Agricultural Working Lands: Meeting the Needs of Spring-migrating Waterfowl in the Intermountain West on Working Ranches
Webinar Details
When:
Dec 16, 2014 2:00 pm US/Eastern
Length: 01:30 (hh:mm)
Advance Registration NOT required.
View now on-demand.
Reviewed for Continued Content Relevance: 04/2017
Presenter(s):
- Dave W. Smith, Coordinator, Intermountain West Joint Venture, Missoula, MT
- Josh L. Vest, Ph.D., Science Coordinator, Intermountain West Joint Venture, Missoula, MT
- Jeremy Maestas, State Biologist, USDA NRCS Oregon, Redmond, OR
CEU Credits/Certificate Offered:
- Conservation Planner (CP) - 1.5 hour Conservation Planning Credit
- Society for Range Management (SRM) - 1.5 hour SRM Credit
- The Wildlife Society - Certified Wildlife Biologist®/Professional Development Certificate Program - 1.5 hour TWS Category 1 Credit
Virtual Event Format:
Group Viewing Available:
Participants will learn about opportunities to manage irrigated haylands and pasturelands in the Intermountain West for wetland birds during spring migration.
Half of all wetland resources in the Western U.S. have been lost to date. Despite encompassing only a small fraction of the landscape (<2%), wetlands act as keystone landscape features that drive migratory bird distributions and abundance in the Intermountain West. Up to 70–80% of these wetland resources occur on private lands where most are associated with ranching and agricultural production. High private ownership of these resources inextricably links migratory bird conservation to ranching and working lands in the West. Southern Oregon-northeastern California (SONEC) contains some of the highest densities of wetland in the Intermountain West and is one of the most significant stopover areas in North America for migratory birds (> 4 million). Within SONEC, private lands characterized by wet meadows and flood-irrigated pastures used for hay production and livestock grazing are important foraging habitats for wetland birds during spring, particularly waterfowl. Flood irrigation is a common practice and occurs mostly on altered seasonal wetlands that are dependent on snowmelt. Spring flooding and vegetation management on these working lands provides shallow water habitat and early-successional vegetation that mimic the natural and seasonal functional values for migratory birds. However, sustainability of working irrigated rangelands is at risk as water demand shifts from agricultural to other uses. Competition for scarce water resources also encourages conversion from traditional flood-irrigation to more water efficient sprinkler systems which do not provide equivalent migratory bird values. Working lands conservation programs can be used strategically to support flood irrigation on working ranches, help meet established bird conservation objectives, and sustain the important migratory bird values currently found on working lands. Additionally, the active management of some Wetland Reserve Program enrollments can contribute to achieving waterfowl habitat objectives.
This webinar is sponsored by the USDA NRCS National Wildlife Team located at the Central National Technology Support Center.
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