Annual Report 20 1 7 Florida Panther (Captive) ©Joel Sartore/ Wins Wildlife Accomplished This Year—With Your Help

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Annual Report 20 1 7 Florida Panther (Captive) ©Joel Sartore/ Wins Wildlife Accomplished This Year—With Your Help ANNUAL REPORT 20 1 7 WILDLIFE WINS THE SWEEPING CHANGES MADE BY ANTI- WILDLIFE POLITICIANS—WHO CONTROL BOTH CHAMBERS OF CONGRESS AND THE WHITE HOUSE FOR THE FIRST TIME IN MORE THAN A DECADE—MADE 201 7A CHALLENGING YEAR. THROUGH IT ALL, DEFENDERS OF WILDLIFE FOUGHT TO PROTECT VULNERABLE SPECIES ON PUBLIC AND PRIVATE LANDS, OPPOSED LEGISLATIVE ATTACKS ON WILDLIFE CONSERVATION AND PROMOTED WILDLIFE-FRIENDLY RENEWABLE ENERGY DEVELOPMENT. HERE IS A LOOK AT SOME OF WHAT WE ACCOMPLISHED THIS YEAR—WITH YOUR HELP. FLORIDA PANTHER (CAPTIVE) ©JOEL SARTORE/WWW.JOELSARTORE.COM (CAPTIVE) FLORIDA PANTHER BLACK-FOOTED FERRETS Defenders helped restore hundreds of acres of prairie dog colonies—essential for black-footed ferrets—by installing COOK INLET burrows between MIGRATORY BELUGAS SHOREBIRDS BISON colonies, creating The long-awaited Defenders helped grain trails to entice Defenders helped DEVIL RAYS ESA recovery plan purchase 480 expansion and secure $200 million for the Cook Inlet relocating hundreds acres to expand for Salton Sea Defenders beluga was released of prairie dogs from Fort Belknap Indian restoration as part advocated for with Defenders’ areas where they Reservation’s bison WOLVES of a parks and water and won strict input incorporated would have been reserve to 25,000 bond that California international trade to address ocean When the Idaho poisoned. acres—protecting voters will have measures for devil noise, habitat Fish and Game habitat for bison, an opportunity to rays—killed by the loss, oil spills and Commission prairie dogs, approve on the June thousands for their cumulative effects. proposed allowing sage-grouse and 2018 ballot. gill plates—and silky hunters to bait songbirds. and thresher sharks— wolves, Defenders killed for their fins. organized public opposition that SCARLET surprised the agency MACAWS and stopped the FLORIDA move in its tracks. PANTHERS With a sixth release of 26 birds in Defenders’ work the Biosphere to help conserve Reserve of Los habitat resulted Tuxtlas, Defenders in two females established the claiming territory— second-largest and the birth of two population of scarlet litters—north of the macaws in Mexico. Caloosahatchee River for the first time in four decades. 4 WWW.DEFENDERS.ORG LEADING THE WAY Defenders has long stood as the bulwark against legislative attacks to wildlife and public lands. In 2017, we launched the Wildlife Defense Campaign to face the new anti-environmental Trump administration head on. Defenders brings expertise on Endangered Species Act (ESA) policy and public land management experience and decades of experience mounting successful legislative campaigns, including blocking congressional efforts to gut the ESA. DEFENDERS OF WILDLIFE 2017 ANNUAL REPORT 5 LEADING THE WAY In times like these we need to work together as never before—across the entire environmental movement and with diverse communities that share our values and commitment to wildlife protection. Your passion for wildlife and dedication to Defenders continues to empower us to resist these unprecedented assaults and to defend, protect and restore the wildlife and wild lands we hold dear. Thank you! Jamie Rappaport Clark, President and CEO Judith Posnikoff, Board Chair ©STEVEN J. KAZLOWSKI/ALAMY STOCK PHOTO STOCK KAZLOWSKI/ALAMY J. ©STEVEN 6 WWW.DEFENDERS.ORG DEFENDERS MAKES A DIFFERENCE ©RENO SOMMERHALDER©RENO DEFENDERS OF WILDLIFE 2017 ANNUAL REPORT 7 Habitat loss and livestock ranching are among the biggest threats to the cactus ferruginous pygmy-owl. PREVENTING EXTINCTION In 2017, Congress introduced more than 60 bills to undermine the Endangered Species Act (ESA), our nation’s most effective law for preventing wildlife from going extinct. To stop these measures dead in their tracks, Defenders led successful Capitol Hill and grassroots advocacy efforts. Most significantly, we blocked an attempt to rewrite the ESA. In February, Defenders’ President and CEO, Jamie Rappaport Clark, testified before a Congressional committee, urging lawmakers to maintain a strong ESA and highlighting the law’s successful track record in protecting endangered species. Thanks to the ESA, in 2017 Defenders won a precedent- setting lawsuit for all imperiled wildlife when we challenged a decision by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) to deny ESA protection to the cactus ferruginous pygmy-owl—a fierce little owl facing serious threats. FWS argued that a larger population in Mexico meant the species didn’t need protection in the United States. But the court ruled that a species could not be denied ESA protection if it remained imperiled in a Grizzly bears are significant portion of its range. majestic symbols of the wild, but they This year, the ESA also helped us to protect prime face challenges habitat for grizzly bears and bull trout in northwest from habitat Montana. A federal judge ruled in our favor, concluding fragmentation and low reproduction that FWS and the Forest Service violated the ESA when rates. they approved a massive copper and silver mine in the Cabinet Mountains. BANNICK/VIREO©PAUL 8 WWW.DEFENDERS.ORG DEFENDERS MAKES A DIFFERENCE ONGOING BATTLES ARCTIC NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE Defenders is a strong Although Congress authorized oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in the new tax bill voice on Capitol Hill signed by President Trump at the end of 2017, Defenders battled—and continues to battle—to against the border protect this ecologically sensitive ecosystem JOEL SARTORE/WWW.JOELSARTORE.COM in the courts and helps lead a coalition of © environmental organizations working to engage wall, and we work with citizens in the fight to protect the refuge. We also worked with The Washington Post on a broad coalition of two front-page stories exposing the Trump administration’s secret plans to approve seismic groups to oppose testing in the Arctic refuge and a road through the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge. The its funding. stories led to additional coverage in The New York Times and on CNN. BORDER WALL Defenders filed suit against the Trump administration after the government circumvented environmental protections to pave the way for border wall construction in California. The wall threatens the existence of the endangered Quino checkerspot butterfly, snowy plover, cactus ferrunginous pygmy-owl, ocelots and other imperiled species. Defenders staff also participated in protests with local activists at the Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge in Texas, where another extension of the wall would devastate wildlife populations by blocking migration routes, isolating populations and undermining conservation and recovery of imperiled species. DEFENDERS OF WILDLIFE 2017 ANNUAL REPORT 9 Defenders helps San Joaquin kit foxes and other species by protecting important grassland habitat. MAKING TECHNOLOGY WORK FOR WILDLIFE PIONEERING SOLUTIONS Defenders launched its Center for Conservation Innovation to harness new technology and share solutions to protect biodiversity and help endangered species. We developed a new technique using satellite images to detect habitat destruction for imperiled species like the lesser prairie-chicken and the dunes sagebrush DEREVAN ©RICK lizard. Our groundbreaking work was covered in Science magazine and The Wall Street Journal. PROTECTING BATS AND MINIMIZING EFFECTS OF RENEWABLE ENERGY PRESERVING HABITAT WHILE GOING SOLAR Defenders leverages its relationships with the renewable energy industry to identify pragmatic Defenders protected habitat for the endangered solutions that lessen impacts to wildlife. This San Joaquin kit fox, giant kangaroo rat and includes efforts to understand how wind energy blunt-nosed leopard lizard and many bird species development affects migratory tree-roosting in California’s Panoche Valley after reaching bat species and how to minimize those effects. a settlement agreement with the California This year, we partnered with the American Wind Department of Fish and Wildlife and Panoche Energy Association to educate the industry Valley Solar, LLC. The initial proposal would have on the best-available science and to gain damaged almost 5,000 acres of high-quality voluntary commitments to protect bats. We also habitat. After years of work, including state and submitted comments to FWS opposing the federal court litigation, Defenders succeeded delisting of the lesser long-nosed bat given the in reducing the size of the project to about potential impending threats of climate change 1,300 acres and permanently conserved more and expanding wind energy development in the than 26,000 acres in and around this important species’ habitat. grassland habitat. ©SANDRA ROTHENBERG 10 WWW.DEFENDERS.ORG DEFENDERS MAKES A DIFFERENCE We continue to be a leader in promoting and OREGON DEPARTMENT OF FISH & WILDLIFE & OF FISH OREGON DEPARTMENT © implementing coexistence measures to minimize conflicts between wolves and livestock. DEFENDERS OF WILDLIFE 2017 ANNUAL REPORT 11 CONNECTING & COEXISTING LINKING FEDERAL LANDS, CONNECTING WATCHING OUT FOR WOLVES ECOSYSTEMS To conserve habitat strongholds and movement When four separate lethal removal actions targeted northeastern Oregon—important wolf habitat—that corridors for at-risk species, Defenders, pressed wolves in Washington and Oregon, we ramped helped several wolf packs and their young survive the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land up our efforts to promote nonlethal, predator the grazing season. In Montana, we funded four Management in Montana to conserve habitat solutions, met with impacted ranchers and state range rider
Recommended publications
  • Applying Taxonomy to Wildlife Research and Management Module Overview
    TheThe SpeciesSpecies QuestionQuestion ApplyingApplying TaxonomyTaxonomy ToTo WildlifeWildlife ResearchResearch AndAnd ManagementManagement September 1, 2006 Dear Educator, Colorado has long been committed to the conservation of all wildlife species, whether hunted, or fished, or viewed. One of the nation’s great wildlife restoration success stories—the American Peregrine Falcon—had its beginnings here in the early 1970’s. A Colorado biologist rappelled over cliffs more than 500 feet high, dangled from a thin rope and dodged swooping Peregrines to retrieve their DDT-thinned eggs. He tucked them into his vest and made all-night drives across the state for artificial incubation and hatching. Other successes, such as the restoration and recovery of prairie grouse, lynx, river otter and a number of native fishes, also have their roots in the efforts of Colorado Division of Wildlife professionals. Science-based management decisions are essential to securing species at risk, as well as conserving all the state’s wildlife species. The numbers of scientific disciplines that influence and inform wildlife management are staggering. Advances in taxonomy and molecular biology, in particular, have affected how biologists think about and identify species and subspecies. We invite you and your students to explore new developments in the frontiers of science with us as we harness innovative technologies and ideas and use them to maintain healthy, diverse and abundant wildlife. Sincerely, Bruce L. McCloskey Director Acknowledgments Funding for this project was provided by US Fish & Wildlife Service Wildlife Conservation and Restoration Program Grant No. R-11-1, Great Outdoors Colorado Trust Fund (GOCO), and the sportsmen of Colorado. The Colorado Division of Wildlife gratefully acknowledges the following individuals: For content advice and critical review: Field-test Educators (cont.): Dr.
    [Show full text]
  • Sage Grouse Taken Off Endangered List 24 April 2007
    Sage grouse taken off endangered list 24 April 2007 The rare sage-grouse is fighting for survival in Colorado, but because of a recent spurt in numbers the birds will not be listed as an endangered species. The sage-grouse live on one of the only sagebrush reservations left in Colorado, the Denver post reported Monday. "A single species becomes a symbol for a much larger issue about the degradation of land," said Jessica Young, a biology professor at Western State College in Gunnison, Colo. Even though the Gunnison grouse is considered one of the country's most endangered birds and has been a six-year candidate for federal protection, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has removed it from consideration for the endangered- species list. But the decision actually relieved ranchers as well as outraged conservationists. The conservation project being run by volunteers in the city has donated more than $11 million to preserve 17,000 acres and enhance the bird's habitat. The government also paid for aerial seeding to provide food for the grouse, mowed open heavy sage stands for the bird and closed roads during breeding and nesting seasons. Copyright 2007 by United Press International APA citation: Sage grouse taken off endangered list (2007, April 24) retrieved 29 September 2021 from https://phys.org/news/2007-04-sage-grouse-endangered.html This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.
    [Show full text]
  • Engelsk Register
    Danske navne på alverdens FUGLE ENGELSK REGISTER 1 Bearbejdning af paginering og sortering af registret er foretaget ved hjælp af Microsoft Excel, hvor det har været nødvendigt at indlede sidehenvisningerne med et bogstav og eventuelt 0 for siderne 1 til 99. Tallet efter bindestregen giver artens rækkefølge på siden.
    [Show full text]
  • With Right Incentives, Ranchers Want to Help Sage Grouse
    Op-ed: With right incentives, ranchers want to help sage grouse BY MARY CONOVER AND KENYON FIELDS PUBLISHED: JANUARY 3, 2015 01:00PM UPDATED: JANUARY 3, 2015 01:00PM We at Mountain Island Ranch have been working to help Gunnison sage grouse for 20 years because we care about our land and, to us, the idea of losing a species native to the ranch would mean we’ve not done our job as land stewards. In the late 1990s, neighbors agreed with this view, and collectively we developed a landscape-scale framework to guide our actions. Then in 2000 we all signed onto the Sage Grouse Conservation Plan in partnership with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Bureau of Land Management, the Natural Resource Conservation Service and the Colorado and Utah wildlife agencies. You could say that it’s easy for our ranch to be relaxed about the recent threatened listing of the grouse because we are protected by a Candidate Conservation Agreement with Assurances that we signed soon after these were | Courtesy Photo made available. Another way to look at it is that Kenyon Fields and Mary Conover we voluntarily agreed to suffer the effects of listing before it was even listed by agreeing to do management actions outside of our normal manner. We brush-hogged around leks and did stripping of sage flats; we used our cows to create open areas; we roller-chopped pinyon and juniper; and we agreed not to graze around nesting and strutting sites. Some of this was on our deeded lands, and the rest on our BLM grazing allotments.
    [Show full text]
  • Grassers Give Better Marketing Flexibility New Series Cattlemen’S Young Leaders
    SaSkatchewan cattlemen’S ConneCtion The voice of saskaTchewan’s cattle producers Vol. 4 No. 1 producers use social media Grassers Give better marketinG flexibility New SerieS Cattlemen’s Young Leaders FEBRUARY/MARCH 2014 Connection is published in Saskatoon in partnership with Western Producer Publications. Mail Agreement No. 40069240 Bull & Female Sale February 26, 2014 at 1:00 pm Saskatoon Livestock Sales Erixon Devil’s Cut 54A - Homo Polled Erixon Devil’s Diablo x Red Baron Heifer bull potential Erixon Revelstoke 41A - Homo Polled Erixon Revelstoke x Showoff Wallbanger Reserve Champion Bull and Grand Champion at Jackpot All Breeds MLE Brandon Erixon Liberty 23A - Homo Polled, Erixon Liberty 23A - Homo Polled, Hetro Black x Crosby Stubby Full of meat and muscle Erixon All In 30A - Homo Polled, All In 30A - Homo Polled, Erixon Homo Black Target Throttle x On Full ¾ blood • 50 Bulls, 11 Heifers, Reds, Red Baldies and Blacks • Semen Tested, Delivered and Fully Guaranteed • Large Sire groups, many ½ and ¾ brothers Erixon Lad 83A Builder X Body Wellington bull power True View the catalogue online Dave & Krista Erixon Clavet, Sk. at Dave – 306.270.2893 erixonsimmentals.com Krista – 306.270.1263 [email protected] Integrity • Commitment • Quality SASKATCHEWAN CATTLEMEN’S CONNECTION February/March 2014 Vol. 4 Issue 1 SASKATCHEWAN CATTLEMEN’S Published for the Saskatchewan CONNECCattlemen’s AssociationTION SASKATCHEWANwww.saskbeef.com CATTLEMEN’S CONNECPublisher: ShaunTIO JessomeN Editor: Bonnie Warnyca SASKATCHEWAN CATTLEMEN’S Art Director: Michelle Houlden CONNECLayout Designer: ShelleyTIO WichmannN Advertising Director: Kelly Berg Production Supervisor: Robert Magnell Marketing Manager: Jack Phipps 19 Editorial: P: 306-695-3976 C: 306-539-9381 Editorial fax: 306-665-3587 CYL - Mentoring the next generation.
    [Show full text]
  • Appendix A: Existing Conditions
    San Miguel County Wright’s Mesa Master Plan Appendix A. Existing Conditions Appendix A: Existing Conditions This section identifies existing conditions on Wright’s Mesa that influenced the planning process and future directions for this Plan. Wright’s Mesa General Description and Planning Area Wright’s Mesa is located in north central San Miguel County, abutting the Montrose County border. It covers almost 59 square miles. The small Town of Norwood is the heart of economic activity and accounts for just over half of the residents of the area. (See Map 1: Wright’s Mesa Planning Area.) Norwood is 33 miles away from Telluride, the San Miguel County seat (approximately an hour drive through the San Miguel River canyon along State Highway 145). The small community of Redvale is nine miles to the northwest. Montrose is the largest service center near the Mesa, located 66 miles from Norwood (approximately an hour and a half drive time). Wright’s Mesa is still remote even by most western community standards, but the area is being discovered for its friendly small-town and rural atmosphere, temperate climate, scenic landscape with access to public lands, and housing affordability (relative to Telluride and Lone Cone Mountain as seen from Wright’s Mesa Mountain Village). to the south along CR 44 and from Hwy. 145A. The current occupants on the mesa have a much A Brief History of Wright’s more current settlement history. According to legends, in 1877, two placer miners working their Mesa way down the San Miguel River climbed to the Howard Greager is a local western historian and mesa and discovered the vast grassland on top.
    [Show full text]
  • White River and Douglas Creek Conservation Districts P.O
    White River and Douglas Creek Conservation Districts P.O. Box 837 – 351 7th Street – Meeker, CO 81641 – Phone (970) 878-5628, Ext. 101 April 2, 2013 Public Comments Processing COMMENTS SUBMITTED Attn: FWS-R6-ES-2012-0108 ELECTRONICALLY Attn: FWS-R6-ES-2011-0111 Division of Policy and Directives Management U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 4401 N. Fairfax Drive, MS 2042-PDM Arlington, VA 22203 RE: Endangered Status for Gunnison Sage-grouse; Proposed Rule; Docket No: FWS-R6-ES-2012-0108; 4500030113, 78 Fed. Reg. 8, 2486 (January 11, 2013); and Designation of Critical Habitat for Gunnison Sage- grouse; Proposed Rule; Docket No: FWS-R6-ES-2011-0111; 4500030114, 78 Fed. Reg. 8, 2540 (January 11, 2013) To Whom It May Concern: White River and Douglas Creek Conservation Districts state the organizations’ intent and reserves the right to make further comments and to participate fully in each available component of the process of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (“FWS”) regarding the proposed rule for Endangered Status for Gunnison Sage-grouse; Docket No: FWS-R6-ES-2012-0108; 4500030113,78 Fed. Reg. 8, 2486 (January 11, 2013) (“Proposed Rule for ESA Listing”); and the proposed rule for Designation of Critical Habitat for Gunnison Sage-grouse; Docket No: FWS- R6-ES-2011-0111; 4500030114, 78 Fed. Reg. 8, 2540 (January 11, 2013) (“Proposed Rule for Designation”) (collectively “Proposed Rules”). The White River and Douglas Creek Conservation Districts (Districts) are located in Rio Blanco County, Colorado. As political subdivisions of the State charged with caring for the natural resources within the Districts’ respective boundaries, we have been actively engaged in the Greater Sage-Grouse issue.
    [Show full text]
  • For More Information... Some Examples of Ecologically Rare Species
    EXAMPLES OF ECOLOGICALLY RARE SPECIES Global distribution and conservation status of ecologically rare mammal and bird species. Nicolas Loiseau*, Nicolas Mouquet*, Nicolas Casajus, Matthias Grenié, Maya Gueguen, Brian Maitner, David Mouillot, Annette Ostling, Julien Renaud, Caroline Tucker, Laure Velez, Wilfried Thuiller, Cyrille Violle. Nature Communications, [October 8, 2020]. DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-18779-w *Co-first authors. To assess ecological rarity, scientists from the FRB’s Centre de Synthèse et d’Analyse de la Biodiversité (CESAB), CNRS research laboratories, Université Grenoble Alpes, and the University of Montpellier combined data available to the scientific community on the (i) geographical restrictiveness and the (ii) functional distinctiveness of animal species. A species is deemed ecologically rare if its geographic range is very limited and it has a unique ecological function. The ecological ‘role’ of species in their ecosystems is often indirectly deduced from their functional traits (e.g. size, diet, and lifestyle). The researchers hypothesized that the more unique the functional traits of a species, the more unique (and therefore less replaceable) its ecological role. The functional traits considered in this study were body mass, diet (e.g. fruits, insects, or detritus), foraging height (e.g. on the ground or in the trees), and activity cycle (i.e. diurnal or nocturnal). Ecologically rare mammals tend to be heftier, nocturnal, and consumers of fruits or invertebrates. Examples include bats and certain monkeys and lemurs. Ecologically rare birds mainly feed on fruit; nectar, as do hummingbirds; or fish, as do certain marine birds. Here we present some notable examples of ecologically rare species, including Macaca nigra (famous for having taken a selfie in 2014), the photogenic Leontocebus tripartitus and Callithrix flaviceps, and the ‘tree kangaroos’ Dendrolagus lumholtzi and Dendrolagus matschiei.
    [Show full text]
  • The Role of Inlets in Piping Plover Nest Site Selection in New Jersey 1987-2007 45 Christina L
    Birds Volume XXXV, Number 3 – December 2008 through February 2009 Changes from the Fiftieth Suppleument of the AOU Checklist 44 Don Freiday The Role of Inlets in Piping Plover Nest Site Selection in New Jersey 1987-2007 45 Christina L. Kisiel The Winter 2008-2009 Incursion of Rough-legged Hawks (Buteo lagopus) in New Jersey 52 Michael Britt WintER 2008 FIELD NotEs 57 50 Years Ago 72 Don Freiday Changes from the Fiftieth Supplement to the AOU Checklist by DON FREIDay n the recent past, “they” split Solitary Vireo into two separate species. The original names created for Blue-headed, Plumbeous, and Cassin’s Vireos. them have been deemed cumbersome by the AOU I “They” split the towhees, separating Rufous-sided committee. Now we have a shot at getting their full Editor, Towhee into Eastern Towhee and Spotted Towhee. names out of our mouths before they disappear into New Jersey Birds “They” seem to exist in part to support field guide the grass again! Don Freiday publishers, who must publish updated guides with Editor, Regional revised names and newly elevated species. Birders Our tanagers are really cardinals: tanager genus Reports often wonder, “Who are ‘They,’ anyway?” Piranga has been moved from the Thraupidae to Scott Barnes “They” are the “American Ornithologists’ Union the Cardinalidae Contributors Committee on Classification and Nomenclature - This change, which for NJ birders affects Summer Michael Britt Don Freiday North and Middle America,” and they have recently Tanager, Scarlet Tanager, and Western Tanager, has Christina L. Kisiel published a new supplement to the Check-list of been expected for several years.
    [Show full text]
  • Sage Grouse and the Endangered Species Act (ESA)
    Sage Grouse and the Endangered Species Act (ESA) Kristina Alexander Legislative Attorney M. Lynne Corn Specialist in Natural Resources Policy May 4, 2010 Congressional Research Service 7-5700 www.crs.gov R40865 CRS Report for Congress Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress Sage Grouse and the Endangered Species Act (ESA) Summary Western states have seen conflicts over natural resources for more than a century. These conflicts have involved issues such as grazing, roads, fences, oil and gas development, urban expansion, spread of invasive species, water rights, Native rights, timber harvest, and pollution. Recent additions to the list include development of alternative energy such as wind and solar power. In many cases, the more recent conflicts have involved the protection of endangered and threatened species, often with one group of advocates seeing listed species as an obstacle to their development goals or property rights, and another group advocating protection in line with their environmental, scientific, or economic goals. One such controversy is developing in 11 western states over sage grouse, whose numbers can be threatened by roads, fences, power lines, urban expansion, and energy development. This report describes the state of knowledge about these birds, history of efforts to protect them, and current controversies. In March 2010, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), in response to petitions and lawsuits, issued a determination that listing the sage grouse under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) was warranted but precluded by the need to list species with a more urgent need of protection. Thus, the sage grouse is treated as a candidate species and does not have the protections that a listed species would have.
    [Show full text]
  • Sagebrush Conservation Strategy—Challenges to Sagebrush Conservation
    Chapter S. Adaptive Management and Monitoring 223 Chapter S. Adaptive Management and Monitoring David S. Pilliod,1 David C. Pavlacky,2 Mary E. Manning,3 Jonathan B. Dinkins,4 Megan Creutzburg,4 Matthew J. Holloran,5 Emily J. Kachergis,6 Adrian P. Monroe,7 Sean P. Finn,8 Matthew J. Germino,1 Paul Griffin,6 Steven E. Hanser,1 Karen Newlon,8 and Lief A. Wiechman8 Executive Summary the sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) biome, and thus, there are a myriad of monitoring approaches or programs. This chapter Adaptive management and monitoring efforts focused on describes monitoring efforts focused on vegetation, habitat, and vegetation, habitat, and wildlife in the sagebrush (Artemisia wildlife. Collectively, the existing natural resource monitoring spp.) biome help inform management of species and habitats, in the sagebrush biome (and potentially other future monitoring predict ecological responses to conservation practices, and adapt efforts) can help inform management of species and habitats, management to improve conservation outcomes. This chapter predict ecological responses to conservation practices, and emphasizes the adaptive resource management framework adapt management to improve conservation outcomes (Nichols with its four stages: (1) problem definition, (2) outcomes, and Williams, 2006; Lyons and others, 2008). Monitoring may (3) decision analysis, and (4) implementation and monitoring. also help maximize efficiency of conservation spending so Adaptive resource management is an evolving process involving that limited resources are spent on the right things, in the right a sequential cycle of learning (the accumulation of understanding places, and at the right time. over time) and adaptation (the adjustment of management over Types of monitoring used in natural resource time).
    [Show full text]
  • Fort Collins Science Center Fiscal Year 2008 Science Accomplishments
    Fort Collins Science Center Fiscal Year 2008 Science Accomplishments Compiled by Juliette T. Wilson Open-File Report 2009-1107 U.S. Department of the Interior U.S. Geological Survey U.S. Department of the Interior KEN SALAZAR, Secretary U.S. Geological Survey Suzette M. Kimball, Acting Director U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, Virginia 2009 For more information on the USGS—the Federal source for science about the Earth, its natural and living resources, natural hazards, and the environment, visit http://www.usgs.gov or call 1-888-ASK-USGS For an overview of USGS information products, including maps, imagery, and publications, visit http://www.usgs.gov/pubprod To order this and other USGS information products, visit http://store.usgs.gov Any use of trade, product, or firm names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government. Although this report is in the public domain, permission must be secured from the individual copyright owners to reproduce any copyrighted material contained within this report. Suggested citation: Wilson, J.T., Compiler, 2009, Fort Collins Science Center—Fiscal Year 2008 Science Accomplishments: USGS Open-File Report 2009-1107, 58 p. ii Contents Science for Natural Resource Management .................................................................................................................. 1 2008 Science Accomplishments.................................................................................................................................... 2 Biological Informatics................................................................................................................................................
    [Show full text]