For State Wildlife Action Plans
RCN Grant Project Case Studies
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- The Staying Connected Initative
- New England Cottontail Conservation Planning to Address Priority Needs
- Integrated Monitoring to Inform Conservation and Management
RCN Grant Project Case StudiesThe following case studies describe regional conservation actions identified and supported through the RCN Grant Program. By funding these actions, the RCN program and Northeast Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (NEAFWA) are implementing the Northeast Conservation Planning Framework described in detail in previous chapters. The order in which the projects have been funded and implemented has been the subject of careful consideration and planning by the NEFWDTC and its partners. For example, the development of the NEAFWA Monitoring and Performance Reporting Framework preceded work on regional indicators of conservation status and trends. This work in turn was followed by regional tests of the indicators and the first comprehensive regional conservation status assessment for species and habitats in the Northeast. This (as well as the subsequent projects developed by the North Atlantic Landscape Conservation cooperative [NALCC]) demonstrates NEAFWA’s strategic approach in which each project builds on its predecessors to advance a unified agenda for collaborative fish and wildlife conservation in the region. The Staying Connected InitativeThe Staying Connected Initiative (SCI) (http://stayingconnectedinitiative.org/) is a 4-state, 21-member regional partnership of public agencies and non-profit organizations working to protect functional habitat linkages to mitigate the impacts of habitat fragmentation and climate change for 41 SGCN across the Northern Forest (Maine, New Hampshire, New York and Vermont). Since 2009, SCI partners have completed permanent land protection projects on more than 50,000 acres that contribute to connectivity values in the linkage areas and approximately 40,000 acres of important connectivity lands are in various stages of development, with closings anticipated in the next 6-12 months. SCI has provided direct assistance to at least 40 municipalities and six regional planning commissions helping secure or instigate meaningful improvements in the land use plans and/or policies of nearly 20 communities and at least three regional planning commissions. SCI has also identified road segments important for landscape connectivity and is collaborating with state departments of transportation (DOTs) to improve connectivity during road maintenance/upgrade projects. SCI implements top priority actions identified in partner states’ Wildlife Action Plans to integrate conservation planning at the regional, state and local scales with land protection and technical assistance activities targeted to the places where most land use decisions in the Northeast are made—municipalities. Primary objectives are:
New England Cottontail Conservation Planning to Address Priority NeedsMany of the RCN grant projects have involved some aspect of conservation planning, whether producing necessary data sets, providing tools for planners, or developing actual conservation plans. One of the most comprehensive planning efforts funded through the RCN Grant Program is the development of a conservation strategy for the New England cottontail (Fuller and Tur 2012). The New England cottontail (NEC) is the only rabbit native to the northeastern United States. The species ranges from the Hudson River Valley of New York eastward and is currently threatened throughout its range by development and forest succession. It may also be imperiled by encroachment of the introduced Eastern cottontail, which may compete with NEC and be better able to use diverse and fragmented habitats and avoid predators. Biologists do not believe that NEC inter-breed with the Eastern cottontail; NEC and Eastern cottontail hybrids, if born, apparently do not survive. In 2006 the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) responded to conservationists concerned that the NEC was declining. The USFWS reviewed the status of the species and the factors threatening it, and designated NEC as a “candidate” for listing under the federal Endangered Species Act. Conservation partners throughout the Northeast joined together to develop a comprehensive conservation strategy to address threats to NEC. The strategy is also designed to show how conservation partners are implementing those actions to ensure the presence of NEC into the future and also preclude the need to place the species on the federal Endangered Species List (Fuller and Tur 2012). To restore the New England cottontail, the USFWS set a regional habitat restoration goal of 27,000 acres to support 13,500 rabbits. The six states where NEC are currently found set combined habitat restoration goals totaling 42,440 acres to support 21,650 rabbits. The NEC Technical Committee, representing all of the states in the species’ range, set a goal of 51,655 acres of habitat and 28,100 rabbits. At each level, the sum of goals exceeds the preceding level, in order to account for localized uncertainties in the feasibility of conserving the species. Based on best available scientific evidence, these conservation activities, currently being implemented should be sufficient to prevent listing of the species under the federal Endangered Species Act. For more information about the conservation strategy, please visit: http://www.newenglandcottontail.org/sites/default/files/conservation_strategy_final_12-3-12.pdf Integrated Monitoring to Inform Conservation and ManagementMonitoring of fish and wildlife species and their habitats plays an important role in the conservation and management of species and ecosystems. Monitoring programs provide managers with important information about the status and trends of fish and wildlife species, as well as the effectiveness of conservation activities and management interventions. Improving the quality of information regarding fish and wildlife species in the Northeast has been identified as a NEWFDTC priority and many of the RCN grants awarded to date have focused specifically on monitoring of fish and wildlife species and their habitats. Monitoring is required element 5 for Wildlife Action Plans and both Congress and the federal Office of Management and Budget have made repeated requests of states to justify funding for the SWG program by demonstrating its success. Unfortunately, SWG funds provide less than sufficient funds needed to implement Actions Plans let alone monitor their impacts. The Northeastern states collaborated in 2006-2008 to develop the Monitoring and Performance Reporting Framework (NEAFWA 2008; see http://rcngrants.org/content/regional-monitoring-and-performance-framework for more information), an effective and cost-efficient mechanism for reporting on the status of SGCN and their habitats within each state and across the Northeast region, and the effectiveness of actions taken to conserve those resources.. The monitoring component of this Framework served as the basis for the Regional Conservation Assessment conducted by The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and other partners and funded by RCN grant. (Anderson and Olivero Sheldon 2011; see http://www.rcngrants.org/sites/default/files/final_reports/Conservation-Status-of-Fish-Wildlife-and-Natural-Habitats.pdf for more information). The effectiveness component of the Monitoring and Performance Reporting Framework later informed the development of national performance measures for the SWG program developed by the AFWA, states and other national conservation groups. More detailed information about this Framework is available in Chapter 5. NEAFWA has also funded the development of integrated, cross-jurisdictional monitoring programs or the development of monitoring methods for New England cottontail, wood turtle, Eastern black rail, dragonflies and damselflies (Order Odonata), tidal marsh birds, and frogs. These monitoring programs are discussed in more detail in Chapter 5, with links to programmatic reports that provide more information about these programs. By developing standardized methods and approaches for monitoring at a regional level, the RCN Grant Program helps to ensure that states are collecting data in a consistent manner. This means that data collected in one state can easily be compared with data collected in other states, thereby giving managers a more complete picture of the status of a species and a regional context for their species conservation efforts. Directory: sites -> default -> files -> final reports files -> Northern England’s set-jetting locations files -> Nstructions for Acquiring Excess Equipment online, through the 1033 Program files -> Occupational health and safety files -> The Black Panther Party’s Ten Point Program files -> International programs roel profile files -> Fermi Questions a guide for Teachers, Students, and Event Supervisors Lloyd Abrams, Ph. D. DuPont Company, cr&D/ccas experimental Station Wilmington, de 19880 files -> Personal Information Name: Maha Al-Ammari Nationality: Saudi Relationship Status final reports -> Northeast Regional Wildlife Conservation Project Summaries Download 3.75 Mb. Share with your friends:
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