Efforts to conserve declining populations of forest-interior birds have largely focused on preserving the mature forests where birds breed, but a U.S. Forest Service study suggests that in the weeks leading up to migration, younger forest habitat may be just as important. In an article published recently in the American Ornithologist Union’s publication The Auk, research wildlife biologist Scott Stoleson of the U.S. Forest Service’s Northern Research Station suggests that forest regrowth in clearcuts may be vital to birds as they prepare for fall migration. The study suggests that declines in forest-interior species may be due in part to the increasing maturity and homogenization of forests. Openings created by timber
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Bird conservationists gathering in Utah for the Fifth Annual Partners In Flight (PIF) International Conference last night celebrated six winners of this year’s PIF awards. These awards recognize outstanding bird conservation achievements throughout the Americas in the areas of communications, innovative leadership, insightful ecological investigation, lifetime achievements and sound land stewardship. “I congratulate the award winners for their vision, dedication and exceptional commitment in protecting migratory birds,” said U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) Assistant Director of Migratory Birds Jerome Ford. “Each of these conservation champions has demonstrated exceptional passion for achieving bird conservation on many levels.” The 2013 award
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On October 8, 1960 a small group of students and faculty from West Virginia University launched private land conservation in West Virginia. On that day, this unassuming group of conservation heroes worked through The Nature Conservancy, a national group just getting started, to purchase what’s now known as Cranesville Swamp Preserve, near Morgantown, in order to establish an outdoor classroom for nature study. Just three years later, in 1963, the Conservancy established a permanent foothold in the state when the West Virginia Chapter was chartered. A New Era That was 50 years ago. Today the Conservancy is the most successful
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Ohio landowners in select counties are now eligible to enroll in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) which seeks to restore pheasant habitats across the state, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR). This habitat improvement program is called the Ohio Pheasant State Acres for Wildlife Enhancement (SAFE) and Ohio expects to establish 28,700 acres through the program. “Pheasant and quail hunters have been ambassadors for grassland conservation in Ohio for many years,” said ODNR Director James Zehringer. “Enrollment in the Ohio Pheasant SAFE program is an exciting way to honor the tradition of upland game hunting and to
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With its numbers in Pennsylvania continuing to soar ever higher, the bald eagle soon could be removed from the state’s list of threatened species. The Pennsylvania Game Commission’s Bureau of Wildlife Management is recommending the bald eagle be upgraded from “threatened” to “protected” status statewide. Doug Gross, a biologist who heads the bureau’s Endangered and Nongame Birds section, addressed the Pennsylvania Board of Game Commissioners at the board’s working group meeting on Monday, saying the bald eagle’s remarkable comeback in Pennsylvania has reached a point where eagles safely can be removed from threatened species list. As of Monday, Gross said,
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The recent decision by the United States military to move to a non-lead version of their 7.62 mm bullet could prompt voluntary changes in hunting practices, potentially saving millions of birds in the United States from ingestion of spent lead ammunition, says George Fenwick, President of American Bird Conservancy, one of the country’s leading bird conservation organizations. “If non-lead ammunition is good enough for the U.S. military, with all their ballistics and performance testing, it should be good enough for hunters,” said Fenwick. ABC is encouraging the hunting community to voluntarily switch from traditional lead-based ammunition in favor of non-lead
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Click here to view and download the 2023 AMJV Partnership Year in Review!
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The 2023 AMJV Impact Report is now available for downloading and sharing! Starting in 2022, this beautiful report has been designed annually by Liz Brewer (AMJV Outreach Specialist) to…
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by Liz Brewer, AMJV Outreach Specialist Appalachian Mountains Joint Venture (AMJV), in partnership with the National Wild Turkey Federation (NWTF), USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (USDA-NRCS), and the West Virginia…
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