The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service seeks public input on its proposal to expand the acquisition boundary for Mountain Bogs National Wildlife Refuge. “Since Mountain Bogs National Wildlife Refuge was established in 2015, we’ve heard from numerous private landowners interested in supporting the refuge through land sales and donations,” said Andrew Hammond, Refuge Manager. “If approved, this proposed expansion would increase opportunities to work with those landowners. It also brings some keys sites into our focus areas.” The Service currently has 30 sites, or Conservation Partnership Areas (CPAs), where it focuses conservation efforts for Southern Appalachian bogs – a rare
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From the northern bobwhite to trout and salmon, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is adding dozens of new target species to its premier wildlife conservation effort that helps agricultural producers make wildlife-friendly improvements on working lands. USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) is adding 11 new projects to Working Lands for Wildlife (WLFW), the agency’s targeted, science-based effort to help producers restore and protect habitat for declining species on farms, ranches and working forests. “Agriculture and wildlife both thrive together through landscape conservation,” said NRCS Chief Jason Weller, who toured a Missouri farm that has created young forest habitat to aid
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Migration is big. Especially when you’re a tiny Cerulean Warbler. This species’ epic journey was tracked for the first time this past spring, when 19 Cerulean Warblers were outfitted with high-tech backpacks capturing essential data about the birds’ migration route. We now know that over a period of six weeks, one of these warblers—dubbed “Elmer” by researchers—traveled thousands of miles. He flew from his Colombian wintering grounds all the way back to his namesake elm tree in Pennsylvania, where he had nested the year before. Gauntlet of Threats Elmer is smart, or lucky, or both. Many Cerulean Warblers and other
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Each year, NABCI and the Association of Joint Venture Management Boards present the Gary T. Myers Bird Conservation Award to an individual, organization, or partnership that has shown exceptional accomplishments and/or leadership in bird conservation. This year’s nominations are due by January 20, 2017. Purpose The U.S. North American Bird Conservation Initiative (NABCI) Committee and the Association of Joint Venture Management Board (AJVMB) want to recognize individuals or groups who have shown exceptional accomplishments and/or leadership in bird conservation in furtherance of the principles of the North American Bird Conservation Initiative and the national/international bird initiatives (North American Waterfowl Management Plan,
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New guidelines for communication tower lights spell out how tower operators can save birds and energy without sacrificing safety. Put in place by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the guidelines strongly encourage tower operators to turn off or reprogram steady-burning red or white lights in favor of flashing lights, which are less harmful to birds yet still alert pilots to the towers’ presence. As of late October, operators of more than 750 tall towers nationwide had already updated their lighting systems under the new guidelines. Making the switch saves energy, reduces operating costs, and reduces
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A new study from The Nature Conservancy finds that an investment in tree planting of just US $4 per resident in some of the world’s largest cities could improve the health of tens of millions of people by reducing air pollution and cooling city streets. Released today at the American Public Health Association annual meeting, the Planting Healthy Air study applies well-established research into how trees clean and cool the air locally at a global scale to identify those places where an investment in tree planting can make the biggest impact on people’s lives. The Conservancy partnered with the C40 Cities Climate
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