Atlantic Coast Joint Venture Summer News 2010
Partners working together for the conservation of native bird species in the Atlantic Flyway region of the United States.
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Common Eider are one of many species benefiting from the latest round of grants. |
Five North American Wetland Conservation Act Standard Grants Recommended for Approval in ACJV
The North American Wetlands Conservation Council on July 9, 2010 approved the first round of Fiscal Year 2011 standard grants for projects in Canada and the United States including five projects in the Atlantic Coast Joint Venture. If approved by the Migratory Bird Conservation Commission in September, projects in Florida, Delaware, Maine, South Carolina, and North Carolina will receive almost $5 million in grant funds to be matched by over $23.2 million from partners. More than 5,424 acres of important habitat for migratory birds will be protected or restored.View the grants.
Fifteen North American Wetland Conservation Act Small Grants Received Approval
The North American Wetlands Conservation Act (NAWCA) Council in March 2010 selected 15 small grant projects providing $1.1 million to nine states in the Atlantic Coast Joint Venture. Project partners in Delaware, Florida, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island, South Carolina and Virginia matched the grants with $3.4 million. 12,162 acres of important habitats for migratory birds will be protected through fee acquisition, conservation easements, restoration, and enhancement. View the grants.
Joint Venture Staff and Partners Respond to Gulf Oil Spill
Since the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico began in April 2010, several joint venture staff and partners have been assisting in various capacities to address the impacts of the oil spill on migratory birds.
ACJV GIS Analyst Kirsten Luke, stationed at the Panama City Florida Field Office is providing GIS support to identify important resource areas along the Gulf and to prepare for possible oiling along the Gulf Coast of Florida.
ACJV Science Coordinator Tim Jones was deployed to respond to the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in late June. He was involved in helicopter flights over oiled areas to spot and recover oiled birds and other wildlife. Other joint venture staff will be deployed this summer and fall.
Laughing Gull emersed in oil.
ACJV South Atlantic Coordinator Craig Watson has been working extensively with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Southeast Region and partners in Florida to identify projects along Florida’s Gulf Coast with both short term and long benefits to birds especially for migrating waterfowl and shorebirds, given that shorebird and waterfowl migration this summer and fall will potentially bring thousands of birds in contact with oiled areas along the Gulf. Approximately 30 projects have been identified by partners, ranging from quick-turnaround enhancement and restoration projects to longer-term habitat acquisitions and capacity building to manage Florida’s avian resources. Several of these projects were submitted in response to a call for such projects from U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and the National Fish & Wildlife Foundation with a goal of initiating projects prior to major shorebird and waterfowl migrations to the Gulf.
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USFWS staff and others capture then attempt to clean oiled birds like this pelican. |
Craig has also worked with Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission personnel to initiate NRCS’s new Migratory Bird Habitat Initiative, an initiative formed to enhance, restore, and provide additional habitat to migrating shorebirds and waterfowl in the Mississippi Flyway and Gulf States. Approximately $7-8 million is available in eight states for creation and management of shallow water habitats, wetland and wildlife habitat management, and for longer term habitat needs on Wetland Reserve Program easement lands. NRCS will use joint venture South Atlantic Migratory Bird Initiative priority species, habitats, and focus areas to help direct funds to those counties targeted in Florida under this initiative (Map of Targeted Counties by State).
Craig is also working with partners in Florida, Georgia, and South and North Carolina to determine linkages for waterbird species using the Atlantic coast during part of the year and using areas along the Gulf of Mexico for other parts of the year. For example, in South Carolina, analyses by South Carolina Department of Natural Resources staff of bird band recovery data show that some species such as Brown Pelican, Black Skimmer, and Royal Terns move back and forth between the Gulf and Atlantic coasts. It is possible that these birds may move to oiled areas in the Gulf, and potentially impact the return of these birds to their breeding areas and their future productivity. This information may be useful in Natural Resource Damage Assessments and provide information on projects along the Atlantic Coast that might enhance productivity of these nesting waterbirds.
Bryan Swift with New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, worked with Josh Stiller at the State University of New York to extract and summarize waterfowl band recovery data with a focus on species of interest to the Atlantic Flyway. Excluding Canada geese, Gulf coast recoveries represented about 0.06% of all other waterfowl (excluding wood duck and mottled duck) banded in the Atlantic Flyway. This suggests that few waterfowl produced in the flyway will be exposed to oil in the Gulf Coast region. However, the lack of diving duck, sea duck or merganser recoveries from the Atlantic Flyway is due in part to the limited abundance and banding of those species in the flyway.
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Oil from the Deepwater Horizon Spill |
Additionally, ACJV staff are working with partners to map existing waterbird colonies, important migration and wintering habitats for shorebirds, and wintering areas for sea ducks along the Atlantic Coast in preparation for possible movement of oil from the Gulf to the Atlantic via the Loop Current. Mid Atlantic Coordinator Melanie Steinkamp is helping to design offshore aerial surveys that are being planned off the coast of the South Atlantic states to document numbers and existing concentrations of marine birds.
The impacts from the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill are far reaching and joint ventures and their extensive network of partnerships are helping to coordinate and forge strategies to deal with short and long term impacts of this tragic oil spill.
(Click Here for Additional Photos of Oil Spill)
Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) Funding in the ACJV
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Black Duck. Larry Masters |
The Great Lakes are the largest freshwater lakes on Earth, contain 95 percent of the United States’ surface fresh water, more than 10,000 miles of coastline, and 30,000 islands. Unfortunately, years of environmental degradation, from pollution to habitat destruction, have left the Great Lakes in need of immediate action to save this precious natural resource for generations to come. In recognition of its environmental problems, President Obama’s FY 2010 budget invested $475 million in funding for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI). GLRI represents a collaborative effort on behalf of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and 15 other federal agencies to address the most significant environmental problems in the Great Lakes. Through an interagency agreement with the EPA, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) has been allocated approximately $65 million to implement GLRI priority programs, projects and activities to protect, restore, and maintain the Great Lakes ecosystem. One of 11 GLRI “Habitat” programs is the Great Lakes Watershed Habitat and Species Restoration Initiative, which included funding for three different efforts: Fish Passage, Migratory Bird Joint Ventures, and the Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program. The Joint Venture allocation provided $1.8 million in matching grant funds, split between the Upper Mississippi/Great Lakes and Atlantic Coast Joint Ventures for priority bird habitat conservation projects. After issuing an RFP early in 2010, grants were awarded this spring to protect and restore 1,566 acres of wetlands and wildlife habitat in Wisconsin, Ohio, Michigan, New York and Pennsylvania. Details of the two ACJV projects funded are below:
New York
Indian River Lakes Wetland Protection, by Ducks Unlimited, Indian River Lakes Conservancy, and Thousand Islands Land Trust. This project would protect three parcels, totaling 591 acres, which provide great connectivity with almost 1,000 acres of adjacent lands that are already protected (an IRLC reserve and NYSDEC Wildlife Management Area). The third parcel would protect nearly 1.75 miles of Oswegatchie River frontage and floodplain grass and scrub. The project includes 316 acres of emergent, scrub-shrub, and forested wetlands and more than eight miles of lacustrine/riparian shoreline in the St. Lawrence Plain Focus Area, one of the three most important subregions in BCR 13 and probably the single most important area for most of the highest-priority species (wetlands, grassland, and scrub-shrub habitat suites).
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Indian River Wetlands. Photo courtesy of Doug Gorby |
Pennsylvania
Roderick Wildlife Reserve Expansion: Protection of Lake Erie Shoreline, by the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy and Pennsylvania Game Commission. This project would protect 197 acres on the longest stretch of undeveloped shoreline on the southern shore of Lake Erie, in NW Pennsylvania. Parcels include steep lakeshore bluffs, beach, coastal wetlands and streams, shrublands, old fields, and forests. The two adjacent grant parcels are each adjacent to and connect with two large conservation areas, the Roderick Wildlife Reserve/State Game Lands #314 (which totals 3,214 acres), and Raccoon Creek Township Park. These lands will be transferred to the state and added to State Game Lands #314. This area is an Pennsylvania Important Bird Area and within one of the three highest-priority regions of BCR 13, and is a target in the state’s Wildlife Action Plan and many other conservation planning documents. This area, and nearby Presque Isle state lands, is considered one of the most important landbird stopover areas in all of North America, with several studies showing high numbers of migrants staging along the south shore in this area.
Actions Underway in the Delaware Bay
The Delaware Bay Bird Working Group
A new voluntary working group composed of agency and non-agency entities has formed to address common priority bird conservation and science needs among partners working in Delaware Bay. Working group members agreed that the working group should start off focused on bird conservation but that it may grow as opportunities or needs arise. Other groups (fisheries, mammals, etc) will be brought into discussions and projects as needed. The group’s expertise will be characterizing shared issues and resource needs – there are many species that are of common interest and are keystones of the bay’s health. The scope of the group will be the Delaware Bay watershed to the Delaware boundary. The Delaware Bay Bird Working Group will fit under the umbrella of existing groups working in the Delaware Bay, such as the Partnership for the Delaware Estuary (focused on water quality improvements) and the Delaware River Basin Commission but will bring to the table an expertise on priority needs for breeding, wintering and migrating birds using the Delaware Bay. Priority projects have been identified by the group and include, but are not limited to, fee or easement acquisition of priority high-quality habitats, restoration and enhancement of degraded wetlands and upland buffers, habitat management to improve nesting and wintering habitat quality, invasive species management, developing BMPs, assessing the impacts of sea level rise and many others. Planning efforts by this group will build on existing plans including State Wildlife Action Plans, Important Bird Areas, New Jersey’s Landscape Project and conservation planning efforts by The Nature Conservancy (see below). The working group had their first meeting on April 12, 2010 in Salem, New Jersey. Please contact ACJV Mid Atlantic Coordinator Melanie Steinkamp for more information.
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Delaware River |
Delaware River Basin Conservation Act of 2010
On February 25, 2010, Representative Michael Castle introduced a new bill in the House of Representatives titled the Delaware River Basin Conservation Act of 2010. The purpose of the bill is to coordinate restoration and protection activities among Federal agencies, State, local and regional entities, and conservation partners throughout the Delaware Bay Basin States which include Delaware, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania. The goals is to facilitate restoration and protection activities throughout the basin such as sustaining and enhancing habitat restoration and protection activities, improving water quality, enhancing water management and flood control improvements to benefit fish and wildlife habitat, improving public access and recreation, encouraging environmentally sensitive land use planning and development, conducting public outreach and education, and implementing planning, studies, monitoring and research needed to coordinate restoration and protection activities throughout the basin. The Act establishes a competitive grant program, the Delaware River Basin Restoration Program to fund restoration and protection activities (dependent upon available funds). The bill is being considered by the House Natural Resources Committee, Subcommittee on Insular Affairs, Oceans and Wildlife.
National Fish and Wildlife Foundation Grant Awarded
The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation awarded The Nature Conservancy a $450,000 grant to fund a comprehensive conservation plan for the Delaware River Basin. The project is a joint effort involving The Nature Conservancy’s Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Eastern New York chapters, the Natural Lands Trust, and the Partnership for the Delaware Estuary. This Delaware Basin Restoration Initiative will identify opportunities to protect and improve water quality and habitat, as well as provide a blueprint for the region’s conservation organizations and agencies to implement components of the plan. This comprehensive effort builds upon previous conservation plans, such as the Comprehensive Conservation Management Plan for the Delaware Estuary, State Wildlife Action Plans, New Jersey Conservation Foundation’s Garden State Greenways, and The Nature Conservancy’s regional and site-based conservation plans to develop a shared set of conservation and restoration priority areas that enable coordinated action among the many agencies and organizations contributing to the conservation of the ecosystems of the Delaware River watershed.
Recent Federal Grants for Habitat Conservation
Recent North American Wetland Conservation Act (NAWCA) Grants along Delaware Bay include the Delaware Bayshores Land Protection and Climate Change Adaptation project just recommended for funding by the NAWCA Council (see first article in this newsletter). This project will result in the protection of 676 acres of tidal marsh, forested wetland and forested upland habitats adjacent to Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuge in the ACJV Delaware Bayshores focus area. The proposed project will be part of a network of protected lands in this focus area from Milford Neck Wildlife Area to Lewes, Delaware that provide protected breeding, wintering and migration stopover habitat for a large number of priority migratory birds.
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Red Knot |
Two recent NAWCA projects were completed across the bay on along the Delaware Bay shoreline of Cape May. The Cape May Peninsula Partnership Phase I project, funded in 2008, and Phase II, funded in 2009, together matched $1.8 million of grant funds with $4.1 million in partner funds for the protection of 1,384 acres of priority habitat along the shoreline and in the interior of the southern end of the Cape May Peninsula. Wetland and adjacent upland habitats on the peninsula are critical as migratory stopover habitat especially for landbirds during fall migration; the Delaware Bayshore of Cape May is hemispherically important for shorebirds during spring migration; and the wetlands are also important as waterbird and waterfowl habitat throughout the year. Further north along New Jersey’s Delaware Bay shoreline, a NAWCA small grant in 2009 funded the restoration of 70 acres of estuarine and palustrine wetlands in Mill Creek Wetland Restoration Project.
A National Coastal Wetland Conservation Grant in 2009 funded the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) for the acquisition of the Durham Farm along the Cohansey River in Cumberland County, including nearly 300 acres of salt marsh and adjacent freshwater marshes and uplands. The significant resource value of this acquisition is as a migratory stopover for waterfowl, shorebirds, neotropical and other passerines, American woodcock, and raptors. The land will be incorporated into the Dix Wildlife Management Area (WMA). A second National Coastal Wetland Conservation Grant application was just submitted by DEP for lands adjacent to Durham Farm and Dix WMA and will be considered in this year’s funding round.
Impacts and Conservation Strategies Related to Climate Change in the ACJV: State and Regional Vulnerability Assessments in the Northeast
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American Oystercatcher. Jack Rogers |
This is the fourth in a series of newsletter articles that discuss the likely impacts of climate change on habitats and birds in the Atlantic Coast Joint Venture area and the role of the joint venture in planning for and addressing those impacts. This article focuses on state and regional vulnerability assessments and planning in the Northeast.
Climate change adaptation planning identifies actions needed to minimize the adverse effects of climate change on human infrastructure and sensitive aspects of the natural environment. Adaptation planning at the landscape scale informs actions at the site scale including protection, restoration, and management of habitats for fish and wildlife. Vulnerability assessments are a part of climate change adaptation planning that focus on assessing which ecosystems, habitats, species and sites are likely to be most vulnerable to climate change and assessing management options based on that information.
Vulnerability assessments have been or are now being conducted by several states in the northeast. The Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (AFWA) hosted a Northeast Climate Change Workshop in Hadley, Massachusetts on June 15-16, 2010 focused on improving the interaction and coordination between states doing adaptation planning for wildlife. AFWA conducted a survey of northeast states and of the states that responded, two states (Connecticut and Massachusetts) have completed a natural resources vulnerability assessments; three states (Maine, Maryland, and Pennsylvania) are currently working on a vulnerability assessments; and six states (Delaware, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Vermont, and Virginia) are either considering an appropriate methodology for an assessment, applying for funding, or down-scaling climate data with academic partners in order to do an assessment. States are working with a variety of partners from academic institutions, federal agencies, and non-governmental organizations to complete these assessments including Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences, National Wildlife Federation and NatureServe. State vulnerability assessments are based on species of greatest conservation need (SGCN) and their habitats so that results may be incorporated into updates of State Wildlife Action Plans (SWAP) for climate change impacts. A related AFWA report Voluntary Guidance for States to Incorporate Climate Change into State Wildlife Action Plans & Other Management Plans was released in November 2009. AFWA is hosting a Southeast Climate Change workshop August 3-4, 2010 in Mansfield, Georgia.
Regional Vulnerability assessments are also underway in the northeast. In a project extending from Maine to Virginia, the Northeastern Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences, and the National Wildlife Federation are collaborating with other major northeastern stakeholders, including federal agencies and nonprofit organizations, to protect fish and wildlife and their habitats from climate change. This three-year effort will evaluate the vulnerabilities of the northeast’s key habitats and species, and help increase the capabilities of state fish and wildlife agencies to respond to these challenges. The vulnerability assessment component of the project will utilize an expert panel-based approach. Other organizations are looking at data-driven approaches to determine the best way to address impacts of climate change including assessments of ecological resilience by the Nature Conservancy.
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Northern Bobwhite is one of the species highlighted in the Designing Sustainable Landscapes Project |
The Atlantic Coast Joint Venture is supporting state and regional vulnerability assessments by providing input on bird species and habitats and developing projects that will provide information on changes to bird habitats in the future. The Designing Sustainable Landscapes project in the South Atlantic (that was described in the last newsletter) is now being expanded to the North Atlantic through the North Atlantic Landscape Conservation Cooperative. This project will assess the impact of changing landscapes on the ability of habitats to support bird and other wildlife species and will provide critical information for states and other partners on options for protecting and managing lands in the face of climate change.
Dr. Kenneth Elowe, Assistant Regional Director for Science Applications for the Northeast Region
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| Dr. Ken Elowe, Assistant Regional Director for Science Applications |
Dr. Kenneth Elowe, Director of Resource Management of the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife (MDIF&W), ACJV MAnagement Board Chair, has been named Assistant Regional Director for Science Applications for the Northeast Region of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
In his new position, Ken will lead regional implementation of the Fish and Wildlife Service’s response to unprecedented threats to natural resources posed by climate change. He will oversee development of a collaborative, landscape-level approach to conservation, as part of the Department of the Interior’s commitment to building a coordinated strategy in response to the impacts of climate change on the nation’s fish, wildlife and plant resources.
For more than 20 years, Dr. Elowe has been a national leader in landscape habitat conservation. One of Ken’s most recent accomplishments has been his work with the Coalition of Northeast Governors to adopt a policy statement that will facilitate the availability of better range-wide and regional fish, wildlife and habitat information. This will give Northeast Governors better information on science and the impacts of climate change, resulting in more informed decisions affecting the future of fish, wildlife and their habitats.
Dr. Elowe is a leader with the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies on national fish and wildlife policy issues, including the Endangered Species Act and migratory bird management. He has served as the ACJV Management Board Chair since July 2007.
Dr. Elowe has been the Director of Resource Management for MDIF&W since 1998. He earned his bachelor’s degree in biology from Bowdoin College in 1978. He holds a master of science and a doctorate from University of Massachusetts – Amherst in wildlife biology.
Andrew Milliken, North Atlantic LCC Coordinator
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| Andrew Milliken, North Atlantic LCC Coordinator |
Andrew Milliken, Atlantic Coast Joint Venture Coordinator, has been named the Coordinator for the North Atlantic Landscape Conservation Cooperative (LCC). In this position, Milliken will facilitate the link between science and management, and provide day-to-day leadership and direction of the North Atlantic LCC partnership.
In his work for the Atlantic Coast Joint Venture (ACJV), Andrew helped put into effect a science-based approach to planning, implementing and evaluating habitat conservation, while working closely with federal and state agencies, nongovernment organizations, foundations and university partners in a 17-state region. Since Andrew's tenure as coordinator, joint venture partners have protected, restored and enhanced over three million acres of important habitats for wildlife and greatly expanded the science basis for conservation decisions.
Andrew was the first chair of Northeast Region's Strategic Habitat Conservation (SHC) team and is or has been a member of a number of national teams focused on strategic habitat conservation and climate change. He has received a number of awards, including a recent Honor Award for Superior Service from the Department of the Interior. Prior to his work as the ACJV Coordinator, Milliken was based in Rhode Island as a senior ecologist with the Southern New England - New York Bight Coastal Ecosystems Program where he was a primary author of a comprehensive assessment of significant habitats in the Hudson River - New York Bight watershed.
Andrew has also worked as a captain and chief scientist on research vessels for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program, as a coastal biologist for New York State and as a teacher and researcher for the University of Rhode Island’s Graduate School of Oceanography. He has a B.A. in biology/northern studies from Middlebury College and a M.S. in Biological Oceanography/Coastal Ecology from the University of Rhode Island Graduate School of Oceanography.
Mike Slattery, Chesapeake Bay Coordinator
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Mike Slattery, Chesapeake Bay Coordinator |
Mike Slattery, ACJV Board member,has been named the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Chesapeake Bay Coordinator. Mike currently serves as Director of the Eastern Partnership Office for the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, where he is responsible for program development, grant management, fundraising, and partnership coordination in a 24-state region that extends from Maine to Texas. He oversees some of the Foundation's most prominent programs, including those addressing conservation in Chesapeake Bay, Tampa Bay, and Long Island Sound, and also fulfills a leadership role in the Foundation's support of the State Wildlife Action Plans and serves on the ACJV Management Board. Previously he has served as Assistant Secretary for Forests, Parks, Fish and Wildlife with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, and as the Coastal Program Leader for the Service’s Chesapeake Bay Field Office.
In this new role, Mike will work closely with the Service’s 28 field offices throughout the Chesapeake Bay watershed to fulfill the Service’s commitments under the Strategy for Protecting and Restoring the Chesapeake Bay Watershed that was released in May. He will strengthen existing partnerships, and create new partnership opportunities throughout the watershed.
Grants and Deadlines |
Upcoming Meetings |
North American Wetlands Conservation Act North American Wetlands Conservation Act Small Grants Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act National Fish and Wildlife Foundation |
ACJV Technical Committees ACJV Management Board |
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