologist or deputy manager at Refuge. “Aesthetically, they’re really amazing places for people to see. Above: Many islands’ native species do not naturally occur Many of them are remote. Sometimes just traveling there [often many anywhere else on Earth. For example, higo chumbo cactus is found days on a ship] is part of the experience, and once you arrive the island’s only at Desecheo National Wildlife Refuge and two nearby islands physical and biological uniqueness compared to the mainland is most off Puerto Rico. (Jan P. Zegarra) impressive and memorable.” Remote island refuge visits usually require special permits. Below: Green sea turtles are common in the waters and reefs surrounding National Wildlife Refuge about 1,000 Island habitats can be challenging for conservationists. miles south of in the Pacific Ocean. (Kydd Pollock) An island’s typically small size and isolation leaves its native species particularly vulnerable to ecological stressors, including climate change, development, pollution, invasive species and storms. Island ecosystems may be less resilient, relative to the mainland, because some species have less room to migrate. Invasive species are a leading threat because island native species often have evolved with few competitors or predators and are not adapted to fierce competition. Projects on remote islands can be expensive and logistically complicated. Island ecosystems can be delicate, so restoration specialists must take care not to disturb fragile habitats or introduce invasive species. Some things that make islands vulnerable also create an unmatched opportunity to save unique habitats and imperiled species. An island’s size may make it easier to identify such opportunities and address the ecological problem(s). An island’s isolation may make it 6 • Refuge Update ...Tropical Island Habitats

easier to maintain restored habitat or established species. The surrounding waters act as a natural barrier against reinvasion once invasive species have been eradicated. Restoration may yield a higher return on investment, compared to the mainland, because of island ecosystems’ high biodiversity. Moreover, after invasive rat eradication efforts, says Klavitter, some tropical island native ecosystems “recover quickly without major hands-on restoration. That translates into lower costs over the long term to achieve full restoration on a small atoll versus the mainland, where complete eradication may be unachievable or require decades or longer to totally restore what was once there.” The Service’s voluntary habitat conservation programs, including the Coastal Program and the Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program, provide technical and financial assistance to partners interested in restoring and A red-footed booby chick nests at National Wildlife Refuge, one of seven refuges in protecting island habitat. “Restoring the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument. (Laura M. Beauregard/USFWS) Island Ecosystems Report: Benefits to Native Plants and Animals” (http:// 31 Refuges and 4 Marine National Monuments bit.ly/1MaNEil) highlights some of the There are 31 national wildlife refuges in the Caribbean Sea, the Pacific Ocean programs’ work. and Hawaii – and four marine national monuments in the Pacific. Recognizing the invasive species threat, Caribbean Refuges Huleia Pacific Marine the Service and the nonprofit Island Buck Island National Monuments * Conservation have adopted an Island Cabo Rojo James Campbell Marianas Trench Restoration Memorandum of Culebra Pacific Remote Islands Understanding (MOU) to promote Desecheo Johnston Atoll Papahānaumokuākea invasive species removal on islands. The Green Cay Kakahaia Rose Atoll recent eradication of rats from Palmyra Laguna Cartagena Kealia Pond More about the Atoll Refuge is one result of the MOU. Navassa Kilauea Point Caribbean: http://www. Other conservation agencies and Sandy Point fws.gov/caribbean/ organizations are welcome to sign onto Vieques Mariana Arc of Fire refuges/default.htm the agreement. Pacific Refuges Mariana Trench More about the Pacific Midway Atoll Christopher Eng is a biologist in the Baker Island and Hawaii: http://www. Forest Refuge System Branch of Habitat fws.gov/pacific/ Palmyra Atoll Restoration. For more information Hakalau Forest about the Island Restoration Hanalei Rose Atoll Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) Hawaiian Islands Wake Atoll contact John Klavitter (John_Klavitter@ fws.gov) in the Refuge System Division * A marine national monument is designated by Presidential Proclamation under the authority of the . Each marine national monument has a unique partnership arrangement, of Natural Resources and Conservation but all monuments are managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in partnership with other Planning. federal, state and/or territorial agencies.

Refuge Update • 7 ...Tropical Island Habitats Did You Know?

Sandy Point National Wildlife Refuge in the Virgin Islands is a globally important nesting site for endangered leatherback sea turtles, left. Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge in the Pacific Ocean supports the world’s largest nesting colony, right. (Left photo by Claudia Lombard/USFWS; right by Dan Clark/USFWS) n terms of plants, fish, wildlife and 40 miles from Honolulu. Hawaiian geese Columbus in 1498 and then rediscovered culture, the national wildlife refuges are also known as nene. in the 1856 Rush? More than one I of the Pacific and the Caribbean •… the warm, shallow waters million tons of bird guano were removed are vastly different from mainland surrounding Vieques National Wildlife from the island from 1865 to 1901. refuges. They are exotic, unusual, even Refuge off Puerto Rico include healthy •… the Hawaiian name for Midway Atoll mysterious. sea grass prairies that support large is Pihemanu, which means “the loud din numbers of Antillean manatees? Also or sound of birds?” Midway Atoll Did you know that … known as West Indian manatees, they are National Wildlife Refuge is home to 21 •… Sandy Point National Wildlife Refuge particularly susceptible to water colder breeding seabird species – about 3 million on St. Croix in the Virgin Islands is a than 60 degrees. individual birds all told. globally important nesting site for •… in Hawaiian legend Hawaiian • … more than 90 percent of the endangered leatherback sea turtles? common moorhens were thought to have threatened green sea turtles living in the In 2014, 84 individual female leatherbacks brought fire from the gods to the people? 1,500–mile-long Hawaiian archipelago made more than 374 nesting activities A sizable population of the secretive nest on just a few beaches at French that produced at least 12,526 hatchlings birds, also known as ‘alae ‘ula, is found at Frigate Shoals in Hawaiian Islands at the refuge. Hanalei National Wildlife Refuge on National Wildlife Refuge? •… Midway Atoll National Wildlife . •… the endangered yellow-shouldered Refuge is home to the world’s largest •… Green Cay National Wildlife Refuge blackbird, once common in lower albatross nesting colony? From Dec. 11, in the Virgin Islands is the easternmost elevations of Puerto Rico, is present at 2014, through Jan. 2, 2015, 19 volunteers unit in the Refuge System on the North Laguna Cartagena and Cabo Rojo systematically covered the atoll’s three American side of the International National Wildlife Refuges? small islands, counting active nest sites. Dateline? The 14-acre island refuge •… each day the sun first rises on the They estimated more than 1.39 million provides critical habitat for one of only National Wildlife Refuge System in the individual birds. They recorded 666,044 two remaining natural populations of the Pacific Ocean and it last sets on the nesting pairs and endangered St. Croix ground lizard. Refuge System in the Pacific, too? On any 28,610 black-footed albatross pairs. •… the deepest point within Marianas given day, the first refuge to see dawn is •… in spring 2014, for the first time since Trench Marine National Monument, at Wake Atoll National Wildlife Refuge, at least the 1700s, a pair of endangered 35,210 feet below sea level, is deeper than which is part of Pacific Remote Islands Hawaiian geese nested and successfully the height of Mount Everest is above sea Marine National Monument. The last to hatched goslings on Hawaii’s most level? The monument is east of the see dusk is Midway Atoll National populous island, Oahu? The pair and their and Guam. Wildlife Refuge, which is part of goslings were first seen at James •… the Caribbean island that is Navassa Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Campbell National Wildlife Refuge about National Wildlife Refuge, 35 miles west Monument. of Haiti, was discovered by Christopher 8 • Refuge Update ...Tropical Island Habitats Culebra Refuge: Seabirds, Endangered Cactus and More

By Bill O’Brian interns, volunteers and at least one individual plants was known to exist when private landowner. it was listed as endangered in 1993. Now Washington Post headline about the refuge has six natural populations of Culebra Island and its refuge About 40,000 sooty terns inhabit the about 250 individuals and six introduced A read: “A relatively undeveloped seabird colony. So do more than a dozen populations, also of about 250 individuals. island off Puerto Rico mainland offers other avian species. A five-year review this year listed the solitude (amid unexploded bombs).” “The most beautiful aspect of the seabird cactus’s status as improving. Culebra National Wildlife Refuge is more colony in Culebra is the view from the “The refuge has been a key player” in than solitude and unexploded ordnance, boat,” says refuge biologist Ricardo propagation, planting, outreach and though. Its 1,510 acres on the main Colon-Merced. “You can see this cloud logistics related to the recovery effort, island and 22 cays provide habitat for over the colony area. The cloud consists says Ecological Services biologist Carlos the Caribbean’s largest seabird nesting of thousands and thousands of birds Pacheco. colony and an endangered cactus that flying over, looking for food or advising doesn’t naturally occur anyplace else on others of the presence of a predator. You Leptocereus grantianus is a sprawling, Earth. can see the movements of this cloud like nearly spineless green cactus with one organism, all moving at the same white flowers. It grows best beneath From 1936 until the mid-1970s, the U.S. time like a school of fish.” the canopy of a dry, subtropical forest. military used Culebra and some cays for It is iconic to Culebra, an 11-square- bombing practice. By boat and by land, the refuge monitors mile island with about 1,800 residents the colony monthly from February Now, the refuge monitors the seabirds 17 miles east of Puerto Rico. Major to July. Monitoring helps biologists threats to Leptocereus grantianus’s with help from the Refuge System understand seabird nesting activity, Inventory and Monitoring Program, survival are habitat loss to development population trends and habitat use. and predation by wild goats and deer, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Monitoring has documented predation on Migratory Bird Program, the Puerto for which the cactus is a rare source of seabird eggs, chicks and adults by non- freshwater on the arid island. Rico Department of Natural and native mammals, such as rats, goats, deer, Environmental Resources (DNER) and cats and dogs. So, the refuge is planning a The refuge propagates new plants in a others. predator control program and expects to nursery. Ecological Services, the refuge The refuge contributes to the cactus’s repair a key fence before the 2016 sooty and volunteers planted 67 cacti on the recovery with help from the Caribbean tern breeding season. refuge this year and hope to do the same Ecological Services Field Office, the next year. A private landowner, who is Regarding the cactus, Leptocereus developing a 100-acre parcel nearby, has DNER, Youth Conservation Corps grantianus, only one population of 50 continued on pg 12

Culebra National Wildlife Refuge, on an island east of Puerto Rico, provides Leptocereus grantianus, an endangered cactus, grows naturally only at habitat for the Caribbean’s largest seabird nesting colony. By boat and by Culebra National Wildlife Refuge. There are six natural populations of about land, the refuge monitors the colony monthly from February to July. (Ricardo 250 individuals and six introduced populations, also of about 250 individuals, Colon-Merced/USFWS) at the refuge. (USFWS) Refuge Update • 9 ...Tropical Island Habitats Guam Refuge Preserves 4,000-Year-Old Cultural Legacy

By Ben Ikenson contracted a cultural resources inventory with Carson, who spent several months o lush is the jungle on Guam, Artifacts scattered diligently documenting, collecting and a Japanese soldier who fought throughout the Pacific cataloging items. Sin World War II was to conceal himself within it until 1972, island suggest that “We knew the site existed, and it was nearly 28 years after the United States the original Chamorro exciting to come across it, but what really regained control of the Pacific island. community there was makes it special is that these 15 home Last summer, Guam National Wildlife sites are amazingly intact,” says Carson. Refuge maintenance worker Brian Leon the very first to settle The site “contains the remains of an Guerrero and University of Guam visiting in . entire village complex, dating to the last archaeology professor Mike Carson came time when a native Chamorro village upon evidence of human habitation that Hornbostel, an anthropologist with the system was operating in the region. The far precedes 20th-century warfare. of Hawaii. A former Spanish-Chamorro wars of the late 1600s Marine, Hornbostel was also covertly concluded with the forced re-location After exploring a cave in a closed area gathering information on Japanese of survivors into a few easily controlled of the refuge near Ritidian Point, the activities in the Northern Mariana villages under Spanish colonial authority, pair were poking their way through Islands for the U.S. Office of Naval and original villages, like at Ritidian, the jungle when Carson spotted a large Intelligence. While he did document were abandoned as places of residence black mound, a possible indication of 3,000-plus-year-old Chamorro artwork in and cultural life.” a site used for burning by the island’s nearby limestone caves, he didn’t conduct ancient Chamorro people. With scattered a thorough inventory at the Ritidian latte The refuge hopes that the site, which pottery shards on the surface, they soon site, which was soon swallowed by time is sacred to the local Chamorro found the remains of a significant village and the jungle. people, soon will be listed on the completely overgrown with vegetation. National Register of Historic Places. The After rediscovering the latte site, refuge refuge is currently developing a guided “It was really exciting,” says Guerrero. staff cleared some surface vegetation and tour program for island residents, among “Almost immediately, within 30 to 40 feet of the mound and completely buried continued on pg 12 by jungle, we started finding ‘latte’ sites.” Lattes refer to stone pillars that the Chamorro erected to support their dwellings above the jungle floor. Long before Spanish galleons appeared on the horizon, the Chamorro people flourished throughout the Marianas archipelago. Ferdinand Magellan landed on Guam in 1521, bringing an era of prolonged to the entire region. The site at Ritidian, which included at least 15 homes, would have been the first village the Spaniards saw after three months at sea. Artifacts scattered throughout the island suggest that the original Chamorro community there was the very first to settle in the Pacific islands of Oceania, some 4,000 years ago. Guam is home to many remnants and ruins of these ancient people, and the site Guerrero and Carson found, in fact, had been previously Archaeologist Mike Carson documents an excavated site believed to have been inhabited by ancient discovered in the 1920s by Hans Chamorro people at what is now Guam National Wildlife Refuge. (Laura M. Beauregard/USFWS) 10 • Refuge Update ...Tropical Island Habitats

Kealia Pond National Wildlife Refuge is a wonderful place to see Hawaiian stilts, left, and other shorebirds. The refuge’s wetlands “are extraordinarily important, special and rare in today’s Hawaiian ecosystem,” says visitor services manager Courtney Brown. From December to March, Hawaiian coot chicks, with their orange/red head feathers, are easy to spot with binoculars at the refuge on Maui’s south-central coast. (Rick Long) Kealia Pond Refuge: “A Hidden Gem of Maui”

By Bill O’Brian get oriented. Enjoy walking through muddy. The universally accessible coastal the exhibit hall that highlights the boardwalk is a wonderful place to see lmost 2.5 million people visited uniqueness of the refuge and its history. Hawaiian stilts and other shorebirds. the Hawaiian island of Maui last Talk with volunteer docents and staff, get Ayear. Typical destinations were a brochure and borrow binoculars and The wetlands “are extraordinarily beach resorts, scenic Hana Highway and bird ID cards to enhance your refuge important, special and rare in today’s volcanic Mount Haleakala. experience.” Hawaiian ecosystem,” Brown says. “They allow for natural zones between the ocean Visitors might want to add Kealia Pond Then, Brown suggests, go one-third of and mountains. They foster incredible National Wildlife Refuge to the mix. a mile to the Kanuimanu Ponds parking biodiversity and unique wildlife that The refuge “is a hidden gem of Maui,” area and walk the .75-mile loop dirt path depends on them. Additionally, Kealia says Courtney Brown. “Avid bird leading to Maui’s largest lowland wetland Pond is a large sediment basin that acts watchers and nature enthusiasts alike – Kealia Pond – and its distinctive as a buffer zone protecting the near- can find peaceful moments away from wildlife. shore coral reef habitat from storm the hustle of the island. From observing water runoff and silt that can damage the close up the endangered Hawaiian coot “Lastly,” she recommends, “drive to the fragile near-shore ecosystem.” building a floating nest or endangered Kealia Coastal Boardwalk, a 2,200-foot Hawaiian stilt chicks foraging in shallow elevated boardwalk over ephemeral The refuge, with a staff of two – Brown water for insects or dragonflies on the ponds and mudflats with self-guided and maintenance worker Calvin Willis hunt in funnels of insects careening interpretive panels about the native – relies on volunteers to assist visitors like helicopters to snag their prey to and visiting birds at the wetlands. and help manage habitat. For instance, observing colorful butterflies pollinate The boardwalk is in the coastal dune volunteers and partners (such as the native plants, it is often the little things environment that supports nesting Hawaii Department of Land and Natural that make Kealia Pond so special.” habitat for the endangered hawksbill sea Resources and the Hawaii Wildlife Fund) turtle.” help monitor key beaches each summer Brown is visitor services manager at the to increase hawksbill nesting 700-acre refuge on Maui’s south-central Kealia (kay-AHH-LEE-ah) means “salt- success. They also helped build a fence coast eight miles from the island’s main encrusted” in Hawaiian. In summer, the along five miles of highway to protect the airport. The refuge, which attracts about dry season, the pond’s salt-encrusted soil turtles. 35,000 visitors annually, is a natural basin and brackish waters glimmer. From April for a 56-square-mile watershed. through July, nesting Hawaiian stilts and Brown has one final piece of advice if stilt chicks generally can be observed. visitors have a question and can’t find Brown has tips for those who want to In winter, the wet season, the pond is her or a volunteer: Ask Willis. “Every veer slightly off the beaten path and visit teeming with life as migratory birds rest day,” she says, “Calvin impresses me the refuge: and feed. From December to March, with his dedication to the birds, habitat, “Arrive early in the morning. The wind is Hawaiian coots build floating nests to wetland management and making calm, lighting favorable and birds more deter predators. Coot chicks, with their meaningful connections with visitors active. Check in at the visitor center and orange/red head feathers, are easy to and volunteers.” spot with binoculars, but the paths can be Refuge Update • 11 ...Tropical Island Habitats

Guam Refuge — continued from page 10

Desecheo Refuge To Receive Invasive Species Allocation

Desecheo National Wildlife Refuge will receive the $1 million National Wildlife Refuge System Large Invasive Species Project Allocation for fiscal year 2016. The refuge will use the funding for a second try at eradicating black rats and restoring the native island ecosystem. Successful eradication would have wide applicability for other island refuge managers who are battling invasive species.

Until it was rediscovered last summer by Guam National Wildlife Refuge maintenance worker Brian The first attempt to eradicate black Leon Guerrero and archaeologist Mike Carson, this site was buried under dense jungle vegetation. It rats from Desecheo Refuge by using includes the remains of at least 15 homes in an ancient village. (Laura Beauregard/USFWS) aerially broadcast rodenticide in 2012 appeared to be successful, but eight other visitors, to learn more about the Adds Carson: “Now, after more than months later rats were observed. An important cultural legacy left behind 300 years of shifting foreign colonial independent review of that work by their ancestors. regimes, these ancient village sites in identified factors that may have the jungle are … reminders of an older contributed to the inability to achieve “When you pick up a piece of pottery, heritage prior to the transformations of complete eradication. All of these you can’t help but imagine that last colonial rule, [and] the ability for people factors will be addressed in the 2016 person to use it. What a different world to reconnect with an ancient Chamorro attempt, according to Refuge System they lived in,” says Laura Beauregard, village is priceless.” manager at the Mariana Islands Refuges invasive species coordinator John & Monument Complex, which includes Ben Ikenson is a New Mexico-based Klavitter. Guam Refuge. freelance writer.

Culebra Refuge — continued from page 9 agreed to set aside 36 acres and, with Culebra Refuge is not just seabirds and “This arrangement of natural resources, Service and volunteer help, plant 100 cactus. Some of the refuge is open to the plus the whole history of a habitat that cacti on the property. public via a visitor contact station and has been recovering from past land boat. Within the refuge’s small boundary, uses – agricultural practices, military Pacheco would feel confident about manager Ana Roman points out, are white practice activities, development – and Leptocereus grantianus’s recovery sand beaches, mangroves, , dry hurricanes and storms, makes the if there were three more populations forest and – habitat for land Culebra Refuge a very special place to containing at least 50 individual cacti birds, wading birds, shore birds, marsh me,” Roman says. thriving and flowering on the refuge. birds, waterfowl, four species of sea “That’s just my gut feeling, though,” he turtles, snakes, lizards, toads, coquis (tree says, “not a scientific measure.” frogs) and at least six species of bats. 12 • Refuge Update ...Tropical Island Habitats Intrepid Biologists vs. Crazy Ants at Johnston Atoll Refuge

By Justin Jacques ohnston Atoll National Wildlife Refuge – part of Pacific Remote JIslands Marine National Monument – is remote indeed. The refuge is surrounded by a 400-mile- wide circle of marine conservation – co-managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Atmospheric and Oceanic Administration – in which commercial fishing is prohibited. The refuge is a three-day boat trip from Honolulu. Before 2010, staff members made trips to Johnston Atoll only every two to three years. On one such trip, refuge biologists found that Johnston Island, the 50-square-mile atoll’s largest land mass, was infested with invasive yellow crazy ants. Since 2010, a series of small groups of volunteer biologists called Crazy Ant Strike Teams have made great progress in controlling the invasive yellow crazy ants at Johnston Atoll National Wildlife Refuge. Here, a Since 2010, groups of volunteer biologists red-tailed tropicbird rests in an ant-free nest. (Sheldon Plentovich/USFWS) called Crazy Ant Strike Teams (CASTs) ant, unless you were looking really hard toilets, and no option for bathing or have made great progress in controlling for one,” says Stefan Kropidlowski, the doing laundry other than the ocean, the ants, which are a menace to Johnston CAST field operations and logistics where sharks are a given,” July/August Atoll Refuge seabirds, including what manager. 2015 Audubon magazine noted. Team is likely the world’s largest red-tailed members, often entry-level biologists, tropicbird colony. In 2014, Johnston Atoll Refuge received undergo a rigorous evaluation process the National Wildlife Refuge System’s $1 before deployment to Johnston Atoll. Once yellow crazy ants arrive in an million Large Invasive Species Project isolated place like Johnston Atoll – Allocation, which funded strike teams for In 2010, Kropidlowski and CAST 1 usually by boat or driftwood – they two more years. estimated that 12 red-tailed tropicbird expand their territory by forming super- nests existed in Johnston Atoll’s infested colonies around hundreds of queens, not The allocation funded an agreement with areas. After CAST 3’s work in 2011-2012, just one. The ants overwhelm indigenous the U.S. Geological Survey to generate a two-week census counted 5,756 active wildlife by spraying corrosive acid. new eradication methods. CAST 10, red-tailed tropicbird nests across the Red-tailed tropicbirds suffer burns to currently on the island, is the first team island, 80 in the infestation area. their beaks, feet and eyes. The ants often to use a technique developed with USGS overrun nests and force tropicbirds to support. It mixes effective pesticides “Tropicbirds nest year-round, so the sea. with sugar. The solution is absorbed into actual number will be even higher,” says polyacrylamide crystals, and the resulting Amanda Pollock, deputy superintendent In 2010, with no natural predators bait is distributed to ants by hand. of the Pacific marine national monuments present, yellow crazy ants had occupied and CAST project leader. “There are an one-fifth of Johnston Island. Since then, “CAST 10 results have been promising, estimated 32,000 red-tailed tropicbirds 10 CASTs have spent six months each with another 99 percent yellow crazy in the global population. If that is the experimenting with baits and insecticides ant decline in all treated areas,” says case, then it is possible that 36 percent to develop an effective formulation. Kropidlowski. “Only time will tell if this of the world’s population was breeding During CAST 3’s stint in 2011-2012, new method will be the magic bullet to on Johnston Island in just that two- yellow crazy ant numbers dropped by 99 nail that last 1 percent and eradicate week period in which the census was percent. yellow crazy ants from Johnston Atoll.” conducted.” “One day there were carpets of ants Being a CAST member takes grit. Justin Jacques is a senior at crawling across roads, and within 48 “There’s no freshwater source or George Washington University in hours it was difficult to find a single plumbing on Johnston, no indoor Washington, DC. Refuge Update • 13 Chasing Fire: Protecting Refuges and Beyond

By Karen Miranda record wildfire season hit public lands in the United States in 2015. AThere were more than 50,000 fires on more than 9 million public acres, far exceeding the 10-year average for acres burned, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. At season’s peak, from Aug. 10 to Sept. 10, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service deployed more than 220 staff members to support other agency incidents. However, the number of fires and acres burned on national wildlife refuges this season was average. That doesn’t mean there was not a lot of activity this year. The season began with a 450-acre fire at Hawaii’s Oahu Forest National U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service fire specialist Beau Brice working the Belle Fire at Charles M. Russell Wildlife Refuge (the first ever there), National Wildlife Refuge in last summer. Despite a record wildfire season in 2015, the number a 140-acre fire at Grand Bay Refuge in of fires and acres burned on refuges this year was average. (Mike Granger/USFWS) and , and smaller fires at By August, Montana refuges had also year, Northwest refuges had reduced fire refuges in , and fought several large fires, and refuges risk and limited potential damage with . Southwest fire starts continued in Puerto Rico were at high danger, with fuels management. Malheur Refuge, OR, through the winter in Oklahoma and Cabo Rojo Refuge alone containing 10 conducted a 7,000-acre prescribed burn Texas; nearly 4,700 acres burned at small wildfires. to remove decadent vegetation; Mid- McFaddin Refuge, TX. Columbia River Refuge Complex, WA, Firefighters saved headquarters built 75 miles of fuel breaks and Sheldon- In early spring, refuge fires spread buildings at two refuges: Marais des Hart Mountain Refuge Complex, OR/NV, across the South and Puerto Rico, and Cygnes Refuge in Kansas, from an thinned more than 7,000 acres of invasive began farther north, from California to arson-caused fire, and Wichita Mountains Western juniper. Kansas, , and Refuge in Oklahoma, where firefighters , as well as Alaska. In May, a used burnouts and recent prescribed- Malheur Refuge project leader Chad smoldering from the 2014 Funny burn areas to limit fire spread from Karges feels lucky the refuge avoided a River Fire at Alaska’s Kenai Refuge neighboring lands. potentially devastating season. re-ignited. Thirteen Alaska refuges were In mid-September, refuge staff from “We were in drought conditions, and hit by fire this year, burning at least 1.5 Sand Lake Refuge in South Dakota prepared for the worst,” said Karges, million acres of refuge lands, the most worked with several volunteer fire who has worked at the refuge for 16 since 2004. departments they had trained to control years. “There were wildfires on lands In early June, drought conditions led a large nearby wildfire sparked by a around the refuge, but we didn’t get the managers on Inland Northwest refuges hunter. ignitions here to start fires.” to pre-position firefighters and engines, The height of fire activity in the Pacific Even while their numbers are while refuges in northern California Northwest occurred in August and shrinking because of budget cuts, increased fire staffing for several weeks. September. With firestorms raging Service firefighters continue to protect In July, refuges in battled nearby, 10 refuges in and more individual units across the most wildfires, the largest at Arthur R. Washington managed to sustain just widespread land base of any federal Marshall Loxahatchee Refuge, nearly limited damage, mostly a 135-acre fire agency. 13,000 acres. Fires continued on refuges on William L. Finley Refuge, OR, and throughout the Southeast and Southwest. a 14,000-acre fire on Hanford Reach Karen Miranda is a public affairs National Monument, WA. Earlier in the specialist in the Refuge System Branch of Fire Management in Boise, ID. 14 • Refuge Update NCTC Video Series Engages Students

By Brett C. Billings One episode took McKinney and crew to Conservation Connect provides a way to ’s Canaan Valley National reach underserved audiences. The series Fish and Wildlife Wildlife Refuge, where she and her uses an interdisciplinary, blended-learning Service education and youth co-hosts went in search of the approach. Science and technology are U.S.outreach specialist endangered Cheat Mountain salamander. explored through distance learning, while Chelsea McKinney is always up for an hands-on and virtual experiences are “I feed off of children’s energy,” adventure. She has helicoptered into the offered via online resources posted with McKinney says, “seeing their passion Grand Canyon in search of endangered each episode. fish, toted a drip torch as a wildland through their eyes rejuvenates me, and I firefighter and braved lightning storms think that shows in each episode.” The series has gained attention beyond to observe manatees. Now, she’s on the Service. The National Science Conservation Connect also has a different adventure: Conservation Teachers Association, which reaches spotlighted J.N. “Ding” Darling Refuge Connect, a web-based series to introduce 55,000 members, is working closely in Florida and Sevilleta, Bosque del children to the Service, its people and its with NCTC to develop content and Apache and Valle de Oro Refuges in New mission. In the process, McKinney shows resources for Conservation Connect. Mexico. off national wildlife refuges. The organization can get the program It’s no wonder McKinney is a fan of into classrooms as part of middle school In her third year as host and writer for refuges. Before coming to NCTC, she science curricula nationwide. the online series, McKinney focuses spent the early part of her 11-year each video episode on a specific animal, Matt MacGregor, a biology and marine Service career at several refuges. a conservation career related to that science teacher at Escambia High School After helping to restore tern colonies animal and a technology used to study it. in Pensacola, FL, finds Conservation at Coastal Islands Refuge, she The series’ videos, which typically are six Connect useful beyond middle school. monitored loons at Umbagog Refuge to eight minutes, target middle-schoolers. in and helped with “The programs help my students “Technology is a large part of that prescribed burns at Blackwater Refuge make the connection between what generation,” says McKinney. “It’s using in . In 2014, she was able to they are studying in class and various technology as the ‘hook’ to get kids revisit Blackwater Refuge to produce a ecosystems around the United States,” outside, becoming biologists in their own Conservation Connect episode about the says MacGregor, whose students are backyards.” Delmarva fox squirrel. working on a project called Turtle T.H.I.S. (Teens Helping in the Seashore) with the at the Gulf Islands National Seashore. The project, which trains local students to operate atmospheric light-monitoring equipment to record and analyze data for turtle nesting locations, ties in with Conservation Connect, MacGregor says. “This will ultimately help me to foster my students’ desire to learn about the environment and become good stewards of our natural resources.” This year, Conservation Connect features 10 new episodes showcasing monarch butterflies, black-footed ferrets, freshwater mussels, brook trout, salamanders, roseate spoonbills and more. The new shows, past episodes and an educator’s overview are available at http:// nctc.fws.gov/conservationconnect/. Brett C. Billings is senior video Directorate Fellowship Program student Ariel Elliott, left, and Chelsea McKinney at Sevilleta National producer at the National Conservation Wildlife Refuge in New Mexico. McKinney was there to film a Conservation Connect episode about Training Center and videographer Elliott’s summer 2014 work with a Gunnison’s prairie dog study, which involved trapping woodrats and other small animals. (Brett C. Billings/USFWS) for Conservation Connect. Refuge Update • 15 Around the Refuge System

Alaska learn at the event that I was selected associated with its bluffs. The island • U.S. District Court Judge H. to sit behind the President during his also supports forests, wetlands and a Russel Holland dismissed a lawsuit speech,” said Georgette. “It was such cobblestone beach. St. Martin and Rocky regarding the Department of the a remarkable day.” During this three- islands provide important stopover Interior’s refusal to allow a road to day visit, President Obama stressed habitat for migrating birds each spring be built through Izembek National the importance of addressing climate and fall. On St. Martin, 43 neo-tropical Wildlife Refuge wilderness. In 2009, change. migrant birds and 26 species of greatest conservation need in use the Congress passed legislation directing -Michigan the Secretary of the Interior to island. More than 400 plant species, The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and analyze a land exchange for a single- including the federally threatened dwarf The Nature Conservancy announced lane gravel road between the villages lake iris, have been found on St. Martin. the expansion of Green Bay National of King Cove and Cold Bay primarily Wildlife Refuge to include most of St. Hunting and Fishing Expanded for medical evacuations. In 2013, Martin Island and all of Rocky Island in Service Director Dan Ashe announced Secretary Sally Jewell rejected the Lake Michigan, adding 1,290 acres to the in August that fishing and hunting proposed land swap. The dismissed 330-acre refuge. The islands are part of opportunities will be expanded at 21 lawsuit, which would have allowed the Grand Traverse chain, which extends national wildlife refuges. The final construction of the road, was filed from Wisconsin’s Door Peninsula to hunting and sport fishing rule also last year by the city of King Cove Michigan’s Garden Peninsula. Green Bay modifies existing refuge-specific and others – and joined by the state Refuge was established in 1912 as habitat regulations for more than 100 refuges of Alaska. An Alaska Department for migratory birds. St. Martin Island and wetland management districts. of Law spokeswoman told the is part of the Niagara Escarpment, Hunting will be available for the first Associated Press in September that and rare native snails and plants are time at Tualatin River Refuge in Oregon. the state was evaluating its appeal options. Izembek Refuge’s lagoons form an ecosystem that contains one of the largest eelgrass beds in the world, providing food and habitat for brant and other migratory birds from several continents. • Staff members from two refuges met President Obama during his late-summer visit. In Dillingham in southwestern Alaska, Togiak National Wildlife Refuge deputy manager Allen Miller helped the Secret Service conduct a boat patrol, and seven refuge staff members helped greet the President at the airport. “I got to shake the President’s hand and thank him for taking the time to come to rural Alaska,” refuge manager Susanna Henry said. “It was thrilling.” In Kotzebue, in northwestern Alaska, Selawik Refuge staff members helped greet President Obama and supported Secret Service patrols. All staff members had the opportunity to attend the President’s speech in the local school gym. Outreach specialist Brittany Sweeney’s 9-year-old son, Finnian, and refuge manager Susan Georgette shook the President Obama shakes hands with Selawik National Wildlife Refuge manager Susan Georgette after a President’s hand. “I was surprised to speech during his late-summer visit to Alaska. (Jim Magdanz) 16 • Refuge Update Fishing will be offered for the first time at four North Dakota refuges: Ardoch, Lake Alice, Rose Lake and Silver Lake. Hunting, within specified limits, is now permitted on 336 refuges. Fishing is now permitted on 275 refuges. Details are at http://1.usa.gov/1U4B9JM. California Less than a decade after a levee was intentionally breached to create tidal marsh at a habitat restoration area known as Pond A21 at Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge, at least two endangered species have moved into the new habitat. Efforts A hatchling makes its way to the sea at Florida’s Archie Carr National Wildlife Refuge, where a record 14,141 nests were documented this year. (Keenan Adams/USFWS) started to pay off in July 2014, when the first endangered Ridgway’s rail was because it was organized through summer monarch butterflies as the species that spotted in Pond A21. Then, during the intern Kelly Escarcega. Kelly was connects us on a landscape level and, first surveys for salt marsh harvest mice finishing up her last week with the Career more importantly, engages the public and in July 2015, biologists heard the call of Discovery Internship Program, which many partners in conservation,” says St. the first breeding pair of Ridgway’s rails. partners exclusively with the Student Croix WMD manager Tom Kerr. “The And, after setting more than 100 live- Conservation Association to expand our fact that over 110 people attended the traps over three nights, biologists caught, recruitment reach to diverse audiences.” inaugural event speaks volumes about the examined and released four salt marsh amount of interest there is in pollinators.” harvest mice among a total of 63 unique New Mexico small mammals at Pond A21. “Everyone More than 25 volunteers took part in the was extremely excited; it was well above first-ever butterfly count at Sevilleta our expectations for how quickly this National Wildlife Refuge in mid-August, The U.S. Mint in mid-September would happen, being less than 10 years despite temperatures approaching 100 launched a 2015 quarter featuring since the area was breached,” said degrees. “I thought it went pretty well,” Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge. Service biologist Rachel Tertes, who said John Wilson, a member of the board It is the first America the Beautiful heads the survey efforts for the refuge. of Amigos de la Sevilleta, the refuge quarter to showcase a national wildlife “This shows that we’re accomplishing Friends group that led the effort. “We refuge. The design of the reverse (tails) what we’re trying to accomplish, that counted 19 species.” The most common side of the coin includes a depiction of a if we provide habitat, the species will butterfly found was the western pygmy great blue heron with a great egret in the come.” blue butterfly; others included the background. goatweed leafwing butterfly and the Michigan bordered patch butterfly. Florida More than 170 visitors attended a mid- Archie Carr National Wildlife Refuge on August stargazing event at Shiawassee Wisconsin-Minnesota the state’s Atlantic coast set a record for National Wildlife Refuge. Many visitors The Service has joined more than 60 endangered green sea turtle nests left astonished because it was a peak public and private organizations in documented in one season. As of mid- time for a meteor shower. The visitors support of monarch butterflies and October, 14,141 green turtle nests had saw about one meteor per minute as the other pollinators via the St. Croix Valley been counted along the refuge coastline. night progressed. , including Pollinator Partnership. Participants have That broke the record of 12,846 nests the International Space Station, also committed to educating the public about counted in 2013. The refuge is the most were visible. “This event is another pollinators and improving pollinator significant area for green turtle nesting great example of other recreation that habitat on public and private land in the in North America. It is also the most occurs outside of the very popular big six St. Croix River watershed and adjacent significant area for loggerhead sea turtle – hunting, fishing, wildlife observation, counties in Minnesota and Wisconsin. nesting in the . As photography, environmental education St. Croix Wetland Management District of mid-October, 14,113 loggerhead nests and interpretation,” said refuge visitor in Wisconsin is providing much of the had been counted on the refuge and 58 services manager Lionel Grant. “This expertise for working with private leatherback sea turtles nest had been was truly a special occasion in itself landowners and companies. “We are using counted. The total of 28,312 nests was a record, too. Refuge Update • 17 Partnership Gives Connecticut Students a Taste of Science — continued from page 1

2015, the vegetation was 70 percent native plants, 25 percent mulch and 5 percent invasive plants. Invertebrate abundance and diversity more than tripled compared to 2014. This project is important to us. It has given us meaningful summer employment. We’ve learned job skills like being responsible, showing up on time and planning for the day ahead. We’ve learned life skills, discovered career interests and seen how hard work can result in real outcomes for the environment and our community. Each of us likes the project for slightly different reasons. Erik’s favorite part has been seeing the spiders under the microscope. For the first time ever he was able to see all the little parts of the body. The thing he will remember most about the project is the long hours looking into the scope and having to check carefully to see if the Connecticut high school students Michael Bruno and Loc Nguyen identify invertebrates as part of a New insects were the same or different. Haven Harbor Watershed Urban Wildlife Refuge Partnership project. Working alongside biologists and land managers, 18 students have identified 5,148 insects in three years. (Joel Tolman/Common Ground) Taylor loved looking at the insects under the microscope, too. “It was as if they school, the nation’s longest-running native plant species we will also increase came alive and we could see all the detail environmental charter school. Common invertebrate diversity and abundance and in their body structure. The biggest Ground’s mission is to “cultivate habits create better habitat for wildlife in New lesson I will take away from this of healthy living and sustainable Haven. experience is learning all the orders of environmental practice among a diverse insects, like Homoptera, Hemiptera, community of children, families and For instance, in 2014 when vegetation Diptera, Hymenoptera,” she says. “Being adults.” at the Beaver Pond site was 32 percent involved in this project made me even native plants, 55 percent mulch, 4 percent more passionate about working in a We are doing this study to see if habitat turf and 4 percent invasive plants, we scientific field; I really enjoyed collecting restoration at the urban sites is working. noticed a drop in insect diversity and and analyzing the data and discussing the We’re being scientifically rigorous as we abundance. We brought that information results.” monitor the sites, help analyze data and to our urban wildlife refuge partners and produce reports about the results. We asked them to use less mulch and more For Kathiana, the coolest part was seeing hope that by increasing the diversity of native plants. It worked! In summer the results of the work that she and her co-workers did in planting and taking care of the habitat restoration sites. “Realizing that the work we did is Chief’s Corner — continued from page 2 actually making an impact is really great,” she says. deepest part of the world’s oceans, where The Pacific Ocean may be our last great darkness is punctuated by bioluminescent frontier, a place less understood than the Erik Lopez, Taylor Pauls and Kathiana organisms – is a wonder and no less moon. Because we have protected these Torres are members of the Common iconic than the Grand Canyon or Mount marine national monuments, our chance Ground Green Jobs Corps. U.S. Fish and Everest. to expand the world’s knowledge and to Wildlife Service biologist Georgia Basso improve the quality of life is still intact. and Audubon Connecticut biologist That’s always the benefit of Corrie Folsom-O’Keefe contributed to conservation. this report. 18 • Refuge Update The Revival of Washington’s Willapa Bay — continued from page 1

Stenvall says that “the amount of plant biomass covered solidly 9,000 acres, but it was spread out over 20,000 to 30,000 acres” – a logistical nightmare. Spartina, a cordgrass, was introduced into Willapa Bay in the 1890s, likely via oyster shipments. Eventually, spartina overwhelmed native vegetation, ruined mudflats and clogged tidal guts (straits) along the bay. It was seven feet tall in some dense meadows. Shorebirds, fish and oysters suffered. Above: Invasive Spartina alterniflora suffocates Willapa Bay in Washington state in 2002. Below: Healthy salt marsh thrives (in a different part of the bay) after a massive spartina eradication effort led by Willapa Efforts to eradicate it began in 1997. The National Wildlife Refuge. (USFWS) first order of business, says Stenvall, was to understand the magnitude, “which was huge.” Second was to quantify the impact on shorebirds. Willapa Bay, when healthy, provides habitat for millions of migrating shorebirds annually. “But at the peak of the spartina, it was just a dead zone out there. You hardly saw shorebirds.” Third was for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Washington Department of Agriculture, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, oyster industry, several universities and others to devise a strategy to tackle the problem. “That was a fairly chaotic, messy Protection Agency help, aerial and migratory birds and waterfowl, salmonid process,” he says, but it produced lasting ground application of that herbicide was fish, sturgeon, oysters and shellfish is partnerships. approved in 2004. thriving. Funding came from various sources, “We brought in and devised equipment “There are times when I want to including Congress. “We got seven years that didn’t exist anywhere else – these pinch myself to make sure I’m awake and of Congressional support to address amphibious spreaders with infrared this is really happening,” says Kathleen spartina in Willapa Bay because not seekers that would spray herbicide only Sayce, a landowner, coastal Washington only was the threat there but we had on spartina. We did some things that native and botanist who for decades a solution for it,” Stenvall says. “We were pretty unheard of at the time,” has contributed expertise to the effort. had a way of making progress, and we says Stenvall. The refuge had “one of “When all the pieces are still in place, demonstrated that progress every year.” the largest crews out there. At our peak when the ecosystem is working as it we had 30 small-craft operators. We had should, it’s a very good feeling.” Willapa Bay is divided into five zones airboats and amphibious craft, and we of ecological responsibility among the had helicopters. Sometimes, we worked State-of the-art technology indicates that Service, the Washington Department of seven days a week and 24 hours a day. We 1,700 spartina plants remain in Willapa Natural Resources, Pacific , the ran on shifts to work on favorable tide Bay. “Now it’s a little hunt and peck” to Washington Division of Fish and Wildlife, cycles.” find individual plants, says Ferrier. and the Shoalwater Bay tribe. At first, Walking “every square inch of the they collectively attacked spartina The effort required years-long help from refuge” twice a year and using GPS mechanically – mowing, weed-whacking, partners like The Nature Conservancy technology to pinpoint spartina location, tilling – but that didn’t kill the invasive and private landowners along the bay “we’re going to find every plant,” says cordgrass. who consented to the spraying and Ferrier. “Eradication is still possible. volunteered help. We can’t let it go now. To have 99.9 “Really what turned the tide,” says percent eradication and stop? You Ferrier, “was actually starting to spray” Now, shorebirds have returned in great can’t do that.” with imazpyr. With Environmental numbers. Salt marsh habitat for other Refuge Update • 19 STANDARD PRESORT POSTAGE AND FEES PAID U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR RefugeUpdate PERMIT G-77 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Mail stop: NWRS 5275 Leesburg Pike Falls Church, VA 22041-3803

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A Look Back … Herb Dill and Howard Thornsberry

erb Dill was described in The to the area with bait. The captured Saturday Evening Post in 1951 geese were then examined, banded and H as a man who “has a rather released. A Post reporter invited to unconventional liveliness and likes to get watch the net in action wrote that the a bit more than his job done.” The same “net whisked out like a banshee in a article – a color spread in what was then hurry.” a major national magazine – described Howard “Hawkshaw” Thornsberry as the On Dec. 10, 1948, 20 geese were caught “young mechanical genius of the refuge.” in the first cannon-projected net trap. In the first eight attempts, 226 geese were That would be Swan Lake National caught. The refuge’s historical notes Wildlife Refuge in , where indicate that “Washington repented of manager Dill and maintenance worker its original stand and gave the men an Thornsberry invented the cannon- Award of Merit.” projected net trap in 1948. By the late 1970s, the Dill-Thornsberry They made the trap in the refuge shop cannon net had been used to catch more using less than $70 in salvaged and new than 100,000 geese at Swan Lake Refuge materials. They did it despite various and countless more geese and other ballistics challenges and, after writing In 1948, Swan Lake National Wildlife Refuge waterfowl around the world. Washington for advice, getting what they manager Herb Dill and maintenance worker once termed “a stiffish reply to the effect Howard “Hawkshaw” Thornsberry invented a The Saturday Evening Post explained that it might be better to stick to more cannon-projected net that allowed for the capture that before this innovation only a few conventional methods.” of many geese at one time. They are shown here in geese could be caught in baited cages the March 10, 1951, issue of The Saturday Evening because, “with the uncooperative Dill and Thornsberry devised a cannon- Post. (Gus Pasquarella/The Saturday Evening Post) patience of wild things, the geese would projected net that enabled the capture of stand and stand, talking it over dubiously many geese at once. It worked like this: the edges of a large net, projecting the while the man waiting nearby would Charges of potassium chlorate and sugar leading edge of the net into the air and slowly and blasphemously freeze to were activated in tubes attached to over geese and other waterfowl drawn death.”

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