Taxon TimesApril 2005

Officers Jerry D. Hassinger, President Got an opening in your calendar on Saturday, June 4? Jim Stimmel, Secretary/Treasurer Janet Wright, Recording Secretary Consider the Wild Resource Conservation Program’s first annual Frank Felbaum, President Elect Ann Rhoads, Immediate Past President Wild Resource Festival (see Page 9) At-large Members Laurie Goodrich, Hawk Mountain COMMITTEE CHAIRS - Please review the “To:” list of recipients on the cover e-mail and forward this Art Hulse, Indiana University of Pa. newsletter to committee and subcommittee members whose names do not appear. Sally Just, Dept. of Conservation & Natural Resources K. C. Kim, Penn State University Contact Ed at [email protected] Use Taxon Times as subject. Thanks, Ed Roger Latham, Continental Conservation Ron Stanley, Wild Resource Conservation Fund

Technical Committee Chairs Steering Committee Meeting held 20 January 2005 Steve Ropski & Carolyn Mahan, Mammals Bob Ross, Ornithology at the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission headquarters, Harrisburg Tim Maret, Reptiles/Amphibians Rob Criswell, Fishes The meeting began at 9:30 AM with a welcome, introductions around the table, and brief Gregory Hoover, Invertebrates officers’ reports. To save time—and to assist the secretary and the newsletter editor—all Carol Loeffler, Vascular Plants committee chairs and agency representatives had been asked to provide brief written reports. Christine Manville, Bryophytes/Lichens Presenters were asked to limit their time to no more than 10 minutes to allow time for dis- John Plischke III, Protists/Fungi cussion of possible adoption by PABS of status determination procedures based on IUCN John Rawlins, Collections/Systematics Sven Spichiger, Terrestrial Arthropods criteria. The meeting adjourned at ~3:30 PM. Greg Hoover, Aquatic Arthropods Charles Bier, Arachnids OFFICERS’ REPORTS, in addition to the President’s message (below)

Tim Pearce, Mollusks Recording Secretary – Janet Wright - Minutes for the August 2004 Steering Committee had Standing Committee Chairs been distributed electronically and were approved. Greg Hoover inquired about an item in Jean Fike, Bioreserves/Ecosystems the minutes regarding 1998 conference registration funds owned to PABS by Penn State and Paulette Johnson, Environmental Education offered to attempt to rectify the situation. Kim Steiner, Genetic Resources Frank Felbaum & Eileen Butchkoski, Secretary/Treasurer – Frank Felbaum distributed and reviewed a report on account balances Membership Directory for Jim Stimmel. That report, which included the results of an audit that found a discrep- Lisa Williams, Wild Diversity Funding Initiatives ancy, that predates Jim’s tenure, in the amount of approximately $1,700.00. Eileen Butchkoski, Newsletter

Agency Representatives Gary Czarnecki, Pa. Natural Heritage Program President’s Message from Jerry D. Hassinger Chris Firestone, Pa. DCNR, Bureau of Forestry Dan Bogar, Pa. Dept. of Environmental Protection Since we last met, I’ve been in the field with the Mosses and Lichens Technical Committee a Chris Urban, Pa. Fish & Boat Commission few times. Then I arrived in Pittsburgh for a meeting with the Pennsylvania Biodiversity Dan Brauning, Pa. Game Commission Jim Stimmel, Pa. Dept. of Agriculture Partnership (PBP) in time for a record breaking flood. But that didn’t discourage a Saturday Charles Bier, Western Pa. Conservancy foray for fungi by the Western Pennsylvania Mushroom Club. I was there. During the The Nature Conservancy (vacant) foray a new species was collected for the state (Wynnea sparassoides); a species so rare that Sue Thompson, Pa. Biodiversity Partnership there are only records from 12 sites in the northeast USA. John Karish, U.S. National Park Service Duane Diefenbach, U.S.G.S. Pa. Cooperative Fish & Wildlife Unit I represented PABS at a PBP conference in Harrisburg and met with the Vascular Plant U.S.F.S. NE Forest Experiment Station (vacant) Technical Committee regarding revisions to PABS’s status determination process. Bob Anderson, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Brad Nelson, Allegheny National Forest We held elections of officers* and a working committee revised PABS bylaws. Three of us John E. Rawlins, Carnegie Museum of Natural History audited the PABS financial records. However most of my time was devoted to revising and Jon Gelhaus, updating the PABS status determination and agencies’ regulatory listing processes. Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia Walter Meshaka Jr., State Museum of Pa. JDH Website www.dickinson.edu/prorg/pabs/pabs_main.htm

Page 1 ELECTION OF OFFICERS

The Nominating Committee, composed of Sue Thompson, John Rawlins, and Charles Bier, proposed the following slate of officers: Jerry D. Hassinger, President; Jim Stimmel, Secretary/Treasurer; Janet Wright, Recording Secretary. These three were completing their first term and eligible for a second term. Frank Felbaum was proposed as President-Elect. No other nominations being offered, that slate was elected to serve for a two-year term. Ann Rhoads is the Past-President.

REVIEW, DISCUSSION AND VOTE ON REVISIONS TO BY-LAWS

Proposed revisions to the by-laws had been distributed and discussed by email. During the meeting, a few questions arose about committee structure, primarily as related to invertebrates, and why committee chairs are required to send alternates to Steering Committee meetings while Members at Large do not send alternates. Regarding invertebrates: Under the revised by-laws, there will be multiple invertebrate tech- nical committees including (but not necessarily limited to) terrestrial arthropods, aquatic arthropods, mollusks and arachnids, rather than a single invertebrate committee with many disparate subcommittees. [Newly appointed chairs are listed on the front page.] Regarding alter- nates: Members at Large are individuals appointed by the president for their particular area of expertise. They do not conduct technical committee meetings and are not required to report on those meetings or activities of a committee relative to objectives, therefore an alternate in not necessary.

TECHNICAL COMMITTEE REPORTS

Vascular Plants - Carol Loeffler - In an oral report, Carol noted that the deer management and forests report by PABS Past President and VPTC member Ann Rhoads (and company) is available on the pa.audubon.org website. She also said that a subcommittee is running sev- eral species through the status determination process proposed by Jerry Hassinger. Making sure that whatever system we use to determine statuses is objective, biologically appropriate, and workable with the data we have is a major concern for the VPTC, which makes a dozen or more (sometimes several dozen) listing recommendations every year to the DCNR. Carol said that the VPTC hoped that the other techni- cal committees would also look closely at the proposed status determination process, to see whether or not it would work well for their taxa.

Invertebrate Technical Committee - Greg Hoover - Ryan Evans, Zoologist, Pennsylvania Natural Heritage Program/Western Pennsyl- vania Conservancy, and chairman of the Freshwater Bivalve Subcommittee of the ITC reports that a white paper was formally submitted to the Pa. Fish and Boat Commission (PFBC) to lobby against the use of mussels as fish bait. This would involve rewriting the PFBC regula- tions. Ryan stated that the PFBC has told him they are considering this request from the freshwater bivalve subcommittee. This subcom- mittee hopes to meet this spring to re-evaluate the rankings of the freshwater bivalves in Pennsylvania. The committee has considered spon- soring a workshop on freshwater bivalves, but securing the funding for such an educational outreach may be difficult.

A checklist of the Odonata of Pennsylvania has been collated by Dan Bogar, subcommittee chair for Odonata. This checklist includes more than 170 species.

In 2003 the ITC developed and sent a memorandum of understanding to John Arway of the PFBC for consideration. At the time a vacancy existed and was being filled with the person whom certain members of the ITC would be working. Discussions with John Arway regarding the memorandum of understanding have occurred in recent months. We have not officially heard anything regarding the status of the memorandum of understanding in the PFBC. We hope to hear from the PFBC on this issue very soon, especially since Chris Urban has filled this vacancy.

Objectives for 2005 • Secure the commitment from a state agency to assume stewardship of terrestrial invertebrates. • Continue to contact specialists with invertebrate taxa in Pennsylvania to form additional subcommittees within the ITC. • Develop (by the subcommittees of the ITC on various taxa) tentative species lists for invertebrate taxa in Pennsylvania. Research fund- ing will be necessary for these efforts. • Write position descriptions for the chairs of the different subcommittees of the ITC. • Integrate the roles of ITC and those of the Pennsylvania Invertebrate Biodiversity Project (PINBIOP).

Recently, Greg made the decision to step down as chair of the ITC at the end of this year. He said the PABS has been a wonderful group of dedicated scientists with whom he has enjoyed interacting during the past several years. Because the demands of his position in the Depart- ment of Entomology at Penn State have increased in recent years, he has had to accept the reality that he simply does not have the necessary time to devote to the important activities of the ITC.

Fishes Technical Committee - Rob Criswell - The FTC held a meeting on 14 October 2004 at Penn State University. All committee members but one were in attendance. At that meeting, Jerry Hassinger gave an overview and update on his initiative to update the species of special concern listing process in the state. Chris Urban reported that the Memorandum of Understanding between PFBC and PABS is moving through the halls of Harrisburg and adoption is anticipated. He also reported that PFBC is considering forming a committee to de- velop listing criteria. He also reported that newly funded State Wildlife Grant (SWG) and Wild Resource Conservation Fund (WRCF) projects would be announced soon.

Page 2 The committee continues to work toward updating a checklist of the fishes of Pa. It was agreed that where possible, a representative voucher specimen should be located and documented for each species appearing on the list. Collections at Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadel- phia, Penn State and California University of Pa. will be reviewed first.

Member activities • Review a basin-wide sampling protocol developed by PFBC for the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers. • Completed surveys of 40 Monongahela River tributaries from mouth to 200 m upstream. • Reviewing fish occurrence records from the western big rivers. • Completed field work in northwestern Pa. river drainages, locating good numbers of brook sticklebacks (candidate) and redfin shiners (endangered). Also, zebra mussels are now established in French Creek. • Continued with field work in the upper Delaware River and some tributaries. • Reviewed components of the SWG conservation plan being coordinated by Lisa Williams. • Confirmed that northern snakeheads are reproducing in FDR Park lake.

Lichens & Bryophytes – Christine Manville – Since summer 2004, the bryophyte and lichen technical committee sponsored several field trips in central Pennsylvania. An aquatic lichen Peltigera hydrotheria Miadlukoska + Lutzoni (= Hydrotheria venosa Russ.) is relatively abundant in a site in Dauphin County near the de Hart Reservoir. Jack Stabley and John Kunsman have explored this site, which was visited by members of the technical committee. This lichen occurs in mountain brooks from New England to South Carolina, generally in unpol- luted water sources. The Birdsboro site may be compromised because of recent changes in hydrology and nearby development. Susan Munch has monitored the Berks County site for more than 15 years. She and Tim Draude visited the site in late 2004. Other field trips this fall included an adventurous field trip in York County, and a somewhat sodden field trip to Gifford Pinchot State Park. Lists for these field trip are still in progress. Christine corresponded with Steve Grund about the possibility of a bryophyte/lichen/fern field trip near Ohiopyle as part of the Rare Plant Forum.

Since summer, Jack Stabley led an ambitious program. Jack has resigned as co-chair. The committee is grateful for his skill with gaining permits and setting paperwork on a firm basis is something the technical committee and hopes to build upon it. Three other people (amateurs) have expressed an interest in joining the committee. After a spring identification workshop, a reorganization meeting will be held during which an alternate chairperson, recording secretary and funding resources/grants specialist will be named. Christine is seeking some- one to take her place as chair so that she has time to complete compilation of the moss checklist, revise the lichen distribution checklist, and update the hepatic checklist with more recent collections now available.

Fungi – John Plischke (John was not able to attend the meeting, but provided the following report) - It is a major goal of the committee to work on creating species lists of Pennsylvania fungi. One of the next goals will be to combine all the lists and revise the PABS box score for fungi to reflect current numbers. The PABS box score for fungi has not been revised since 1996 when C. B. Wolfe compiled a preliminary checklist of Pennsylvania fungi under a grant from the Pennsylvania Wild Resource Conservation Fund through DCNR. These records were compiled from herbarium records from the Penn State mycological herbarium, herbarium of the national fungus collections, botany department of the Carnegie Museum, and the Academy of Natural Sciences. By combining these records, 7,447 species were listed and used to create the box score in 1996. Until recently these records were available online. Now they are no longer there.

In the last number of years, major work has been done recording species lists of Pennsylvania fungi. These new additional lists are in over a dozen separate locations. We should have access and be able to combine many of the lists before the end of the year. The main problem is that the starting point of C. B. Wolfe’s massive list of all Pa. herbarium records is gone, or at least not online any more. If anyone knows where to get a copy of his records, it would be extremely helpful. If the list becomes lost, we will have to start all over with the other re- cords, all of which combined should be less than 1,000 species, and the job of creating a new PABS box score will become impossible.

Note: In February, Jerry Hassinger located a digital version of C. B. Wolfe’s list. Both he and John Rawlins downloaded it.

Reptile & Amphibian Technical Committee - Tim Maret - Most of the attention and energy of the committee over the past several months have been devoted to completing species accounts of Pa. vertebrates of special concern.

The committee last met in October 2004 in State College. A policy on translocation of amphibian and reptile species written by Art Hulse was modified and approved by the committee. The committee heard a presentation from representatives of the Allegheny National Forest on their species viability evaluation process, and provided feedback on the plan along with an offer to provide additional advice if needed. There was also discussion of developing criteria for endangered/threatened species. Several committee members agreed to run species through the IUCN criteria to see how they would be ranked. A subcommittee will be meeting later this spring to consider this issue in more detail.

Planning is presently underway to begin survey and inventory efforts this spring in order to determine the present status of several lesser- known and at-risk amphibian and reptile species.

Page 3 Box Score Changes – None.

Goals for 2005 – Priorities for the upcoming year include many of the same items we have been working on over the last year, including as- sessing at-risk species, education and outreach, and working with PFBC to update Pa. endangered/threatened species and regulations con- cerning collecting of amphibian and reptile species.

Ornithology Technical Committee - Bob Ross - The OTC fall meeting was held 1 October 2004 at the PSU Forest Resources Lab; Margaret Brittingham hosted.

2nd Edition of Annotated List of the Birds of Pennsylvania (1992; original authors: S. Santner, D. Brauning, G. and P. Schwalbe)—The OTC has funds earmarked for this book and has identified able authors (Frank and Barbara Haas) for a new revised edition. This publica- tion provides habitat as well as spatial (by region) and temporal (by month of year) occurrence information for Pennsylvania’s 384 regularly occurring species plus records for irregular and accidental visitors.

Recovery/Delisting Plans for Bald Eagle, Osprey, and Peregrine Falcon—Recovery and management plans for these large and charismatic raptors, with promise of successful recovery across North America as well as in Pennsylvania, were written and implemented a few years ago by the PGC. Now it is clear that delisting may soon be warranted for bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) and osprey (Pandion haliaetus), while peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus) is making slow progress in Pennsylvania. Delisting goals (criteria) are currently under development by the Committee with draft plans expected by Spring 2005.

SWG/CWCS (Margaret Brittingham) - Margaret is coordinating writing of species accounts for the SWG/CWCS report and for a sec- ond edition of Birds of Conservation concern. There are have 78 bird species listed on the SWG/CWCS list. Forty-one individuals agreed to write species accounts. To the date of the meeting, Margaret had received completed accounts for 19 species. The time taken to write a report has ranged from a minimum of 14 hours to a maximum of 90 hours. Margaret met with Trish Miller to discuss developing new habitat maps to replace the ones currently in use. Nick Bolgiano had just sent updated Breeding Bird Survey data summarized through 2004 and printed in black and white instead of color.

Cormorants/Endangered Colonial Water Birds (Terry Master)—A thorough description of these issues was incorporated into an updated Wade Island Management Plan distributed at the Fall 2004 OTC meeting. Great egret models will remain at attraction site during summer 2005. Those damaged or missing over winter will be replaced and the trees in which they were placed will be trimmed to increase their visi- bility to Wade Island birds. Observations of effectiveness will be continued as well.

2nd Pennsylvania Breeding Bird Atlas—Under the project direction of Dan Brauning, coordination of Bob Mulvihill and assistant coordina- tion of Mike Lanzone, the Atlas has finished its first of 5 years of data collection and online entry. A web-based application has allowed volunteers to enter data online and anyone to retrieve data as well as generate analyses and summaries of results instantly, developed with the cooperation of the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology’s director of information technologies, Steve Kelling. This historic application, if/ when used by other states and regionally, should advance bird conservation in Pennsylvania and beyond. Website: http://birdatlasing.org/ Pa. A new newsletter/paper, The PennsylAvian Monitor, now communicates progress.

Pennsylvania’s Important Bird Area (IBA) Program added a new IBA to its list after work at the fall meeting on four nominations presented by Pennsylvania Audubon’s Kim Van Fleet. The Kiwanis Lake site in the city of York was approved by the OTC primarily for its one of only two breeding colonies in the state of yellow-crowned night-herons (Nycticorax violaceus), one of two great egret (Casmerodius albus) colonies, and one of only four black-crowned night-heron (Nycticorax nycticorax) colonies, all state endangered species. The program now embraces ~10% of Pennsylvania’s land mass and nominations continue to pour in.

OTC Website—The website needs to be updated. There is discussion about independent siting of the website. Annual updates to the box score will be an important addition to this site, with complete species lists for each category.

Mammal Technical Committee - Caroyln Mahan & Steve Ropski- The MTC met on 2 October 2004 at the Kings Gap Environmental Center in Carlisle, Pa. At that meeting a report was provided by Steve Ropski about the Bioblitz that was held at Erie Bluffs State Park. In addition, Dick Whiteford provided his first report as the new director of the Important Mammals Area Project (IMAP). Brad Nelson also provided a report on the Allegheny National Forests’ revisions to its management plan.

Discussion on the following topics also occurred with corresponding action items: • How can the MTC determine if qualified mammalogists are involved in conducting survey work in Pa.? Alicia Linzey (Indiana Univer- sity of Pa.) agreed to provide us with information from the herpetological technical committee about how they determine qualifications of researchers. • How can mammalogist in Pa. have better access to trapping data from other mammalogists? The MS Access database reporting (proposed by the PGC) may help facilitate data sharing. However, will PGC biologists be obliged to place their data in the database or just non-PGC researchers? • The Kirkland collection at the State Museum in Harrisburg currently is not readily accessible to researchers. For example, it is not pos-

Page 4 sible to obtain a list of specimens that are in the collection. The current policy is not to share such data electronically. Rather, research- ers must travel to the State Museum to obtain specific species or specimens. Carolyn will be sending a letter to the State Museum to express the MTC’s concern about the current policy. • The MTC members want to articulate the research/conservation needs and priorities for mammals in Pa. Hopefully, these needs will be considered during proposal reviews for state funding. Carolyn will prepare a list of these needs for discussion and approval at the MTC meeting to be held 19 March 2005.

Collections & Systematics - John Rawlins - In an oral report, John said that the “negligent chair” had not yet successfully organized a meeting. The Carnegie Museum of Natural History (CMNH) is reviewing and documenting Pa. invertebrates of special concern as a State Wildlife Grant project. Large orders such as Diptera, Lepidoptera and Coleoptera are being done first.

Set-up is essentially finished of a model system of a web-based tool (Access database) providing authoritative species checklists for Pa. The Pennsylvania Biodiversity Partnership (PBP) provided initial funding, but the system is intended as a PABS tool, with PABS experts serving as datamasters for regular updates of the checklists. Needs include production of a help manual for the site and workshops for datamasters (to be discussed at the next PABS meeting). CMNH currently serves as host. As the system grows, additional funds will be needed; DCNR may provide some funding. President Hassinger asked John Rawlins to prepare a written proposal requesting sponsorship by PABS for the August 2005 Steering Committee meeting.

STANDING COMMITTEE REPORTS

Environmental Education - Paulette Johnson - The education committee continues to function jointly with the Pennsylvania Biodiversity Partnership (PBP) education committee. The committee has continued focus in two project areas: • PBP education section of the Pennsylvania Biodiversity Strategic Plan • Pennsylvania Windows on the Wild

The two potential biodiversity projects in which PABS voted to acknowledge need include: • Pennsylvania Biodiversity Tutorial • Pennsylvania Natural History Series

Since the time of the last meeting the Pennsylvania Center for Environmental Education (PCEE) has taken no action. The center lost the majority of its staff in March and then closed from May to early September due to funding issues. This fall the center focused on re- activation activities such as staffing, website updating, etc. It is not yet clear when it would be appropriate to act on the two education pro- posed projects.

PBP Education section of the Pennsylvania Biodiversity Strategic Plan - The education committee met January 19th to complete a draft of biodiversity education items for the PBP strategic plan. The recommendations were to appear on the PBP web site for comment at the end of January.

Pennsylvania Windows on the Wild • Theresa Albirici (PGC) submitted a report to World Wildlife Fund (WWF) concerning progress on the supplemental curriculum. The report stated that Pennsylvania is in the final stages of completing the Pennsylvania supplement to Windows on the Wild. The introduction and the first 5 activities have been edited and have been through layout. They are now in final review. Two additional activities are currently in layout with 4 going through editing and rewriting based on comments from teachers during the past summers workshops. The 110 species featured in the appendix have also been through editing and layout and are going through final review. This supplement should go to print in spring of 2005. One additional lesson was added at the request of WWF. The report also de- scribed nine biodiversity workshops that were conducted using Windows on the Wild Biodiversity Basics and piloting the Pennsylvania supplement to these materials. A total of 176 participants were trained including pre-service teachers, classroom teachers and non- formal educators. Of these workshops, two were conducted as part of graduate courses, one was conducted as part of a college course and one was conducted by a college professor. Key to these workshops is the addition of several new facilitators from other agencies and organizations. This is the lead-in to training a network of facilitators so workshops can take place throughout the state in a timely fashion once the Pennsylvania curriculum supplement is completed. • A concerted effort is being made to bring this project to closure. PABS and PBP presidents and the PCEE have again offered assistance to expedite completion. The PCEE has also offered to get those lessons that are completed up in the biodiversity section within the Pennsylvania Environmental Education Resource Directory (PEER). WWF have completed their process for the larger curriculum project. • Theresa Alberici told Jerry Hassinger that this project is a priority.

Newsletter & Membership Directory - Eileen Butchkoski - Newsletter - The purpose of the newsletter is to keep committee and sub- committee members apprised of what goes on at Steering Committee meetings. To facilitate this, committee chairs and agency representa- tives were asked to be sure to email digital versions of their reports to Eileen. For the past two years, the newsletter has been distributed

Page 5 digitally as a PDF. When committee chairs receive the newsletter, they are asked to review the distribution (To:) list and forward the news- letter to committee members and subcommittee chairs whose names do not appear. The distribution list should gradually become more complete as work on the directory progresses. Directory – Production of the physical and/or digital directory has been transferred from Frank Felbaum to Eileen. Layout of the by-laws segment was nearly complete. Layout of the committee membership and contact information segment should begin in March and commit- tee chairs should expect requests for updated committee rosters beginning in April.

Bioreserves - Jean Fike - Jean noted that much of the CWCS is related to bioreserves. Jerry Hassinger suggested looking at IUCN habitat and threats annexes and trying to adapt them to Pennsylvania so everyone can use the same standards for documentation purposes. Jean ob- served there is a data need for habitat and/or vegetation map(s) for Pennsylvania.

WORKING LUNCH

Comprehensive Wildlife Conservation Strategy - Lisa Williams - Lisa expressed sincere thanks to all of the technical committee for their continued involvement in the Comprehensive Wildlife Conservation Strategy (CWCS), which includes preparing species accounts and reviewing conservation tiers as a way to prioritize management efforts.

Update on CWCS • High priority species have been identified and are now being sorted into conservation tiers in order to prioritize management efforts. • Tables of species-habitat associations are being developed. • High priority species and their conservation tiers will be used to identify high-priority habitats for management, protection, and SWG projects. • Physiographic sections of the CWCS are now being developed to identify high priority species and habitats (as well as exemplary sites) across the Commonwealth. • CWCS will be made available for public input this summer and submitted as a first draft to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Octo- ber 2005.

Actions taken at PABS meeting • Technical committee chairs were presented with Conservation Tiers and asked to review their taxa for appropriateness and let me know of problems (i.e. mischaracterized species) • Chairs were asked to help identify management implications for the “Pa. Vulnerable” tier. These are species that are in trouble in the Commonwealth, but not outside our borders (in most cases, that means peripherals). After much discussion, it was decided that proper management of these species must be considered on a species-by-species basis and is most appropriately left up to the technical commit- tees to advise on appropriate management of these species. • Chairs were asked for input on how to divide Pa. into meaningful physiographic units that would work for a variety of taxa. It was de- cided to use a modification of Partners in Flight Physiographic Areas: Ohio Hills, Lower Great Lakes, Northern Plateau, Ridge and Valley, Piedmont, Atlantic Coastal Plain. Major drainage basins will be overlaid on that structure for aquatic species.

AGENCY REPORTS

DEP - Dan Bogar - Dan reported that there was nothing new to report at DEP.

Pennsylvania Game Commission - Dan Brauning - All-Bird Conservation Workshop - The PGC and International Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (IAFWA) sponsored this workshop held 17-18 November 2004. Over 130 people from government agencies, large non-government organizations, and many local, grassroots bird and land conservation organizations attended the 2-day meeting. In all, 25 non-government conservation organizations took part, including Ducks Unlimited, the Ruffed Grouse Society, and the National Wild Tur- key Federation. During the first day’s breakouts, which were organized around wetlands, grassland and agriculture, and forest habitat groups, each group listed potential threats and their solutions, and then prioritized threats. Second day breakout sessions were divided into geographical regions and projects were proposed for each. The workshop was the beginning of a comprehensive approach to bird conserva- tion in Pennsylvania. We acknowledge that comprehensive wildlife conservation in needed.

Wetland Bird Surveys - During summer 2004, long-term studies of wetland bird populations were again conducted at Geneva Marsh, Craw- ford County, using playback equipment in the extensive marsh. All target birds were again detected, including American and least bitterns, American coot, sora, and Virginia rail. Digital recorders with parabolic microphones were deployed to test efficiency of remote nocturnal recordings as a survey technique. Recorders detected many of the same species, although sound files have not been fully analyzed.

Northern Flying Squirrels - During September and October, 3 sites with northern flyers were found; all 3 were extensions of previously known sites. A total of 6 northerns were captured, of which 4 were collared for telemetry. Telemetry on the collared squirrels began in Oc- tober and will continue until spring.

Page 6 Wind Farms - Greg Turner has taken the lead on this controversial issue. He attended the National Wind Coordinating Committee meeting in Lansdowne, State Wildlife Grants Virginia on 3 & 4 November 2004. The first day was devoted to a series of & Federal Fiscal Year 2006 presentations on bats and wind turbines, while the second day focused on birds. Generally, bats are killed much more frequently than are birds. Both The annual IAFWA Capitol Hill event in support of SWG resident and migratory species are affected. Most bat/turbine collisions occur took place on March 2. Pa.’s visiting delegation kept ap- during calm weather following the passing of a front. Preliminary data indi- pointments in 15 Senate and House offices. The Pa. crew cate that highest mortality occurs in hoary bats, followed by red bats and included Tim Schaeffer and Paul Zeph, Audubon Pa.; Ron pipistrelles. Ramsey, The Nature Conservancy; Jacqui Bonomo, West- ern Pa. Conservancy; Tom Ford, PFBC; and Lisa Williams, Regional Wildlife Diversity Biologists - This new program is taking off and Dan Mummert, and Eileen Butchkoski, PGC. Rick beginning to provide specific services. From September 2004 to year end, the Spencer, Pa.’s National Wildlife Federation representative 5 RWDBs conducted nearly 90 consultations and site reviews for private in DC also joined the group. Earlier, Melody Zullinger of landowners and conservancies; completed over 20 management plans; attended the Pa. Federation of Sportsmen’s Clubs had helped to se- more than 35 training sessions, workshops, and meetings; and provided 15 (or cure appointments. more) presentations. Consultations included assistance to the USFWS Part- ners for Wildlife Program in locating potential sites for stream bank fencing For the first time, Pa.’s visiting delegation met with the of- and wetlands restoration in the French Creek drainage; field assessments for fices of both Senators and all four House appropriators. House members John Peterson (Interior Subcommittee of 14 NRCD Debt for Nature Program sites totaling 1,483 acres; and develop- the Appropriations Committee), Tim Murphy, and Allyson ment of management objectives to conserve bog turtles at a key Berks County Schwartz were met with in person. location.

State Wildlife Grants Competitive Project Selection - The Game Commission Points of particular interest to the congressional offices in- cluded: and Fish and Boat Commission selected 5 projects for the FFY2004 SWG • The Private Landowner Assistance Program provided “competitive” program. Those projects include: by Regional Wildlife Diversity Biologists funded by • Inventories and Status Assessments of Pennsylvania At-Risk Amphibian SWG. and Reptile Species—Shippensburg University • Pa.’s competitive grant program with conservation • Import Mammal Areas Project—Emphasis on stewardship—National partners, maximizing the use of funds and on-the- Wildlife Federation/Pa. Wildlife Federation ground impact. • Freshwater Mussel (Unionid) and Fish Assemblage Habitat Use and Spa- • A map illustrating the statewide impact of the conser- tial Distributions in the Senango and Allegheny Watershed: Reference for vation-partner projects. Western Pennsylvania Unionid Protection and Restoration—Western Pa. • Accountability through the CWCS. Conservancy Folders of information were provided to each of PA’s 21 • Web-based Registry and Study of Seasonal Pools in Pennsylvania— congressional offices, including six offices in which no ap- Western Pa. Conservancy pointment had been scheduled. • Eastern Hemlock and Mixed Coniferous Forested Ecosystems: Distribu- tion and Use by Scurid Communities Including the Endangered Northern President Bush has proposed $74 million for State Wild- life Grants for FFY2006 - $5 million more than the pro- Flying Squirrel—Penn State University gram received in FFY2005 - underlining the importance of Federal Fiscal Year 2005 SWG Appropriation - On 20 November 2004, this program (and surprising a number of congressional Congress passed an omnibus appropriations bill for FFY2005 that included staffers). On the day of the Capitol Hill event, bipartisan $70 million for SWG, the same amount as was passed for 2004. sponsors began circulating Dear Colleague letters request- ing $85 million for SWG in both the Senate and House. These letters emphasize that proactive conservation of spe- Discussion: cies that might otherwise reach critically low levels actually PABS STATUS DETERMINATIONS & the IUCN MODEL saves taxpayer dollars by preempting situations that require expensive and regulatory solutions. President Hassinger assigned the technical committees to run an example set of species through the IUCN status determination process to evaluate how Pa. Legislators who signed the Dear Colleague letters: well that format works for their specialty. Technical committee chairs were advised to come to the August meeting prepared for discussion and a vote. For the second year: Jerry asked the committees to review his proposal for new PABS status deter- • Senator Arlen Specter mination procedures and the documents from which his proposal was devel- • Representative Phil English • Representative Chaka Fattah oped. He specifically mentioned the Spectrum of Concern chart and the need for familiarity with terminology. He commented that IUCN criteria should New this year: work with the status documentation forms already developed by the OTC and • Representative Tim Holden MTC. • Representative Todd Platts

A lengthy discussion followed about “sliders” (species that could fall into sev- • Representative Jim Gerlach eral categories within one or more criteria), until Ron Stanley pointed out that

Page 7 the primary need is for benchmarks and that fine points regarding sliders could come later.

Rob Criswell reminded the group that (1) it is unlikely there will be a state endangered species law anytime soon, (2) one state agency is “thrashing around” for a process now, and (3) “political boundaries” have to be considered or the opportunity to interact with agencies could be lost. A specific concern of the Fishes Technical Committee is the IUCN criterion about percent of change over a 10-year period and the lack of availability of pre-existing data for the appropriate interval.

Sue Thompson observed that uniformity is important. Jean Fike pointed out efforts toward convergence of Nature Serve and IUCN stan- dards, but said that completion is probably a long way off.

Tim Maret pointed out that data isn’t needed for all criteria. Jerry commented that many criteria are not appropriate for all species, but that some criteria do apply to all species.

Check out webmaster Janet Wright’s table of updated Box Scores on the website: www.dickinson.edu/prorg/pabs/pabs_main.htm

President Hassinger announces the next meeting of the PABS Steering Committee: • 2-day meeting - agenda & particulars will be distributed at a later date. • August 9 & 10 running from noon to noon • Lock Haven University’s Sieg Conference Center*

*Men’s and women’s bunk-room accommodations; bring your sleeping bag.

Page 8 CELEBRATE NATURE and PENNSYLVANIA’S NATURAL DIVERSITY at the WILD RESOURCE CONSERVATION PROGRAM’s

The First Annual Wild Resource Festival Bald Eagle State Park (near Howard, Centre County)

Saturday, June 4, 2005 ~ 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM

The park’s wide variety of habitats - a deep reservoir, small ponds, wetlands and marsh, deciduous forest, shrub communities & butterfly trail - will be woven into interactive experiences for a wide variety of ages and interests. Many of these experiences will be facilitated by names you know - if you’ve been attending PABS technical committee meetings and reading your newsletter:

Theresa Albirici (PGC) Tim Maret (HerpTC/Shippensburg U) Dave Argent (FTC/California U) Bob Mulvihill (OTC/2nd Breeding Bird Atlas) Margaret Brittingham (OTC/PSU) Ralph Harnishfeger (MTC/Lock Haven U) Bob Carline (FTC/PSU) Mike Steele (MTC/Wilkes U) Ryan Evans (ITC/WPC) Sue Thompson (VPTC/PBP) Rocky Gleason (TNC) Chris Urban (PFBC) Ralph Harnishfeger (MTC/Lock Haven U) Dick Whitford (IMAP)

Activities at the main festival area will include children’s topics (targeted for ages 8 – 12), family topics (ages 12 and up) and science topics (adults, college students and advanced high school students). Titles for children include Learning Leaves (tree ID), School Yard Habi- tats, and Biodiversity Activities. Family topics include Get a Kick out of Kestrels, Raptor Restoration, Wild Resource Fact Sheets, Bird Banding, Snail Sampling, Seeing Snakes, You Oughta Know Otters, Crayfish Conversations, Monitoring Mammals, Manifold Mammals, Cottontail Capers, Vital Vernals, a biodiversity display and, apparently, plenty of alliteration. Science topics, also alliterative, include Fish Foray, Gorgeous Ginseng, and Inventory In- sights.

From late morning through the afternoon, the environmental learning center will offer half-hour tours and showings of a variety of Wild Resource Conservation Fund videos. The center will also host a slide program on the flowers of Bald Eagle State Park at 11:00 AM, a children’s story hour at 1:00 PM, and, at 3:30 PM, Flutterby 101, a short course on Pennsylvania’s butterflies and how to attract them. Evening Escapade with Otters (video footage with live narration) is available on both Friday, June 3 and Saturday, June 4 at 5:00 PM, and there’s a half-hour children’s version at 11:30 AM on Saturday. On Saturday, a shuttle van will provide transportation from the main festival area to the environmental learning center about 10 minutes before the start of each activity. The van will also make return trips after each event.

Guided nature walks will be timed so you can take them in sequence for a complete cycle. Titles include Prolific Plants, Dragonfly Dabbling, Vernal Vulnerability, Sampling Snails, Acid Effects on Avians, Birders Ballet, Tree Topics, and Avian Action.

A van will provide transportation to an observation site for a bald eagle nest. A spotting scope will be available or you can bring your own binoculars to Eye-ball Eaglets.

Those with reservations in the Russell P. Letterman campground, or other lodging in the area, are invited to make the transition into evening by taking part in one of three small-group ac- tivities – a visit to the Giant Swamp White Oak, Muddle in the Mire, or Ogle Some Odonates.

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