Partners In Flight Newsletter

The Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act - An Overwhelming Response to the New Grants Program

Passed in 2000 by Congress, the Act establishes a matching grants program to fund projects promoting neotropical migratory bird and habitat conservation in the U. S., Latin America and the Caribbean. Congress appropriated $3,000,000 for FY02 of an authorized $5,000,000.

The response in the first year was overwhelming. The USFWS, which administers the grant, received 286 proposals from 33 countries and 31 U. S. states as of the 13 May 2002 deadline. Applicants requested more than $25 million and proffered more than $95 million in non-federal matching funds. The quality of the proposals was truly outstanding and the reviewers had a very difficult time selecting from among them. Awardees will be announced when tentative selections are approved.

We are hopeful that the high quality and quantity of projects will demonstrate the magnitude of interest that exists in neotropical migratory bird conservation action and that this will lead to increased authorizations and appropriations. The needs are great and the partners have responded, showing capacity, imagination and attention to the priorities established in PIF Bird Conservation Plans.--Terry Rich (terry_rich@fws.gov)

Next National Partners In Flight Meetings - 100th Anniversary of IAFWA

The next regularly scheduled meeting of the PIF Management Steering Committee (MSC) is planned for 15-16 September 2002 in Yellowstone National Park. This will immediately precede the annual meetings of the International Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies in Big Sky, Montana on 17-21 September. This is the 100th Anniversary Celebration of IAFWA (http://www.iafwa.org/page2.htm) and promises to be a huge event. Additional PIF meetings held at Big Sky will include the Joint Steering Committee, Federal Committee, IAFWA Partners In Flight Working Group and Partners In Flight Regional Coordinators' Updates. If you are interested in attending, secure your housing NOW - Big Sky is filling up already. PIF meetings are open to all interested parties.

PIF (Inter)National Plan

PIF leadership continue to work on a PIF "National Plan" which will include 1) a brief marketing document that highlights future direction and needs, 2) a biological document that will include continent-wide biological objectives, and 3) a strategic plan that will detail short- and long-term objectives for each of the PIF technical working groups and for each of the regional and national working groups and committees.

Work over the last month has focused on reviewing and documenting global scores in the PIF Species Assessment Database. These revisions will lead to some rearrangement in the "Watch List" - the highest priority species in North America. Key components include a complete review of the Threats to Breeding and Threats to Nonbreeding scores. Also, estimates for the total absolute population size for all species are being assembled. Data from different sources are being used to provide some idea of the accuracy of these numbers. Preliminary results are encouraging. We also are getting cross checks on estimates of breeding and wintering range sizes. Data from Canada have been invaluable in this effort.

The degree to which this National Plan can actually be a seamless International Plan with Canada and Mexico also is being discussed. A continental plan is very desirable but obviously brings some complications. National Plan components will be widely circulated among federal agencies, state agencies, NGOs and industry for review, comment and ideas.-Terry Rich (terry_rich@fws.gov)

Asilomar Proceedings

A major task for Asilomar session chairs and presenters is to now produce a proceedings under the editorship of C. John Ralph and Terry Rich. We estimate that more than 250 of the 455 oral and poster presentations will make it to publication. The proceedings will be published as a USFS General Technical Report with a target date of under one year from now. We will need to raise more funds to produce the proceedings - we'll distribute a budget to all partners once the final conference budget is in. All potential contributors should have received information on upcoming deadlines. If you have not, please contact me.--Terry Rich (terry_rich@fws.gov)

Centennial Refuge Legacy Grants

The year 2003 marks the centennial of the National Wildlife Refuge System which enters the next 100 years as a showcase of President Roosevelt's vision of a land conservation legacy. In recognition of the occasion and the challenge, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) and the National Wildlife Refuge System are pleased to announce a special opportunity: The Board of Directors of NFWF has dedicated $939,000 toward Centennial Refuge Legacy Grant Awards. Refuges and their partners are invited to submit project proposals to NFWF for consideration. The deadline is August 1, 2002. NFWF will establish a review committee in cooperation with the USFWS and those whose proposals are successful will be notified by September 30, 2002. For more details go to: http://www.nfwf.org/programs/centennial.htm.

Funding for Habitat Restoration Projects: A Citizen's Guide

Numerous federal programs can support communities restoring habitat. Funding for Habitat Restoration Projects: A Citizen's Guide is a resource developed by Restore America's Estuaries to help individuals, organizations and agencies access federal assistance in support of community-based habitat restoration; this guide is updated annually and available at http://restoration.nos.noaa.gov/htmls/resources/funding.html. Also at this site you can find overview documents for estuarine and coastal habitat restoration.

New US NABCI Web Site at www.nabci-us.org

This site is dedicated to promoting and advancing integrated bird conservation in the United States. Online you will find a variety of tools and resources including:

* An easy-to-browse Bird Conservation Regions (BCR) map hot-linked to BCR descriptions

* Links to

• Bird conservation initiatives and plans, Joint Ventures, and BCR staff
• Migratory Bird Data Center maintained by the USFWS/USGS
• Bird Conservation Directory hosted by the American Bird Conservancy
• BCR map hot-linked to Species Assessment Scores based on Partners In Flight's Species Assessment database hosted by the Rocky Mountain Bird Observatory

* A host of information on the North American Bird Conservation Initiative, including downloadable documents about the NABCI Vision, the US Committee's Action Plan, and Committee and Working Group contact lists and meeting minutes.--David Pashley (dpashley@abcbirds.org)

Audubon Bird Conservation Newsletter

The Audubon Bird Conservation Newsletter is an electronic periodical that brings you up to date on the accomplishments and work of Audubon's Bird Conservation Program, the progress of the Important Bird Areas Initiative, and issues and events in bird conservation. TO SUBSCRIBE to Audubon's Bird Conservation newsletter send an e-mail to LISTSERV@LIST.AUDUBON.ORG with the following text in the body of your e-mail: SUBSCRIBE Bird-Conservation-News. --John P. Cecil (jcecil@audubon.org)

Wildspace - Canadian Bird Data

Already a primary source of information about Canada's wildlife, the WILDSPACE^TM website has a new look, expanded to include more images, sounds, mapping features, and information about Environment Canada's conservation efforts in Ontario and beyond (http://wildspace.ec.gc.ca/intro-e.html). You can view the extensive collection of images using the Species Search on the main tool bar to find typical nesting habitat, nests, eggs and young for 385 species of Canadian birds. Use the new Advanced Search feature on the main tool bar to query expanded avian life history search parameters.

You can explore WILDSPACE^TM Interactive Mapping using the Spaces Search on the main tool bar to create custom maps and query new 'bird range' information within Canada, the U. S., Mexico, Central America, South America and the Caribbean. This is a terrific tool - check it out. You can also query Marsh Monitoring Program routes to retrieve summary tables of bird and amphibian data.

Cumulative Index to Birding Now Available

The American Birding Association (http://americanbirding.org/) is pleased announce the availability of a cumulative index for Birding. The index is accessible via a new interactive search by clicking. You can search for articles by subject or author and search for book and media reviews by title word or reviewed book author. The search can also be limited to recent issues only and the results can be sorted in a variety of ways.

The index is also presented as three downloadable PDF files. The three files are cumulative indices of Birding starting with Volume I, Number 1 (January 1969) and are organized accordingly. "Birding Author" and "Birding Subject" are lengthy files which contain all the articles (often divided by department and indicated by department code), all quizzes, and even many letters to the editor. The "Birding Reviews" is a smaller file with all the book and media reviews. That particular file is arranged by title, but is searchable (e.g., by author name, reviewer name, even year).

As members know, Birding is an excellent source of information. In particular, its extensively illustrated essays on difficult identification issues are unparalleled.--Terry Rich (terry_rich@fws.gov)

Native Seed Network

The Institute for Applied Ecology, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation dedicated to conserving the natural environment and educating the public. IAE scientists have been working to restore native plant populations for many years. Our restoration efforts often have been hindered by the lack of affordable, ecologically-appropriate plant materials.

Currently, demand for native plant materials far exceeds the supply. Native plant materials are not only scarce, they are expensive, difficult to find and often of unverifiable origin. In 2001, the Native Seed Network (http://www.nativeseednetwork.org/home/index.php) was incorporated under the umbrella of IAE to facilitate the development of economic sources of native plant material from local genotypes. In 2000 Congress established Federal Interagency Native Plant Materials Development Committee to facilitate the development of native plant materials. In 2001, the Bureau of Land Management partnered with the Native Seed Network to increase capacity within the private production sector by creating a more stable and predictable market for native seed. The BLM partnership allowed the NSN developed web-accessible germplasm tracking for native plants.

Lillian Chen Wins Cats Indoors! Poster Competition

Linda Winter, Director of Cats Indoors! Campaign for ABC stated, "Once again, it was a hard choice. We received so many excellent posters from children all across the country showing happy indoor cats." The overall winner and winner in the age 8 - 9 category is Lillian Chen from Cedar Knolls, NJ. Lillian is 8 years old and attends the Mountview Road School. Lillian wins a $200 gift certificate from WBCA, and a $150 gift certificate for her school, Mountview Road School. The winner of the 10 - 12 age category is Holly Popp from Salem, OH, and the winner in the 6 - 7 age category is Mike Eidem from Horicon, WI. They each receive a $100 gift certificate. The winning posters can be viewed and downloaded from ABC's Web site at: www.abcbirds.org/cats/catsindoors.htm and on WBCA's Web site at: www.wildbirdcenters.com.--Linda Winter (lwinter@abcbirds.org)

Brunton Donates Binoculars

Lalo Luzania, an eight grader from the community of San Lazaro, has been helping Eduardo Gomez monitor birds on the Santa Cruz river in Sonora (www.sonoran.org), has helped with school programs to educate his community about bird conservation, and has started a bird watching club called the Falcons. When Lalo was at the 3rd International PIF conference in Asilomar, Madge Lindsay from the World Birding Center in Texas met Lalo and Joaquin Murrieta, Associate Director of the Sonoran Desert Ecoregion Program of the Sonoran Institute, as they were looking at birds. Lalo's bins were in need of some repair so Madge went to the Brunton (http://www.brunton.com/) vendor table to see what could be done. Brunton donated a pair of $400 binos which were presented to Lalo at the end of his presentation in the Deserts and Mountain Islands session. The Brunton sales rep was Dave Glenn. Lalo is now in hog heaven.

Mexico Shorebird Conservation Plan

The inaugural planning meeting for the development of a Mexico Shorebird Conservation Plan was held 19-21 April in Tepic, Nayarit, Mexico. Besides participation from Mexican biologists, several representatives of the U.S. and Canadian shorebird conservation plans attended. The group identified numerous actions needed to develop the plan and set a rigorous timetable. A series of regional workshops will be held to identify important shorebirds areas and assess the species that use these sites. From this information, specific conservation actions will be determined and will ultimately be used to develop projects for wetland conservation funding programs such as NAWCA. Development of the plan is being funded by the Ducks Unlimited, DUMAC, and the U.S.D.A. Forest Service. DUMAC has hired a full-time coordinator, Aurea Estrada, to ensure plan development is completed in the one-year time frame. If you have unpublished information on shorebird use of particular sites that would be useful for the planning process, please contact Eduardo Carrera (ecarrera@dumac.org) or Aurea (aestrada@dumac.org).--Brad A. Andres (brad_andres@fws.gov)

Carbon Sequestration

Carbon Sequestration (http://www.netl.doe.gov/coalpower/sequestration/) Technology Roadmapping

The Carbon Sequestration Technology Roadmap [PDF-1025KB] represents a general consensus to date on what major science and technology pathways have potential for achieving the goals of carbon sequestration. The implementation of these pathways-how the work will be accomplished-will be carried out by various stakeholders. The roadmap will evolve as more information becomes available from ongoing policy analysis and technology planning efforts.

Each month, National Energy Technology Laboratory also publishes a short newsletter describing significant events related to carbon sequestration that have taken place over the past month. This newsletter is also distributed by e-mail.

Prairie Biotic Research Funding Opportunity

In 2002, Prairie Biotic Research, Inc. received 31 research proposals from 15 states. Two grants were awarded: John Tooker of University of Illinois for his proposal, "Recolonization of prairies by insects after controlled burns," and to Kari Jacobson of University of Minnesota for her proposal, "Reducing smooth brome by interseeding competitive native cool-season grasses and early-season forbs in a smooth brome field in Crow-Hassan Park Reserve, Minnesota." PBR will again offer grants up to $1000 in 2003. Watch for our next announcement to solicit proposals.--Andrew H. Williams (awilliam@facstaff.wisc.edu)

SAGEMAP Website

This site (http://sagemap.wr.usgs.gov/) is a portal for spatial data needed for research and management of sage grouse and shrubsteppe systems. The site is dynamically changing as we update current information and incorporate new data.--Steven T. Knick (steve_knick@usgs.gov)

Tower Kills

Here is a web site devoted to the growing tower kill issue www.towerkill.com/index.html. At the website click on any state and see for yourself what an incredible gauntlet migratory birds must run twice per year across the U.S. Plus there is a lot of other good information at this site.

MEETINGS

31st North American Association for Environmental Education

August 6-10, 2002 - Park Plaza Hotel, Boston, Massachusetts. The "Boston TEE (Total Environmental Education) Party," will follow four strands:

• Strand 1: From Nature to Sustainability
• Strand 2: Designing and Planning Spaces for People
• Strand 3: Towards the Just City
• Strand 4: Leading the way

For details, see www.naaee.org/conferences/index.php.

3rd North American Ornithological Conference (NAOC)

The 3rd NAOC (held every 4 years) is being held in New Orleans, Louisiana, 24-30 Sep 2002. Hosted by Tulane University and The Audubon Institute, the theme is "Birds on the Bayou: In the footsteps of Audubon". The main venue will be the Intercontinental Hotel, located just 3 blocks from the famous French Quarter. The Conference is being hosted by The American Ornithologists' Union, The Cooper Ornithological Society, The Raptor Research Foundation, the Society for Canadian Ornithologists/ Soci1t1 des Ornithologistes du Canada, The Society of Caribbean Ornithology, and Secci#n Mexicana del Consejo Internacional para la Preservaci#n de las Aves (CIPAMEX). The Call for Papers closes 3 May 2002. For more information, see the conference web site at www.tulane.edu/~naoc-02/ or contact the co-organizers: Tom Sherry (tsherry@tulane.edu) or Kimberly Smith (kgsmith@uark.edu).

2002 Meeting Of The Waterbird Society

The 26th annual meeting of the Society will be held 6 - 10 Nov 2002, at the Radisson Hotel, La Crosse, WI. We invite you to share your interests, ideas and knowledge of waterbirds by attending this meeting and presenting an oral or poster paper. Abstracts for a paper must be submitted by 15 Aug 2002. Contact Betty Anne Schreiber (SchreiberE@aol.com) for scientific program information and Chris Custer (christine_custer@usgs.gov) for local arrangements information or visit www.nmnh.si.edu/BIRDNET/CWS/index.html.

The VIIth Neotropical Ornithological Congress

The 7th NOC will take place in Puerto Varas (Xth Region), Chile, 5-11 October 2003. Puerto Varas, a friendly town of about 35,000, is 10 km N of Puerto Montt (web searches for this town will succeed), an easy to reach, economical, and well-known travel destination in the beautiful Lake District of Chile. The Puerto Varas Congress Center, with its meeting rooms and related facilities perched on a hill overlooking Lake Llanquihue and the Volcano Osorno, is only an 800-meters walk from downtown Puerto Varas. A variety of pre- and post- tours throughout Chile, including Easter Island and Patagonia, will be offered. The scientific program will include plenary lectures, concurrent symposia sessions, oral papers, poster sessions, and round-table discussions. English and Spanish will be the working languages of the Congress.

Members and non-members of the Neotropical Ornithological Society are encouraged to plan on attending this 2003 quadrennial meeting in Chile. Membership in the NOS is inexpensive and open to all with interests in the study of birds of the Neotropics, both resident as well as wintering migratory birds. Deadline for proposals for Symposia, Workshops, and Round-tables is 11 August 2002. Oral Contributions, and Posters abstracts must be received no later than 5 March 2003. For more information, see www.neotropicalornithology.org.

Other Meetings

See meetings listed in the Ornithological Newsletter (http://www.ornith.cornell.edu /OSNA/139.htm#meet).

NEWS OF PEOPLE

Shawchyi Vorisek - New PIF Coordinator in Kentucky

Shawchyi (pronounced saw-chee) Vorisek was born in Taipei, Taiwan, but moved to the states when she was five. She grew up in Durango, CO. where she received an undergraduate degree in biology from Fort Lewis College in 1994. Shawchyi received her master's degree in biology in 1999 from Eastern Kentucky University where she studied the mating strategies of Indigo Buntings. Since her graduate work, she has worked as a hack attendant on Peregrine Falcons, a wildlife educator, and a coal mine permit reviewer.--Shawchyi Vorisek, Wildlife Biologist/Wildlife, Diversity Program, KY Dept. of Fish and Wildlife Resources, #1 Game Farm Road, Frankfort, KY 40601, 502-564-5448, shawchyi.vorisek@mail.state.ky.us.

Lalo Luzania - Ornithologist on the Rise

Lalo has been helping Eduardo Gomez monitor birds on the Santa Cruz river in

Sonora (www.sonoran.org) and has helped with school programs to educate his community about bird conservation, also he started a bird watching club called the Falcons. When Lalo and Joaquin were at the 3rd International PIF conference, Madge Lindsay from the World Birding Center in Texas met Lalo Luzania and Joaquin Murrieta and they were looking at birds. Lalo's bins were so shabby, Madge went to the Brunton vendor table and talked them out of a pair of $500-600 binos and gave them to him at the end of their presentation at the Deserts and Mountain Islands session.-- Dr. Joaquin Murrieta-Saldivar, Director Asociado Programa Ecoregional-Desierto Sonorense (joaquin@sonoran.org.

Rick Kearney Joints IAFWA

The International Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies is very pleased to welcome Rick Kearney as their new migratory bird coordinator. Rick will be responsible for assisting state fish and wildlife agencies with the development and implementation of Bird Conservation Plans, focusing on the IAFWA All Bird Workshops, Partners in Flight, North American Waterbird Conservation Plan and the U.S. Shorebird Plan. He will work closely with Len Ugarenko, IAFWA's North American Waterfowl Plan coordinator and Naomi Edelson, the wildlife diversity director. A Federal Aid grant submitted by IAFWA's bird conservation committee has allowed the IAFWA to create this new and much needed position.

Rick brings a wealth of experience to IAFWA. Originally from New York, he holds a BS in Wildlife Science from Cornell and an MS in Conservation Biology from the University of Maryland. Rick served his country for more than 20 years as an Army officer before accepting an early retirement and returning to his wildlife career. Since then, he has managed the Maryland-DC Important Bird Area Program, been active in Partners in Flight, written the PIF Bird Conservation Plan for the mid-Atlantic Piedmont region, and volunteered countless hours at the National Wildlife Visitor Center. Please feel free to contact him (202-624-8917, RKearney@sso.org). Rick is located in our Washington DC office.--Naomi Edelson (nedelson@sso.org)

Errata: In the April 2002 newsletter, I reported that the PIF Estes Park conference was in 1993. Actually, it was in 1992. The proceedings were published in 1993.

The next newsletter will be issued on 1 October  2002.  Items are due 15 September 2002 to Terry Rich (terry_rich@fws.gov) by e-mail only.  Please put “Newsletter Item” in the subject line.