How To
Creating an Island in the Desert
by Mick St John, Discovery Park
A group of conservationists working at Discovery Park near Safford, Arizona, must be running on Energizer™ batteries, because they never stop creating habitat.
Partners of the Gila River Valley Wetlands Project (Waterfowl 2000, Spring 1999), supported, in part, by a North American Wetlands Conservation Act grant, began restoring the river's riparian area at the park by deepening existing ponds, re-routing drainage between ponds, and taking measures to control disturbance to the site: illegal dumping and off-road-vehicle use. Native plants were restored through seeding, removing invasive species, enlarging a cottonwood grove, and planting riparian vegetation. Though work under grant has been completed, restoration efforts have continued.
Partners drained the park's main pond so that all refuse 6 inches or larger could be removed. They had local clay hauled to the site and spread to a depth of 1 foot across the bottom of the pond. After compacting the clay, aluminum gabions coated with polyvinylchloride were staked in what would become 5 feet of water to create a vertical-sided island. After filling the gabion enclosure with soil, the 650-square-foot island was planted with deergrass (Muhlenbergia rigins), giant sacaton (Sporobolus giganteus), and Goodings willow (Salix goodingii). By placing the island in the deepest part of the pond, terrestrial predators, such as coyotes, bobcats, and gray fox, have been deterred from reaching this safe-haven.
Using gabions, the partners also constructed eight crescent-shaped ledges at various locations along the bank that were filled either with soil or sand. The soil ledges give bullrush and other emergent vegetation a foothold above the clay, and the sand-filled ledges provide fish with a spawning area.
Measuring from 20 to 30 feet long and 4 to 5 feet wide, the ledges range from 6 inches to 15 inches in depth when the pond is full. A shallow ledge at the pond's inlet replicates stream riffles. The soil-filled ledges were planted with three square bullrush (Scirpus americana) and knotgrass (Paspalum distichum). The pond's banks were planted with Goodings willow, Fremont cottonwood (Populus fremontii), coyote willow (Salix exigua), deergrass, and giant sacaton.
Pond water has been kept at the full level for 18 months. As was expected, the pond has become an avian hotspot. Canada geese, snow geese, green-winged teal, blue-winged teal, cinnamon teal, mallards, northern shovelers, gadwalls, American widgeons, redheads, ring-necked ducks, lesser scaups, buffleheads, and ruddy ducks have all been seen using this Sonoran Desert oasis. Other frequenters of the pond include common moorhen, Virginia rail, American coot, pied-billed grebe, eared grebe, great blue heron, green-backed heron, great and snowy egret, least bittern, and marsh wren.
Fish are also in the restoration plans. The park's ponds will be stocked with seven species of fish native to Arizona, including the endangered Gila topminnow and desert pupfish.
A recipient of the Arizona Governor's Environmental Education Award, Discovery Park is a nonprofit educational facility with hiking trails, picnic sites, and a narrow gauge railroad. Now, part of the park's allure - thanks to a partnership that doesn't have the word "stop" in its vocabulary - is a wildlife refuge and a bird observation area.
For more information, contact Mick St John, Discovery Park, 1651 West Discovery Park Boulevard, Safford, Arizona 85546, (520) 428-6260, discover@discoverypark.com.
Fencing Out Predators
by Scott J. McLeod, Ducks Unlimited, Inc.
Two major areas characterize the Prairie Pothole Region of eastern North Dakota: the Missouri Coteau and the Drift Prairie, with the latter being the larger of the two, encompassing approximately 23,320 square miles.
Prior to settlement, the Drift was a landscape characterized by native prairie grasslands dotted with tens of thousands of wetland basins created by receding glaciers some 10,000 years ago. This landscape was ideal for breeding waterfowl. The vast expanses of grassland, which supported a much different predator community focused on larger-sized prey, provided unlimited and relatively safe nesting areas for grassland birds. When conditions on the prairies were wet, waterfowl populations exploded.
The Drift, unlike the rugged Missouri Coteau, has undergone major changes since European settlement. Due to agricultural practices, millions of acres of native grassland have been tilled and numerous wetlands have been drained - in 1996, approximately 57 percent of the Drift was planted to crops. Remaining grasslands exist as small isolated parcels and many are severely degraded from frequent haying or overgrazing and are unsuitable as nesting habitats for ducks.
Settlement also altered other wildlife populations, most notably those of mammalian predators. Gone are the grizzly bears and wolves, allowing for the proliferation of red fox, skunks, and raccoons, which focus on smaller prey. The increase in small predators, coupled with the fragmentation of the landscape, has resulted in increased predation rates on female ducks and their nests.
The Drift supports approximately 60 percent of North Dakota's breeding-duck pairs. Currently, nest success for mallards in the Drift averages 7 to 8 percent, far below the minimum 15 percent needed to maintain the population. Because the opportunities to restore habitat in the Drift are limited, Ducks Unlimited focuses its habitat programs on intensive management strategies to improve waterfowl recruitment.
One such strategy is the construction of electric predator-exclosure fences around existing parcels of dense nesting cover. If fences are properly managed and maintained, it has been shown that nesting success within exclosures can average more than 80 percent.
Using geographic information systems, from 1997 to 1999, Ducks Unlimited targeted areas in the Drift in which to construct five predator exclosure fences: two in the southeast and three near Devils Lake. The sites are surrounded by agricultural tillage; have little existing grassland cover nearby; and support a breeding duck population of more than 60 pairs per square mile. Using the same criteria, three more exclosures will be built near Devils Lake in 2000.
Located on U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service Waterfowl Production Areas, the fenced sites range in size from 53 to 89 acres. The 2-inch chain-link fences stand 6-feet tall and are buried 18 inches in the ground. Each fence is strung with two solar-powered hot-wires, one 12 to18 inches from the top and another 12 to18 inches from the bottom. Several brood exits are placed in each exclosure, allowing hens and ducklings to exit, but keeping predators from entering. The Service has agreed to maintain the fences and monitor nest success during the 30-year life span of the fence.
In lieu of habitat restoration, fences offer a glimmer of hope for breeding waterfowl.
For more information, contact Scott J. McLeod, Ducks Unlimited, Inc., Great Plains Regional Office, 3502 Franklin Avenue, Bismarck, North Dakota 58501, (701) 258-5599, smcleod@ducks.org.
A Pixel Is Worth a Thousand Ducks
by Tildy La Farge, Ducks Unlimited, Inc.
Ducks Unlimited, Inc.(DU), began environmental monitoring in 1937. The tools then were a pair of overalls and a good, sturdy shovel. Thankfully, times changed. In 1985, DU threw away the shovel and adopted satellite technology and geographic information system software to help with the monitoring of waterfowl habitats.
Using this space-age technology, DU conservation staff have mapped over 350 million acres of wildlife habitat across the continent, delineating habitat types and conditions. Dick Kempka, director of Geographic Information Systems at DU, oversees the satellite mapping program. Says Kempka: "With remote sensing technology, we're able to gather information about some of the most unique wetland complexes in the world, from the remote regions of the boreal forests in Alaska, to the Central Valley of California, to the lower Mississippi Alluvial Valley. In Alaska alone, we have mapped and inventoried over 80 million acres."
Ducks Unlimited's newest mapping project targets the Pantanal region of Brazil, where only 1 percent of the land is protected by national parks. "The Pantanal is the largest freshwater wetland in the world," says Kempka. "Many of the migratory birds we see in North America fly as far south as Brazil to winter. If we are going to help these birds, we need to know what's happening to their habitats at the other end of the world, too."
Kempka explains that the process of capturing images begins with a sensor attached to a satellite that captures the Sun's radiated energy from Earth in small increments called picture elements, or pixels. Number values are then assigned to the pixels so that data can be relayed to a ground receiving station. Other satellites, like RADAR, send their own signals to Earth that allow the landscape to be viewed through clouds. "The beauty is that the final product can be used in a geographic information systems, which stores information about hydrology, vegetation cover, and endangered plant and animal communities. That data can be cross-referenced and presented as overlay maps, enabling us to direct restoration work to specific locations or land tracts on the ground. It's the most efficient and cost effective way to protect wildlife habitat."
To view and download a satellite map of the geographic distribution of habitat management options in eastern North Dakota and to learn more about DU's worldwide efforts to protect wildlife habitat, visit the website www.ducks.org.
For more information, contact Tildy La Farge, Ducks Unlimited, Inc., One Waterfowl Way, Memphis, Tennessee 38120, (901) 758-3859, mlafarge@ducks.org.
Harvesting Hay Benefits Birds
by Kim Kiel, Ducks Unlimited Canada
The growing export market for Western Canada's timothy hay industry has kindled a resourceful alliance in Alberta between a major hay processor and North American Waterfowl Management Plan partners. Ducks Unlimited Canada (DUC) and Transfeeder Inc., are encouraging expansion of this industry in high-priority waterfowl-habitat areas within the Aspen Parkland. The long-term value of perennial forage production for export extends far beyond premium markets - prairie wildlife are reaping the benefits as well.
The DUC alliance with Transfeeder Inc., is diversifying the enterprises of several Central Alberta farms. As partners enter the second of a 3-year cooperative program, they are helping farmers address management issues associated with producing export-quality timothy for the Japanese market. While boosting Alberta's agricultural economy, the DUC and Transfeeder Inc., partnership also provides late-cut perennial hay as waterfowl nesting habitat. This perennial grass offers prime nesting habitat for birds because it has a late harvest date and cover values similar to mixed hay.
In 1999, Canada exported approximately 139,000 tons of timothy hay to Japan. This represents less than 9 percent of the 1.8 million tons of hay imported every year by Japan's dairy industry. This is a sharp increase from the 2 percent in 1991. If all goes well, this 3-year project, launched in late 1998, will foster even more timothy production for export.
The DUC and Transfeeder Inc., alliance differs from traditional Plan projects because it promotes production changes that will help habitat development without any change in who controls the land. In this case, it is believed the conversion of annual cropland to perennial hay cover, combined with low disturbance during nesting season and late cut dates (after July 25), will be advantageous to waterfowl and other wildlife.
In addition to the extension portion of the project, DUC continues to conduct field research to learn more about how timothy hay production affects waterfowl and songbirds. Preliminary research completed in 1999 examined the attractiveness of timothy hay fields to nesting waterfowl and songbird abundance. Blue-winged teal and gadwall were the primary duck species found. The nest density was approximately 1 nest per 4 hectares and nest success was over 20 percent. Further research is planned for 2001 to confirm these promising initial results. Savannah and LeConte's sparrows were the most abundant species found in the timothy. These initial studies found that timothy provides more attractive and productive songbird habitat than annual cropland, thus maintaining or enhancing the diversity of wildlife found in agricultural areas in the Aspen Parkland.
By promoting landscape conservation and partnerships with landowners, DUC and Transfeeder Inc., strengthen the Plan's presence in Alberta. Increased perennial cover is a key focus in the Aspen Parkland Region of Central Alberta, where natural habitat is on the decline. Barry Bishop, DUC agrologist, puts their efforts into perspective: "We know waterfowl and wildlife benefits can occur within an agricultural production system, and we believe timothy hay production is an especially good fit with our goals for habitat conservation in this part of Alberta."
For more information, contact Barry Bishop, Ducks Unlimited Canada, 5015 - 49th Street, Camrose, Alberta T4V 1N5, (780) 672-6786, b_bishop@ducks.ca.
Flushing Bar Program Does Wonders In Southern Alberta
by Ron Montgomery, Ducks Unlimited Canada
Although mechanized hay cutting is a necessary agricultural operation in Southern Alberta, various species of wildlife are often an unfortunate casualty. Cutting bars on hay-harvesting equipment severely injure or kill countless prairie birds and animals every year.
A 1994 Ducks Unlimited Canada (DUC) study revealed that 48 percent of all nesting duck hens within monitored hayfields were killed by standard hay-cutting techniques. Unfortunately, optimum hay cutting occurs in June and July when most waterfowl are in their peak nesting time. Upland game birds, grassland-nesting songbirds, mice, ground squirrels, weasels, skunks, porcupines, deer fawns, frogs, toads, salamanders, and snakes are some of the other documented casualties. However, when a flushing bar was used, a remarkable 100 percent of duck hens survived. Flushing bars consist of a lightweight aluminum bar attached to the front of a tractor. Chains secured to the bar drag through the hay creating enough noise and movement to flush out wildlife in front of the pull-type hay-cutting equipment.
To encourage the use of flushing bars, a program was developed that uses a screening process to match landowners with high priority waterfowl areas. With the consent of the landowners, DUC fabricates a mounting bracket and mounts the flushing bar on the landowner's hay-cutting equipment. A letter of understanding is then signed requesting that participants use the flushing bar on selected hay lands prior to July 31 of each year for a minimum of 5 years. All participants are contacted after each hay season to confirm compliance. Experience to date indicates that compliance will not be a problem.
In 1998, there were 12 producers with a total of 2,169 hectares of upland nest cover signed up for the program in southern Alberta. In 1999, there were seven more landowners with a total of 1,291 hectares committed to the program. Another eight potential users have signed up for year 2000. Follow-up surveys conducted by DUC staff indicate a positive response with confirmation of repeat usage. In fact, there are now approximately 170 producers throughout Alberta participating in the DUC flushing bar program.
Since the majority of landowners are able to observe immediate results from their efforts, they enthusiastically support the program. It's their referrals to other landowners that are making the program grow into another habitat success story in Southern Alberta.
For more information, contact Ducks Unlimited Canada's Prairie District Office, Brooks, Alberta, (403) 362-4827.
Protecting More for Less
by Lowell Strauss, Saskatchewan Wetland Conservation Corporation
How do we use limited conservation dollars wisely? The Saskatchewan Wetland Conservation Corporation is presently working on a habitat-securement project to protect the most habitat with the least effort. Using geographic information systems (GIS), the Corporation has developed a strategic and biologically sound process to rank Crown land parcels.
The project's purpose is to identify and secure Crown land habitat associated with wetlands in the seven North American Waterfowl Management Plan target areas of Southern Saskatchewan (see map). The Province of Saskatchewan is committed to the transfer of provincial Crown lands to the Corporation as part of its contribution to the Plan. Crown land makes up 849,870 hectares or 7.5 percent of the land base within the key program areas, much of which is preserved as native grassland and wetland habitat.
Priority habitat parcels were selected based on proximity to existing important habitat parcels, land cover, and status. High scores were given to parcels that would help protect or enhance existing breeding bird habitat and to vacant Crown land because of the ease of securement. Low scores were assigned to land where the proportion of adjacent cultivated land was greater than 80 percent.
Securement tools include land transfer and easements for long-term vacant Crown land and voluntary stewardship agreements for land adjacent to high priority parcels. Potential also exists for habitat enhancement, such as shoreline fencing and remote water sites to move cattle away from the shoreline.
This project will aid in the conservation of waterfowl, shorebirds, and grassland birds through the securement and enhancement of native habitat and wetlands associated with Crown lands. This integrated approach will allow Plan programming to be aligned more closely to other bird conservation initiatives.
For more information, contact Lowell Strauss, Saskatchewan Wetland Conservation Corporation, (306) 787-6958, lstrauss@wetland.sk.ca.