Partners

Westvaco Signs Cooperative Agreement
by Tildy LaFarge, Ducks Unlimited, Inc.

Westvaco Corporation, a forest products company headquartered in New York City, and Ducks Unlimited, Inc., have signed a 10-year cooperative agreement to identify Westvaco wetlands that are important to waterfowl and other birds and to refine management accordingly.

Under the Cooperative Wetlands Program agreement, Ducks Unlimited will survey over 1 million acres of Westvaco lands. The company owns land in several states for the purpose of growing and producing forest products. The majority of the lands are located in Kentucky, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia. In addition, Westvaco assists 2,800 private landowners with the management of over 1.4 million acres of land through its Cooperative Forest Management program. These private landowners will have the option to participate in the survey.

"The future success of wetlands and waterfowl conservation is going to hinge on this kind of cooperation and partnership," said Don Young, Executive Vice-president of Ducks Unlimited. Young pointed out that the United States has lost approximately 50 percent of its original wetlands, and continues to lose these valuable ecosystems at a dramatic pace. "We need the strength of corporate partners like Westvaco to help protect these valuable ecosystems," said Young, noting Westvaco's excellent track record for conservation-minded, sustainable forestry.

Every acre of land owned by Westvaco has undergone state-of-the-art, geographic-information- system-based mapping and tabular data collection under Westvaco's Forest Resources Information System (FRIS). The system provides Westvaco managers with information on a variety of topics ranging from soil types, the age of stands, fertilizer applications, and many other factors. "The FRIS system will certainly accelerate the identification of suitable habitats and allow our biological teams to evaluate large portions of land expeditiously," said Ducks Unlimited biologist Dr. Scott Manley.

Westvaco's Bill Baughman, Vice-president and Forest Resources Division Manager at Westvaco, pointed to the company's Wildlife Management Area (WMA) near Wickliffe, Kentucky, as evidence of the benefits of partnering. "The area is teeming with wildlife, including over 200 species of birds. With the aid of Ducks Unlimited and the State of Kentucky, we're demonstrating that forest management is not only compatible with but also beneficial to wildlife and waterfowl management," said Baughman.

The Indian Camp (600 acres) and Town Creek (75 acres) refuges, which are managed by the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources, exist within the Westvaco WMA. The projects were completed in 1995 with support from Ducks Unlimited's matching funding program, MARSH. The donor program—Matching Aid to Restore State Habitats—provides matching funds and grants to public and private agencies and organizations within each state. Said Dr. Manley: "We're very excited about the work we've done in Kentucky. You have to remind yourself when you visit that the area is a working industrial forest, that it is home to one of the world's leading forest products companies."

For more information, contact Tildy LaFarge, Ducks Unlimited, Inc., One Waterfowl Way, Memphis, Tennessee 38120, (901) 758-3859, mlafarge@ducks.org.

Phillips Petroleum Company Honored
by Colin Berg, Oklahoma Department of Wildlife

Partners of the North American Waterfowl Management Plan's Playa Lakes Joint Venture recently honored the Phillips Petroleum Company's commitment to habitat conservation for waterfowl and other wildlife. Since 1990, Phillips, headquartered in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, has contributed nearly $1.1 million to protect, enhance, and restore wetlands in the playa lakes region of Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Colorado, and Kansas. Its commitment also extends to service on the Joint Venture's management board.

At the event, Ducks Unlimited, Inc., President Dr. L.J. Mayeux presented the conservation organization's top award to Jim Mulva, President and Chief Executive Officer of Phillips. "The Diamond Legacy award is the most prestigious of all Ducks Unlimited's awards," said Mayeux. "It honors donors whose commitment to waterfowl and wetlands conservation reaches $1 million or more in contributions. The financial contribution is only exceeded in value by that which wildlife receive as a result of the donation: habitats to thrive on."

"I am honored to accept this award on behalf of Phillips Petroleum Company," said Mulva. "We are proud to be a partner in habitat conservation work that ensures a special place where waterfowl and other wildlife can come to rest, feed, and reproduce. We are especially pleased that our contributions have been matched many times over by other partners to leverage the dollars in the most efficient and effective manner possible. I would like to express our sincere gratitude to the entire Playa Lakes Joint Venture for honoring Phillips Petroleum Company."

The ceremony also commemorated the 10-year anniversary of the Playa Lakes Joint Venture, a public-private partnership comprised of corporations, conservation organizations, and state and federal agencies. The joint venture formed in 1990 to conserve playa basins, saline lakes, marshes, and riparian environments. Its long-term objectives are to protect, restore, and enhance 86,000 acres of habitat. Since the partnership's formation, partners have invested more than $9.2 million to conserve 55,000 acres.

For more information, contact Colin Berg, Oklahoma Department of Wildlife, P.O. Box 4642, Tulsa, Oklahoma 74159, (918) 744-1039, colin@onenet.net.

Playa Lake Joint Venture Management Board

Colorado Division of Wildlife
Ducks Unlimited, Inc.
Kansas Department of Wildlife and Fish
Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation
Pheasants Forever, Inc.
Phillips Petroleum Company
Texas Parks and Wildlife Department
Texas Tech University
Texas Waterfowlers Association
Natural Resources Conservation Service
U.S. Forest Service
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Rancher Helps with Recovery of Attwater's Greater Prairie-chicken
by Ben Ikenson, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Before emptying into the Gulf of Mexico, the San Bernard River passes through John and Taunia Elick's Eagle Roost Ranch in southeastern Texas. The ranch is home to Texas longhorn cattle and a variety of wildlife, including migratory waterfowl and bald eagles. Once upon a time, the Attwater's greater prairie-chicken would have been found here, too. Now, it is one of North America's rarest birds, due mainly to habitat loss.

Things are looking up for this endangered grouse, however, because area ranchers have joined to help in its recovery. "I want to help create and maintain habitat for wildlife," said John. "I believe that what is good for the ecology of the land is good for me and my ranch."

Elick and other ranchers are working to restore habitat on more than 17,800 acres of Texas coastal prairie. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's (Service) Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program, the Natural Resources Conservation Service's Wildlife Habitat Incentive Program, and the Coastal Prairie Conservation Initiative [a partnership of the Attwater Prairie Chicken National Wildlife Refuge (Refuge), Sam Houston Resource Conservation and Development Board, and local soil and water conservation districts] give landowners cost-share incentives to carry out management practices that improve range health.

Concerned that the Federal Government would infringe upon property rights if endangered species were discovered on their land, landowners have been hesitant to participate in such programs. But when the Service established Safe Harbor Agreements, which immunize landowners from liability under the Endangered Species Act if their management practices attract listed species, things changed.

The Elicks approached the Service and the local Resource Conservation and Development Board to learn more about the program. "Basically," said John, "I learned that the agreement is designed to provide habitat for endangered species without the government having to acquire the land, and yet, the ranch owner's property rights are protected. Everyone benefits."

"The program has mushroomed," said Refuge Manager Terry Rossignol. "Ninety-seven percent of Texas is privately owned. Without the help of private landowners, the Attwater's greater prairie-chicken is doomed. This program allows a rancher to enhance his cattle operation and, at the same time, enhance habitat for the bird." If the landowner implements the agreed upon, cost-shared improvements, he may work his property without fear. He is required only to notify the Service of actions and give it an opportunity to relocate any endangered species expected to be adversely effected.

Not long ago, John sat atop his horse on the tree-lined banks of the San Bernard watching as his longhorns drank from the river. Quail called from the brush. A bald eagle glided by to its evening roost in a cottonwood. While some might have said, "It doesn't get any better than this," John thought otherwise. He's looking to the day when he can welcome home the Attwater's greater prairie-chicken—a piece of the past that has been missing from his ranch for too long.

For more information, contact Terry Rossignol, Attwater Prairie Chicken National Wildlife Refuge, P.O. Box 519, Eagle Lake, Texas 77434, (979) 234-30221 extension 13, terry_rossignol@fws.gov.

Editor: John Elick, the rancher featured in the story on the facing page, provided images of himself on his ranch to use with the story. A letter accompanied the photographs. I offer it here, with Mr. Elick's permission, so that you may enjoy it as I did.

Here is the photograph taken of me last year when I was checking pasture condition and longhorn cattle at my Eagle Roost Ranch. I got interested in improving the natural range/prairie grasses on the ranch because the prairie grasses kept the cattle fat, required no fertilizer, were native to pre-Anglo Texas with millions of years of genetic adaptation, and provided abundant winter forage for cattle if left standing at the first winter frost.

My ranch had a significant infestation of McCarty roses—a foreign pest introduced to Texas—which needed to be controlled, so I made a few calls around to the various agencies for advice. It turned out that the Attwater Prairie Chicken (National Wildlife) Refuge people, the Texas Parks and Wildlife people, and the Natural Resources Conservation (Service) people all wanted to help restore the natural range but for different reasons. The refuge wanted the ranch to extend the restoration range of the endangered Attwater's prairie-chicken since my ranch's range was ideal. The prairie-chicken had been a historical resident of the ranch, and the refuge people were having a pretty tough time trying to save the prairie chicken with what they had.

The Texas Parks and Wildlife was anxious for me to help the native range because the ranch was home to diminishing populations of all kinds of wild birds and animals—quail, deer, bobcats, bald eagles, hawks, ducks, geese, etc.—all which were threatened with habitat loss from urban growth and some ranching practices that negatively impact native ranges. The NRCS had all of the above interests as well, but its special interest was restoration of prairie range along riparian areas and streams in order to protect and improve the water quality of Texas streams, since the quality and amount of water is becoming an increasing concern of the public officials. The San Bernard River runs through the middle of the ranch, and I must say, it is beautiful with its clear waters, sand and gravel bars, wooded banks, and constant interplay of wildlife.

I found that operating the ranch as was done in Texas in the early days, i.e, running longhorn cattle, handling all the cow work on horseback, rotating pastures, a low stocking rate, and controlled burning of pastures, is one of the best ways to be profitable in the cattle business in Texas today. In this way, there is little or no expense for supplemental winter feeding of cattle, no fertilizing expense, little or no expense for machine work on the pastures for maintenance, very little sickness with the cows, and only extra day cowboy expense during spring and fall roundups. In short, as long as I maintain and improve the habitat for nature in a good condition, the habitat for longhorn cows will be excellent.

This cover letter for the pictures turned out longer than I intended it to be. I guess this letter convicts me of talking too much when a little bit would do. It reminds me of some of the cowboys that work for me—most of the time, they don't have much to say on most topics that come up, but let one of them get on some subject like how good their young horse did on getting that ole snuffy longhorn cow out of the brush with her displaying her "hookers" with such a nasty attitude—well, I excuse them for talking so much about something close to their heart, and I hope you excuse me for the same reason.

Yours truly,

John V. Elick