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Pacific Coast Joint Venture Works for Salmon
by Joe La Tourrette, Pacific Coast and Intermountain West Joint Ventures

The Pacific Coast Joint Venture was created in 1991 as an implementation arm of the North American Waterfowl Management Plan, but our record of accomplishments could almost qualify the joint venture for the moniker "Pacific Coast Salmon Joint Venture."

Over the past 10 years, joint venture partners up and down the Pacific Coast have diligently gone about the task of identifying, protecting, and restoring critical nesting, feeding, and resting habitat for waterfowl and other migratory birds. In the process, they have also guaranteed permanent protection for tens of thousands of acres of coastal wetlands, eelgrass beds, tidal mudflats, and riparian habitat that are critical for the survival of salmon and anadromous trout, including a number of species and stocks that are now listed or being considered for listing under the Endangered Species Act.

Carey Smith, the joint venture's coordinator, recently compiled some interesting statistics for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that show more than 40,000 acres of estuarine and riparian habitat have been permanently protected and/or restored by joint venture partners in British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, and northern California since 1991 (Alaska was added to the joint venture in 2001). The total cost for this extensive habitat protection is about $60 million, less than half of which is federal money. The conservation of another 22,000 acres of coastal wetland projects are now in progress along the Pacific Coast and in areas such as Puget Sound and the lower Columbia River.

Many of these wetland project areas, including Grays Harbor, Willapa Bay, Sequim Bay, and the Chinook River in Washington, are not only important staging and feeding areas for millions of migratory birds but also important migration corridors and juvenile-rearing habitat for coho, chinook, chum, and sockeye salmon, as well as steelhead and searun cutthroat trout. Washington State alone has lost more than 90 percent of its estuarine wetlands since 1900, and many fisheries researchers feel that this habitat loss is a major factor in the decline of Pacific salmon stocks. Recent research funded by the joint venture indicates that salmonids that spend longer times in estuarine waters have faster growth rates and correspondingly better survival rates.

We know that the life cycles of many Northwest fish and wildlife species are closely interconnected through evolution. Actions which may improve or degrade habitat conditions for one species almost always have a direct or indirect effect on other species. This has certainly been true for projects completed by joint venture partners, and illustrates that the Pacific Coast Joint Venture, as well as other habitat joint ventures across North America, are no longer just about waterfowl or even migratory birds. The joint ventures are creating partnerships to protect and restore critical habitat for all wetland-dependent species, including the salmon that mean so much to our Northwest environment, culture, and economy.

For more information, contact Joe La Tourrette, Washington State Coordinator - Pacific Coast and Intermountain West Joint Ventures, 120 State Avenue NE, #1175, Olympia, Washington 98501-8212, (360) 754-2594, dipodomy@gte.net.

Counting on Latin America and the Caribbean
by Tildy La Farge, Ducks Unlimited, Inc.

Known for venturing farther than most ducks, large numbers of blue-winged teal fly as far as South America and the Caribbean to winter every year. "They breed in the prairies, fly south through the United States, then continue crossing one international border after another. Their flights have taken them even beyond the equator," said Dr. Montserrat Carbonell, Director of Latin America/Caribbean Program for Ducks Unlimited, Inc., (DU).

Carbonell is leading an effort to survey waterfowl populations in this region, which has never been fully surveyed before. Thanks in large part to a partnership between the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) and DU, this enterprise got underway during the winter of 1999-2000. The Service's Division of Migratory Bird Management has been training biologist/pilots to fly these missions, with funding from the Service's Division of International Conservation and DU.

Other duck species that winter beyond the borders of North America include cinnamon teal, northern shoveler, northern pintail, ruddy duck, American wigeon, and lesser scaup, a species of great concern in the United States. "Scaup have really surprised us. More than 10,000 lesser scaup were discovered in a wetland in central Nicaragua," said Dr. Bruce Batt, Chief Biologist for DU.

The end of World War II signaled the dawn of high-tech bird counting. The Service saw a need for improved surveys and subsequently developed a cadre of biologist/pilots who could count birds from the sky at an altitude of just 150 feet and simultaneously pilot their planes.

Fred Roetker has been gathering data for the Service since 1984. "I was studying wildlife and then this opportunity came up. I couldn't wait to fly and see the birds from the other side of the treeline," said Roetker. In January 2003, he will be one of six to eight Service biologist/pilots traveling to Managua, Nicaragua, for a series of training workshops.

Ultimately, the Latin American and Caribbean surveys will guide waterfowl biologists toward a more complete management plan for critical wetland habitats. "We have some projects underway, but our work will really take off when we have this knowledge and the financial resources to manage wetlands properly," said Carbonell, adding that DU and the Service are working together to ensure compatible databases.

"In Latin American and Caribbean countries, a great deal of emphasis is put on forests. Our goal is to mobilize a new force of wetland advocates. We're realizing this goal slowly but surely," said Carbonell. For example, in Costa Rica, a country that once sustained large numbers of ducks, a local community is restoring an important wetland. In Trinidad and Tobago, the Forest Service is helping to train people to manage wildfires in the remaining critical wetland habitats. In Belize, El Salvador, and Nicaragua, discussions are underway with authorities to manage and enhance several wetlands that support migratory waterfowl.

How hard will it be to generate interest in ducks abroad? "That's probably the easiest part," says Roetker. "Ducks sell themselves when you show them to people. It just happens naturally."

For more information, contact Tildy La Farge, Media Relations Manager, Ducks Unlimited, Inc., One Waterfowl Way, Memphis, Tennessee 38120-2351, (901) 758-3859, mlafarge@ducks.org, www.ducks.org/conservation/latinamerica.asp.

Vernal Pools: Here Today, Gone Tomorrow
by Susan Moore, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Located in the Pacific Flyway, California's vast Central Valley provides habitat for 20 percent of the waterfowl that winter in the continental United States. Moreover, the Central Valley has some of the most valuable wetlands in the country.

A type of seasonal wetland occurs in the Central Valley that has eluded all but the most diligent observers. Those who look hard enough are rewarded during the springtime with a brilliant display of color—yellow carpets of goldfields interrupted by multicolored splashes of bright blue Downingia and white popcorn flowers. These are the trappings of vernal pools.

Vernal pools are seasonally flooded depressions found on ancient soils with an impermeable layer, such as a hardpan, claypan, or volcanic basalt, which allows the pools to fill with water during the winter rains. Vernal pools often fill and empty several times during the rainy season. Only plants and animals adapted to this cycle of wetting and drying can survive in vernal pools over time.

These specialized plants and animals are what make vernal pools unique. As winter rains fill the pools, freshwater invertebrates, crustaceans, and amphibians emerge. Beneath the surface swim fairy shrimp, a freshwater counterpart to the familiar brine shrimp, and on the bottom scoot tadpole shrimp resembling miniature horseshoe crabs. Vernal pool plants sprout underwater, some using special floating leaves and air-filled stems to stay afloat. As the water begins to evaporate, the plants flower and set seed, forming concentric rings of showy blossoms around the margins of the shrinking pool.

Native bees nest in vernal pools and pollinate pool flowers. Insects and crustaceans produce cysts and eggs, and plants, produce seed that are buried in the muddy pool bottom. The mud protects cysts, eggs, and seeds from the hot, dry Cental Valley summer. By late summer, amphibians have dug deep into the soils and gone dormant, awaiting the next rainy season. Vernal pools have completely dried out and most of the plant and animal species have either disappeared into the soils or set seed and died. In this phase, vernal pools are really "banks" full of resting seeds, cysts, and eggs that can survive through summer, and even extended droughts, until the onset of the rains begin the life cycle anew.

In the spring, migrating waterfowl arrive to feed and rest on the vernal pools. Recent studies suggest that the protein-rich invertebrates and crustaceans, as well as the roots and leaves of vernal pool plants, provide an important seasonal food source for the waterfowl and other non-migratory bird species.

Vernal pool habitat has declined significantly with increasing urbanization—between 65 and 90 percent of the Central Valley's historical vernal pool habitat has been lost. They are one of the most endangered ecosystems in California, and of its inhabitants, vernal pool tadpole shrimp and three fairy shrimp species are Federally listed as endangered or threatened. Vernal pool ecosystems are unique to the State, and the conservation work of Central Valley Habitat Joint Venture partners is helping to assure that these habitats remain a part of our natural heritage.

For more information, contact Ruth Ostroff, Assistant Joint Venture Coordinator, Central Valley Habitat Joint Venture, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 2800 Cottage Way, W-2610, Sacramento, California 95825, (916) 414-6460, ruth_ostroff@fws.gov.

Our Way and The Highway
by Sandy Burnett

When a new section of the Trans-Canada Highway was officially opened in New Brunswick last October, a collective sigh of relief might well have been heard throughout the Province. The event marked a 5-year effort to complete a major infrastructure improvement without compromising the integrity of one of the most important wetland areas in Atlantic Canada.

For years the winding, two-lane road that hugged the St. John River east of Fredericton, the provincial capital, was known as a dangerous traffic bottleneck. In the mid 1990s, the decision to replace it with a four-lane, divided highway was popular. The reaction of wildlife managers, however, was more cautious.

The new road would run through a portion of the Grand Lake Meadows, a fertile, seasonally flooded wetland complex comprising more than 5,058 hectares of sedge meadow and hardwood swamp. Its importance as a vital breeding and staging area for waterfowl and other birds was evident because more than 60 percent of the wetland had already been secured through the Eastern Habitat Joint Venture. The prospect of potential loss of wetland function in an area of such high conservation investment meant the Environmental Impact Assessment would receive close scrutiny.

In fact, the land required for the right-of-way was a relatively modest 55 hectares. However, other factors, such as soil erosion, diminished water quality, disturbance of wildlife, traffic emissions, and hydrological changes might have more far-reaching effects on the sensitive area. In addition, social and cultural functions, including use of the area for viewing wildlife, hunting, and fishing were likely to be affected.

The existence of a no-net-loss wetland policy and the considerable international interest and investment committed to protecting the Grand Lake Meadows were strong incentives for the development of an appropriate plan for mitigation and compensation. It also set a valuable precedent for wetland habitat compensation.

The Environmental Impact Assessment process was led by the New Brunswick Department of Environment and involved several government departments, including New Brunswick Natural Resources and Energy, New Brunswick Department of Transportation, and Environment Canada. Non-government organizations, such as Ducks Unlimited Canada, the New Brunswick Federation of Naturalists, and others, also participated.

As can happen when an outcome must satisfy so many stakeholders, the plan emerged slowly. The results were worth the wait:

1. The highway design was adapted to mitigate impacts on hydrological values.
2. A formula was developed to compensate for habitat loss or damage. As a result, more than 248 hectares of additional land were acquired for conservation.
3. A Grand Lake Meadows Fund was established, with an ultimate possible value of $800,000 for social and cultural compensation initiatives. A Grand Lake Project management Committee of stakeholders oversees use of the money on projects such as public access, education, communications, and relevant wetland management research.

A major construction project that some feared might do serious harm to vital habitat resulted in important net gains for wetland conservation in New Brunswick thanks to stakeholder goodwill and dedication. The partners worked together for the common good of turning a potentially negative situation into a positive conservation gain.

For more information, contact Jon Stone, Canadian Wildlife Service, Queen Square, 45 Alderney Drive, 15th Floor, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, B2Y 2N6, (902) 426-3871, jon.stone@ec.gc.ca.

The Circle of Flight
by Jay Huseby, Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians

Since its inception in 1991, the Circle of Flight, a tribal waterfowl and wetlands initiative administered by the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs, has made enormous contributions to wildlife habitat conservation in the Great Lakes Region.

Competitively obtained Circle of Flight funds have been put to use by 33 tribal natural resources departments in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan. Often the monies are used by tribes as matching dollars to compete for, administer, and become partners in large-scale, multi-partner waterfowl and wetlands conservation projects such as those supported by the North American Wetlands Conservation Act and the Legislative Commission on Minnesota Resources. Project partnerships have increased dollars invested in on-the-ground habitat restoration and enhancement and facilitated effective management of 62 million tribal acres—including almost 5 million acres of wetlands—making the tribes major players in the field of wildlife management. The Circle of Flight program is a model for partnership building and pooling of financial resources, maximizing the return of invested habitat-management dollars.

In the past 10 years, Circle of Flight has distributed $6.7 million to 31 tribes and 2 inter-tribal organizations for waterfowl and wetlands enhancement projects. These dollars have drawn an additional $18 million in matching funds, yielding a match ratio of nearly 3 to 1. Accomplishments have been impressive, with 60,000 acres of wetlands restored and/or enhanced, including 3,000 acres of shallow wild-rice lakes and rivers. Partners have created more than 3,000 acres of grassland habitat, including 310 acres of native prairie, maintained 2,100 waterfowl nesting structures, established wildlife food plots, supported wetland and upland maintenance activities, and provided numerous educational opportunities. By providing improved and additional migration, nesting, and brood-rearing habitats, Circle of Flight projects have undoubtedly contributed to the well-being of continental populations of many waterfowl species, as well as other wildlife using these habitats.

Project sites provide a variety of opportunities to tribal members and others. They attract wildlife watchers and provide research sites for university graduate students, and tribal youth have examples of effective wildlife management practices to draw upon when they become leaders. In fact, the Circle of Flight has benefitted all people who appreciate the beauty of birds and who find themselves in the pathway of migratory birds that have fed, nested, or rested in a Circle of Flight project area.

For more information, contact Robert Jackson, Regional Biologist, U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs, Midwest Regional Office, Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building, One Federal Drive, Room 550, Fort Snelling, Minnesota 55111, (612) 713-4400 extension 1146.

Protecting Raptors from Electrocution
by Karen Miranda Gleason, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

A young golden eagle hunts from its chosen perch on a power pole, positioned over a field laden with prairie dogs, mice, and snakes. As it prepares to take its prey, its impressive wings span between two wires, its body suddenly closing an electrical circuit between the two, just like a light switch.

Miles away in a local town, thousands of people notice their lights blink off for a few seconds, then back on—a "brown out."

Another raptor has been electrocuted on the powerlines.

Raptor electrocution is a particularly tenacious problem in the West and Southwest, where open landscapes make powerlines the most dominant and attractive feature on which birds choose to alight. It is tough to quantify the exact number of birds killed this way every year; many are scavenged immediately by other predators, and while U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) agents are able to investigate some of the cases that occur, they can't possibly count them all, due to the sheer magnitude. Still, for two decades prior to 1998, the Service documented over 1,000 raptors electrocuted in the eight-state Mountain-Prairie Region alone. By extrapolation, the problem is much greater, amounting to hundreds, probably thousands of birds electrocuted every year across the country.

The good news is that cost-effective technology is now available to make electrical equipment "bird-friendly." Beginning in the mid 1970s, law enforcement agents in the Mountain-Prairie Region began an effort to work in partnership with power companies to identify and repair equipment that killed raptors. There is no boilerplate solution. Increasing the distance between lines, installing insulation on wires and transponders, and providing perches away from wires are only three of an options cornucopia developed by private-sector engineers.

While criminal prosecution is possible under federal law, the Service prefers to work proactively with utility companies before birds are killed. By the early 1990s, cooperative efforts in Utah, Colorado, Nebraska, South Dakota, Wyoming, and Montana have succeeded in protecting many hundreds of bald eagles, great-horned owls, and other raptors. Similar efforts are now underway in Kansas and North Dakota, and much work remains to be done.

In addition to the investment being made by the utility industry, the Service's Mountain-Prairie Region has implemented a strategy of its own to assess and address the problem of raptor electrocution on the lands it manages. Prioritization of potential hazards and on-site inspections are currently underway to determine exact locations of any problem equipment and lines and to outline steps to mitigate those trouble spots.

"While working with our partners in industry to address this difficult and important issue, we are aware of our responsibility to get our own house in order to ensure power lines are made as bird-friendly and safe as possible," maintains Regional Director Ralph Morgenweck.

With the threat of sudden death eliminated, long stretches of powerlines on the wide plains and desert will become as harmless as topographical features for birds. Raptors will hunt and roost securely, while electricity flows freely and power users enjoy reliable, uninterrupted service.

For more information, contact Karen Miranda Gleason, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 134 Union Boulevard, Suite 400, Denver, Colorado 80033, (303) 236-7917 extension 431, kmiranda@fws.gov.