NRCS, landowners give home for ‘at-risk’ warblers (Keeping the Farm)
(Editor’s note: By Cara Newcomer is a Pathways public affairs intern with Maryland NRCS.)
The USDA’s Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) and landowners are partnering to create habitats for the golden-winged warbler and the cerulean warbler in the Appalachian region.
In Maryland, foresters in Allegany and Garrett counties are targeting private forested lands to create high quality environments for these warblers.
The warblers are currently listed as “at-risk” species and Maryland NRCS is working with partners to help establish more breeding-season habitat for these migratory songbirds.
Creating and maintaining forested areas comprised of diverse forest ages, provides a complete spectrum of forest habitat conditions that cerulean and golden-winged warblers require during breeding season.
The golden-winged warbler nests on the ground in young forest habitat comprised of a mixture of grasses, goldenrod, shrubs, saplings and scattered large trees.
The cerulean warbler nests high atop the canopy in mature forests that have complex canopy structure. Increasing the availability of young forest and structurally complex mature forests across a landscape can have multiple benefits for the area, not just for the target species.
“The warblers are really the poster child for everything else,” said Shannon Farrell, a partner forester from Indiana University of Pennsylvania Research Institute working with NRCS on the warbler program. “What we’re really doing is working with landowners to sustainably manage their forest to benefit wildlife and forest health.”
The process of creating habitat for warblers includes identifying optimal trees to retain, controlling invasive species, logging undesirable trees and seeding the affected areas once harvest is complete.
When clearing select trees, the goal is to mimic the disturbance that a natural tree fall would have on the forest floor.
It will help to open the canopy, allowing sunlight to hit the forest floor and helping plant species grow and create good cover.
The ideal trees to save include mixed oak species, hickory, maple, yellow poplar, black cherry and black locust. For the golden-winged warbler, the optimal basal area is 10-30 square feet per acre, while the cerulean warbler is 40-90 square feet per acre.
The golden-winged warbler is a target species of NRCS’ Working Lands for Wildlife, a special initiative to enhance habitat for several at-risk species on private lands across the country.
The Maryland Department of Natural Resources, Indiana University of Pennsylvania Research Institute, and American Bird Conservancy partner with NRCS to provide technical assistance to landowners.
Through the Environmental Quality Incentives Program, NRCS provides financial assistance for those who are enrolled in the program along with facilitating with the property management.
Tom Bolt, an Allegany landowner who enrolled in the WLFW program in 2013, said he uses the money he gets to help the property further. “We put the money we receive back into the land,” Bolt said.
He went further to explain how it is crucial for landowners to follow up on the work NRCS and its partners provide, sharing he used a lot of his funds to purchase seed for the roads used during the forest management activities.
Recognizing that the management decisions of private forest landowners are critical to the health of Maryland’s wildlife, the American Bird Conservancy proposed that NRCS focus on cerulean warbler habitat through the Regional Conservation Partnership Program.
The Cerulean Warbler Appalachian Forestland Enhancement project is allowing partners to work with private landowners to enhance forest habitat on private lands for cerulean warblers and other wildlife in West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Maryland.
Between WLFW, RCPP, and other programs lead by state agencies, the entire spectrum of forest management actions necessary for improving forest health, protecting water sources, and supporting diverse wildlife communities can be achieved.
NRCS launched the WLFW program nationwide in 2012 and has restored more than 13,000 acres of golden-winged warbler habitat with the help of its many partners.
Maryland NRCS has established 871 acres of young forest for the golden-winged warbler, and through RCPP, 312 acres of structurally-diverse, mature forest habitat for the cerulean warbler. Maryland’s goal for the WLFW program is to have 625 acres in the program annually, with at least 3125 acres enrolled within the next five years.
Habitat for American black duck and northern bobwhite on the Delmarva peninsula is another focus of WLFW. NRCS is helping landowners in targeted areas plan and implement a variety of conservation activities, or practices, that benefit the black duck, bobwhite and many other game and non-game species.
Visit a local USDA Service Center or www.md.nrcs.usda.gov for more information.
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P.O. Box 2026 Easton, MD 21601-8925