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| Spring 2002 Newsletter | Edited by Steve Windels | ||||||||||||
In This Issue:
FROM THE CHAIR - Richard Crawford Plans for the Bismarck meeting in September 2002 are rapidly taking shape. Our Restoration Working Group is sponsoring a full-day symposium - Restoration of Wildlife and Their Habitats. Under the able direction of RWG members Jeff Larkin, Jeff Kelly and John Cox, the symposium will feature a wide variety of speakers and topics. It is now scheduled for Friday, September 27. The RWG will also host a 1/2-day field trip for working group members on Thursday morning, September 28. I thought a 1/2-day trip this year would be best, considering that we have a full-day symposium planned as well. Our field trip will be led by Darla Lenz, U.S. Forest Service. She will escort us to Cross Ranch, a Nature Conservancy tract on the Missouri River near Bismarck. The dominant habitat there will be mixed grass prairie, of course. But we will also stop by the Missouri River and discuss cottonwood restoration, and we will likely find a restored wetland or two along the way as well. Darla will also give a paper during the symposium on Friday. I have requested that the RWG meet on Thursday at Noon. I haven't heard if that request has been accepted yet, though. More later as plans develop. Overall planning for the meeting is coming along nicely. So arrange your schedules to be there -- September 24-28, Bismarck, ND. Again, thanks to Steve Windels for his excellent work with the website. If there are items that anyone would like to see on the website, please let Steve or I know. Rich Crawford, Restoration Working Group Chair University of North Dakota - Department of Biology Box 9019, Grand Forks, ND 58202 Phone: (701) 777-4673 Email: richard_crawford@und.nodak.edu FEATURE ARTICLE: Old Man on His Back Prairie and Conservation Area - Brian T. Gray, Ducks Unlimited Canada As a group, grassland birds have experienced steeper, more consistent, and more geographically widespread declines that any other ecological group of birds in North America. This trend includes Canada, where the Breeding Bird Survey data (1971-2000) indicates a significant declining trend for grassland birds in the Canadian prairies. Researchers have concluded that grassland bird declines appear to have resulted from the loss and degradation of grassland habitat. In many regions of the Great Plains, native prairie destruction has almost been complete. This axiom is most true for the tallgrass prairie along the eastern edge of the Great Plains, where less than 1% of the original prairie remains. However, farther west, substantial tracts of native mixed-grass and shortgrass prairie remain intact, largely in the form of rangeland. Unfortunately, only a few large tracts of these natural prairies are currently managed primarily to maintain biological diversity.
"Large-scale native prairie conservation projects are sorely needed in Canada, and the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) recognizes the need for native prairie conservation and restoration. We have contracted Ducks Unlimited Canada's Native Plant Solutions (NPS) to implement our restoration project," said Sue Michalsky as she trudged up the side of the wind eroded southwestern Saskatchewan knoll, to point out the "scar" on the Old Man on his Back Prairie and Heritage Conservation Area down below. "You have this marvelous 12,000 acre parcel of native prairie," explained Michalsky, who manages the Old Man on His Back on behalf of NCC. "But right in the middle is a one thousand acre parcel of cultivation that looks like it doesn't belong. It's a scar on the landscape." The wound that caused the scar is certainly not foreign to the Prairies. Nor is it foreign to the extreme southwestern corner of Saskatchewan, southeast of the Cypress Hills, where the Old Man on His Back is located. Fortunately, a few visionary people saw the Old Man on His Back project as an opportunity for prairie restoration and conservation. Thanks to a proactive conservation partnership between Nature Conservancy Canada (NCC) and NPS, Larry Gabruch, plant materials agrologist with NPS, soon found himself working on one of the first large-scale revegetation projects ever undertaken in the arid short/mixed grass ecoregion. "The NCC acquired the property and wanted to restore the cultivated areas with native grasses," Gabruch said of the five-year restoration contract that will enter its second year of aggressive weed control this summer. "And at NPS, we have the experience and technology to design, supply plant material for, and complete the installation of large scale revegetation projects that establish a diverse native species mix to complement the integrity of the surrounding habitat." Once the weeds that have invaded the tract of land have been eliminated through an integrated approach of herbicide, tillage and cropping, the project will still face further challenges. The most significant will be the re-establishment of native grasses within the driest soil region of the province. "We plan to restore the site using a combination of both EcovarsTM and locally available native seed, with our first revegetation planting commencing in 2003. By the fifth year, we anticipate having the restoration complete, with Ecovars representing the majority of the seed mix. This site appropriate mix of grasses will perform very well in this ecoregion." said Gabruch. Ecovars (Ecological Variety) are an intermediary step between a wild native plant and a cultivated variety (cultivar) of the same species. Specifically selected from a larger population of native plants for their ability to survive and reproduce in specific regions of the northern prairies, Ecovars retain greater genetic diversity than cultivars. Ducks Unlimited Canada's expanding work into upland restoration and the growing demand for native grasses for revegetation projects in the northern Great Plains were the very foundation of the development of Canada's first Ecovar program in 1991. According to Gabruch, the scar on the Old Man on His Back will gradually merge into the surrounding landscape by using cool season Ecovar grass species such as needle and thread (Stipa comata), green needlegrass (Nassella viridula), June grass (Koeleria gracilis), awned wheatgrass (Elymus trachycaulus subsecundus) and warm season grass species such as blue grama (Bouteloua gracilis). Native grasses provide attractive wildlife benefits. Some of the avian species that are expected to benefit from the revegetation project at the Old Man on His Back include northern pintail (Anas acuta), ferruginous hawk (Buteo regalis), long-billed curlew (Numenius americanus), McCown's longspur (Calcarius mccownii), chestnut-collared longspur (Calcarius ornatus), Sprague's pipit (Anthus spragueii), vesper sparrow (Pooecetes gramineus), and Baird's Sparrow (Ammodramus bairdii). Mammals such as pronghorn (Antilocapra americana) and mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) will also benefit from their "new" surroundings. Also, says Michalsky, a bison (Bison bison) herd will eventually roam the vast area and, one day soon, should be able to stop to graze on the successfully restored portion of this proactive conservation project. For more information on DUC's Native Plant Solutions, please contact Brent Wark, Installation and Stand Management Technologies Manager, Native Plant Solutions (204-953-8200; b_wark@ducks.ca). To learn more about the Nature Conservancy of Canada's program in the Canadian prairies, please contact Sue Michalsky, Nature Conservancy of Canada (306-295-3696; sue.michalsky@natureconservancy.ca). EcovarTM is a registered trademark of Ducks Unlimited Canada. Brian T. Gray - Restoration Working Group Midwest Section Representative Ducks Unlimited Canada, Stonewall P.O. Box 1160, Oak Hammock Msh., MB R0C 2Z0, Canada. Email: b_gray@ducks.ca OTHER ARTICLES PASTURES FOR UPLAND BIRDS: Restoration of Native Plants in Bermudagrass - Matt Wagner, Texas Parks and Wildlife The Post Oak Savannah of Texas extends from the Red River to Victoria, and occupies nearly 7 million hectares of land. Fifty-five percent of this area is pastureland, and most is tame pasture, composed of coastal or common bermudagrass (Cynodon sp.). Bermudagrass is an aggressive sod forming perennial that spreads via stolons, rhizomes, and/or seed. Due to its rapid growth rate and sodgrass growth form, bermudagrass frequently forms stands with 100% vegetative cover. The conversion of large areas of the Post Oak Savannah to improved forage grasses, such as bermudagrass, has been a major reason for the decline of wildilfe species in the region. Bobwhite quail (Colinus virginianus) and Eastern wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo silvestris) are two important game species that have been impacted by this conversion. A minimum amount of bare ground is essential for bobwhite quail mobility and for gaining access to small seed that falls to the ground. For optimum quail habitat, sodgrasses should be replaced by bunchgrasses, which allow the maintenance of some bare ground patches. Young turkey poults also have difficulty moving through heavy herbaceous cover, and require areas with sparse or short vegetation for brood habitat. The lack of native tallgrass cover may limit quail and turkey nesting habitat in the Post Oak Savannah. Native grass and forb seeds provide an important food source for game birds, while the most commonly used forage bermudagrass varieties are sterile. Bermudagrass requires regular fertilization to maintain high forage and hay production. Many cattle ranchers are currently looking for ways to reduce the financial and labor investment in their operations to maintain a positive cash flow. Native grasses and forbs can provide adequate protein and forage production to meet the needs of livestock without need for continual fertilization and other cultural practices. A growing number of landowners are also interested in enhancing wildlife habitat on their property. With the passing of Proposition 11 in 1995, landowners can now retain their agricultural property tax valuation if their land use changes active wildlife management, which can include habitat enhancement or restoration. This relatively new tax advantage provides an incentive for landowners to restore existing bermudagrass pastures back to native grassland. This project is targeted at determining cost-effective strategies for establishing native grasses and forbs in bermudagrass pasture in the Post Oak Savannah. Two study sites within the Post Oak Savannah have been selected. These sites were chosen because they represent two important soils types in the Post Oak Savannah. At both sites, we will use different combinations of glyphosate herbicide rates and seed mixes to suppress the bermudagrass and re-establish native species. Grass species used include Haskell sideoats grama, Blackwell switchgrass, Van Horn green sprangletop, little bluestem, and Lometa Indiangrass. Forbs include Eldorado Englemann daisey, Aztex Maximillian sunflower, and Illinois bundleflower. The sites will be monitored for 2 consecutive growing seasons in order to determine which methods will allow successful establishment of native plants. Four repetitions of all treatments will be conducted at both sites. We intend to determine the following: 1) the rate of glyphosate needed to effectively suppress bermudagrass for the purposes of establishing native plants, 2) the cost effectiveness of restoration, and incentive strategies for private landowners, 3) the success of fall versus spring herbicide application and planting, and 4) the best mix of native species that can successfully establish and persist in bermudagrass sod. The research phase of this project is being conducted by Glen Skinner, Fred Smeins, and Steve Whisenant of the Department of Rangeland Ecology and Management, Texas A&M University. Funding for this project is provided by Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.  In addition, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department is partnering with the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, the Texas Agricultural Extension Service, the Natural Resources Conservation Service, Quail Unlimited - Cross Timbers Chapter, and Dow Agrosciences to provide cost-share funds to private landowners to convert bermudagrass pastures back to native prairie. This incentive program will provide management and demonstration sites throughout the Post Oak region. Up to 2/3 reimbursement is provided to landowners for total costs, generally in the $120-150 per acre range. An 8-foot Truax drill, equipped with a fluffy seed box has been purchased by TPW for landowner use. Dow Agrosciences has donated 300 gallons of Glyphomax Plus herbicide (41% glyphosate) to apply this spring. Herbicide and drill use are matched with funds from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and QU-Cross Timbers Chapter to administer the program. Funding for demonstration sites is provided through an EQUIP grant administered through the Natural Resources Conservation Service. Demonstration sites have been set up in Washington and Lee counties through the Texas Agricultural Extension Service. Matt Wagner, Texas Parks and Wildlife Email: mwagner@tamu.edu SMALL PRIVATE LANDOWNER HABITAT RESTORATION IN CENTRAL OREGON New program offers tax incentives for wildlife habitat management - Gary A. Hostick, Ecological Services, Inc. Central Oregon's Deschutes County is a fast-growing area. Agriculture and range lands are being divided up and expensive new homes are built. As in other areas of the West, this new development is impacting wildlife habitats. However, a ray of hope for wildlife is a new Oregon law that allows landowners to defer part of their property taxes if they choose to manage for wildlife habitat. This new opportunity promises to be a real success story for landowners and wildlife resources in the County. Implementation of the new law required a real team effort. Rules were drafted by the Oregon Department of Revenue (ODR) and Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) to administer the program. County commissioners and personnel in county planning and assessor's offices needed to adopt the program and work to implement the new rules, in close coordination with ODR and ODFW. Finally, consultants were needed to help landowners draft habitat management plans for their property. Management plans have been geared toward managing natural vegetation that already exists, and then secondarily toward restoring natural vegetation in areas that have been converted to other uses. Even with these primary guidelines, there is a lot of room for judgement calls by state biologists and landowners who must cooperate to draw up a management plan. One of the most important calls is a determination of what stage of plant succession should be managed for on the property. For example, mule deer are an important resource in Deschutes County, and significant areas of the County are classed as mule deer winter ranges. Therefore, where properties fall within winter range areas, early successional stages that favor young brush, grass, and forb species that produce the best deer forage are often suggested by state biologists as plan goals. These goals are accomplished by removing young junipers, and by planting new bitterbrush and sage plants to replace plants that are reaching the end of their productive life span.
The first plans were implemented in Deschutes County in 2000. Since then, Ecological Services, Inc. biologists have worked with more than 40 landowners involving parcels ranging in size between 10-80 acres. This program has given landowners a rewarding new option for management of their small acreage in central Oregon. Other deferment programs for agricultural or forestry are now joined by a program that fosters management of wildlife resources that are enjoyed by many residents and visitors. Gary A. Hostick, Ecological Services, Inc., PO Box 1906, Sisters, Oregon 97759 Email: ghostick@outlawnet.com. WORKING GROUP NEWS - Steve Windels RESTORATION FIELD TRIPS DURING RENO CONFERENCE A SUCCESS Dave Ross, Western Section Representative for the Restoration Working Group, did a great job organizing two half-day fields trips during the Wildlife Society's annual conference in Reno last fall. The morning field trip, lead by biologists from the Bureau of Land Management, toured a sagebrush restoration effort near Carson City. The afternoon session featured a tour of a riparian cottonwood community under restoration along the Lower Truckee River by Chad Gourley of the Nature Conservancy. Elisabeth Ammon from the University of Nevada-Reno also discussed her research looking at the response of riparian bird communities to restoration efforts. (see Elisabeth's feature article in the Fall 2001 newsletter - http://www.tws-west.org/restoration/newsletters/fall2001.html). Many thanks to Dave for making this a success. Be sure to pencil in the planned half-day field trip scheduled during Friday morning of the Bismarck conference!
RESTORATION RELATED BOOKS (From Dave Ross, 6/01) Attention Restoration Enthusiasts, an awesome new book is out entitled: The Historical Ecology Handbook: a restorationists guide to reference ecosystems. Dave Egan and Evelyn A. Howell, editors. Island Press. 457 pp. Cloth: $55. Paper: $30. Website: www.islandpress.org/books/ Chapters include: 1) Archaeology, Paleoecosystems, and Ecological restoration 2) The contribution of Ethnobiology to the Reconstruction and Restoration of Historic Ecosystems 3) The pleasures and pitfalls of written records 4) Oral History 5) Maps and Photographs 6) Government Land Office Survey and other Early Land Surveys (This is my favorite chapter as it is very through and discusses applied uses of such crucial records) 7) Forest Stand history from observational evidence 8) Dendrochronology and reconstruction of forest history 9) Palynology (pollen and microfossil records) 10) Packrat Middens to reconstruct historic ecosystems 11) Techniques for discovering historic animal assemblages 12) Geomorphology, Hydrology and Soils 13) Inferring vegetation history from Phytoliths (silcated bodies within plants) 14) through 17) are case studies in North America This book should be on the shelf of anyone who is planning restoration programs on a regional or ecosystem scale. David A. Ross Restoration Biologist, Klamath Basin Ecosystem Restoration Office U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service 6610 Washburn Way Klamath Falls, OR 97603 Email: dave_ross@fws.gov SER & Island Press Create Ecological Restoration Book Series SER has signed a 3-year agreement to launch the first book series on the science and practice of ecological restoration. SER's partner in this historic venture is Island Press, the leading publisher of books on environmental policy and natural resources. The series will be called "Science and Practice of Ecological Restoration," and will be published under the joint imprint of SER and Island Press. SER's Executive Director Steve Gatewood notes that "Island Press is an outstanding partner for SER in this landmark venture. Our two organizations will complement each other's strengths to create what we believe will become the leading book series in the field of restoration." Visit http://www.ser.org/reading.php?pg=books for more information REQUEST FOR NEWSLETTER SUBMISSIONS All working group members are encouraged to submit original articles and photos related to restoration for inclusion in future newsletters. We also encourage you to send links to restoration related web sites, links to newspaper articles about restoration projects or related policy, book reviews, and anything else you think might be of interest to fellow working group members and the general public. Email submissions are preferred (Steve Windels, Newsletter Editor - skwindel@mtu.edu) but items can also be sent by snail mail (243 Kawbawgam Rd, Marquette, MI 49855). RESTORATION IN THE NEWS HUGE PROJECT BEGINS WORK TO SAVE COAST - World's largest draws millions of gallons Mary Swerczek and Mark Schleifstein, The Times-Picayune Posted on March 27, 2002 Millions of gallons of Mississippi River water gushed through gates Tuesday and into the salty headwaters of the Barataria Basin at the dedication of the world's largest coastal restoration project, the $120 million Davis Pond diversion. Nearly 40 years in the making, the diversion project is one of the state's most expensive -- and environmentalists hope -- effective weapons in the fight to regain Louisiana's rapidly dissolving coastline. According to the Army Corps of Engineers, 25 to 35 square miles of Louisiana's coast is disappearing each year -- nearly 25,000 acres. For the rest of the article go to: http://www.nolalive.com/news/t-p/frontpage/index.ssf?/newsstory/davis27.html PROTECTING THE COAST - Acadiana dotted with restoration projects Bernard Chaillot, The Daily Advertiser Posted on February 17, 2002 CHENIERE AU TIGRE - Sherrill Sagrera hopes a $500,000 project to trap sediment and build up new marsh along this coastal ridge will slow the erosion that has swallowed up his family's land. The farmer and cattle rancher from Esther said he has lost more than 300 acres over the last 10 years between the ridge and Southwest Pass to the east. For the rest of the article go to: www.theadvertiser.com/html/BE57E4A8-A901-4F29-ABEC-A98CCCA402E7.shtml SAVING OUR COAST - Breaux Act projects curb land loss of coastal wetlands Barbara L. Nelson, The Daily Advertiser Posted on December 16, 2001 CAMERON - When measured by its coastal wetlands, every year Louisiana loses the equivalent of a few small towns. Conservationists compare it to the annual loss of the state of Rhode Island, according to the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources. Louisiana loses 25 to 35 square miles of coastal wetlands a year due to oil production, lock operations, intracoastal canal traffic and other natural occurrences. This accounts for 80 percent of the coastal wetland loss in the lower 48 states, according to the DNR. For the rest of the article go to: www.theadvertiser.com/html/1AF97613-8999-4F35-B6E7-96180F63DC02.shtml BITTERROOT PLANTS SEEDS FOR CHANGE - When Bitterroot Restoration wins an environmental restoration contract, it does the planning, raises the plants, employs the crews and performs the follow-up. Susan Gallagher, Associated Press Writer Posted October 2, 2001 HELENA, Mont. -- When 46,000 plants are put in the ground on mined Navajo land in Arizona this October, the work will be steered by a Montana company with a niche in the vast business of trying to undo environmental damage. Bitterroot Restoration Inc., headquartered in a historic farmhouse outside Corvallis, Mont., found its footing by employing a comprehensive approach to healing disturbed land. For the rest of the article go to: http://www.bitterrootrestoration.com/BRIWeb/PressReleases/AP.html UPCOMING MEETINGS Society for Wetland Scientists Lake Placid, NY June 2-7, 2002 http://www.sws.org/lakeplacid/ SER 14th Annual International Conference ( A joint effort with the Ecological Society of America) Tucson, Arizona August 4-9, 2002 "A Convocation: Understanding and Restoring Ecosystems" http://www.ser.org/meeting.php?pg=curconfinfo TWS 9th Annual Conference Bismarck, ND September 24-28, 2002 http://www.wildlife.org/conference/2002/index.htm | |||||||||||||
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