Bird Habitat Conservation in North Carolina _________________________

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Bird Habitat Conservation in North
Carolina_________________________
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Southeast
Region John Stanton and Jon Andrew ACJV
Management Board Meeting March 11, 2008 Duck, NC
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Outline

• Refuge System Overview-North Carolina
• Refuge Comprehensive Conservation Plans
• NAWCA Grants Refuges
• The Services role in Strategic Habitat
  Conservation

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Mission of the National Wildlife Refuge System

• The mission of the National Refuge System is
  "to administer a network of lands and waters for
  the conservation, management and where
  appropriate, restoration of the fish, wildlife,
  and plant resources and their habitats within the
  United States for the benefit of present and
  future generations of Americans."

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National Wildlife Refuges Field Stations in
North Carolina
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Refuge Facts

• Combined refuge land holdings 391,000 acres
• Presidential Proclamation waters 52,700 acres
• Dominant habitat types Pocosin, Marine/sound
  and bay waters, freshwater pools/ponds/lakes,
  marshes (fresh and brackish), managed freshwater
  marsh, Cypress-gum swamp, bottomland hardwood,
  and peatland Atlantic white cedar forest.

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Primary Refuge Purposes

• By law, Refuges are to be managed so as to
  achieve their purposes.
• Purposes dealing with the conservation,
  management, and restoration of fish, wildlife,
  and plants, and the habitats on which they depend
  take precedence over other purposes in the
  management and administration of any unit.
• Wildlife-dependent" activities will be
  encouraged and receive special consideration
  above all other general public uses.

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Refuge Comprehensive Conservation Planning

• Mandated by Refuge Improvement Act of 1997.
• Comprehensive conservation plans provide
  direction for managing refuges over a 15-year
  time period. These plans are prepared to fulfill
  the mission of the National Wildlife Refuge
  System and the purpose(s) of each refuge.
• State, NGO, public and partner involvement.

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Refuge Comprehensive Conservation Plans

• Roanoke River NWR- Completed2006
• Currituck NWR- Completed 2006
• Mackay Island NWR- Completed 2006
• Cedar Island NWR- Completed 2006
• Pea Island NWR- Completed 2006
• Alligator River NWR- Completed 2007
• Pocosin Lakes NWR- Completed 2007
• Swanquarter NWR- Proposed to finish 2008
• Mattamuskeet NWR- Proposed to finish 2008
• Pee Dee NWR- Proposed to finish 2008
• http//www.fws.gov/southeast/planning/

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NAWCA Grants

• SAMBI Conservation Project (conserved 6,000
  acres)
• Mackay Island National Wildlife Refuge
• (conserved 500 acres)
• Sound Investment Phase I II
• (conserved 12,000 acres)
• NE North Carolina Wetlands Initiative
• (conserved 2,600 aces)
• Roanoke River Migratory Bird Initiative Phase I
  II
• (conserved 10,000 acres)

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Strategic Habitat Conservation (SHC)and the
Refuge System

• We envision working collaboratively with
  partners to develop and implement a landscape
  approach to habitat conservation, leading to what
  we term strategic habitat conservation.

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The Catalysts of Change

• Three catalysts are spurring change in the
  science and practice of conservation
• Advancements in conservation theory
• Geospatial technologies
• Increasing emphasis on accountability
• As described above, these catalysts enable us to
  achieve conservation objectives more effectively
  and efficiently.

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Strategic Habitat Conservation Defined

• A unified conservation approach for defining and
  pursuing landscape and population sustainability.
  
• At the core of SHC is a structured science-based
  framework founded on an adaptive, iterative
  process of 1.) biological planning, 2.)
  conservation design, 3.) conservation delivery, 4
  5.) monitoring and research.

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The SHC Framework is an iterative, 5-Element
Adaptive Process
Conservation Delivery
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In Summary

• The mission of the National Refuge System is "to
  administer a network of lands and waters for the
  conservation, management and where appropriate,
  restoration of the fish, wildlife, and plant
  resources and their habitats.
• The Refuge Systems Strategic Habitat
  Conservation approach to conservation mirrors the
  framework outlined in the ACJVs Biological
  Foundation Document.

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In Summary

• Through careful coordination and cooperation
  during the implementation of North Carolinas
  State Wildlife Plan, Refuge CCPs, and the actions
  of our ACJV partnership, we can all demonstrate
  leadership of all-bird conservation within our
  administrative boundaries.
• We concur with the ACJVs vision that the
  implementation of each element will require full
  participation of all joint venture partners that
  includes the National Wildlife Refuge System.

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Thank you.