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This Land Protection Plan for Dakota Grassland Conservation Area provides a description of the project, a description of the area and its resources, threats to the resources, and project implementation. The Land Protection PlanDakota Grassland Conservation Area describes the management approach that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will take in carrying out this easement program to protect prairie habitats. The plan is based on an environmental assessment, developed with public involvement, that documents the purpose, issues, alternatives, and analysis for the project.

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Monthly waterfowl counts from Morgan Brake Brake NWR between 1993 and 1995 and between 2001 and 2005

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This report was compiled by staff in the Division of National Wildlife Refuges from data submitted for field stations on FY 1977 refuge PPBE system output reports. It includes a national summary with species priority and individual refuge lists of species use days, peak populations and species production.

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Freshwater mussels are one of the most imperiled groups of animals in North America. Currently 70 mussel species are listed as endangered or threatened under the Endangered Species Act, and a number of others are candidates or potential candidates for protection.

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Ecological integrity refers to the degree to which an ecosystem resembles the natural or historical range of variation of that ecosystem in function, species composition, and vegetation structure. Ecological integrity is a complex concept that embodies a great number of variables, presenting some real challenges in monitoring and management. In recent years, NatureServe, in collaboration with a number of partners, has developed an approach to assessing ecological integrity by identifying key variables and a set of standard, repeatable measures of those variables Faber Langendoen et al. 2009. This process allows for the establishment of a baseline assessment, and a means to detect change over time. In general, the method first identifies the major ecological attributes to be measured: landscape context and condition, patch size, vegetation, substrate, and stressors. Each attribute is assessed separately and assigned a value based on the metrics provided, and the metrics are integrated into an overall rank, or index. To calculate the index, we used a metrics Excel workbook developed by NatureServe FaberLangendoen et al. 2008. The metrics spreadsheet provides a range of values for each metric, and the user enters the appropriate scores for each. Land use and stressor impacts both require the evaluation of a number of factors, so a land use index and a stressor impact evaluation are calculated in separate spreadsheets and those scores are pulled into the overall metrics spreadsheet.The management goals of refuge staff are to establish a baseline assessment of an identified patch of shrubland within the refuge, against which to compare the effectiveness of differing management strategies. Landscape connectivity and surrounding land use are neither within the purview of the USFWS staff, nor likely to change significantly over the period of adaptive management. The patch size to be assessed was also selected a priori and as a fixed measure would not change. For this reason, we deviated from the above methods and did not evaluate patch size or landscape context in calculation of the baseline index. The metrics we measured include: vegetation, soil, hydrology, and land use.

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Monthly waterfowl counts from Mathews Brake NWR between 1993 and 1995 and between 2001 and 2005

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This Land Protection Plan for Swan Valley Conservation Area provides a description of the project, a description of the area and its resources, threats to the resources, and project implementation. The Swan Valley Conservation Area CA project is a conservation strategy to protect one of the last undeveloped, lowelevation coniferous forest ecosystems in western Montana.

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Midwinter waterfowl counts from three NWRs between 1993 and 1995 and between 1998 and 2001

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The Mississippi Alluvial Valley MA V is the historic alluvial floodplain of the Lower Mississippi River. Most of the MAV is located in Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi with smaller segments in Tennessee, Missouri, Illinois, and Kentucky Fig. I. Before European settlement, the MA V was a 10 millionha forested wetland system created and maintained by backwater and headwater flooding as well as localized ponding on poorly drained soils. Long duration flooding in the MA V led to sediment and nutrient deposition. Over the last century, most of the land in the MAV has been cleared and converted to agriculture and aquaculture with only 28 of the original area now forested King and Keeland 1999. In addition to changes in land cover types, the MA V has also experienced major changes in hydrology. The building of dams, levees and other water control structures has altered many hydrological processes Elliott and McKnight 2000. Although historical use of the predominately forested region by migrating shorebirds was low, they most likely made use of the sandbars and shores on the Mississippi River as well as the sloughs and backwater areas in the MA V Twedt et al. 1998. Many of these areas no longer exist due to changes in the region. Because shorebirds are concentrated during migration, they are dependent on relatively small areas and especially vulnerable to habitat changes Myers 1983. Open agricultural fields and aquacultural facilities in the MA V now provide much of the habitat for migrating shorebirds Twedt et al. 1998. The Lower Mississippi Alluvial Valley Joint Venture LMVJV was organized in the late 1980s in order to implement the North American Waterfowl Management Plan in the MAV. Partners in the LMVJV include members from state agencies in the joint venture area, several federal agencies, and nongovernment conservation groups. In 1989, the Neotropical Migratory Bird Program, better known as Partners in Flight PIF, was established as a cooperative initiative for the conservation of neotropical migrants and their habitats. An informal coalition between the PIF and LMV JV has developed over the past several years Loesch et al. 1995. Based on consultation with the Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network, the PIF and LMV JV identified foraging habitat during fall migration as the primary habitat need for shorebirds in the MAV. The U.S. Shorebird Conservation Plan outlined 3 steps for stabilizing and enhancing continental populations of shorebirds. Those steps include compiling existing information, identifying important questions, and prioritizing future research and conservation needs. These plans have been finetuned at the Bird Conservation Region BeR level by the Shorebird Working Group of the LMVJV Migratory Bird Science Team. In the MAV BCR, the top 2 research priorities are estimating the abundance of shorebirds using the MA V during fall migration and estimating fall migration turnover rates. Turnover rates for shorebirds in the MA V are defined as the average time, in days, that a shorebird takes to pass through the MAV BCR. In 1995, the Mississippi Alluvial Valley Bird Initiative developed management objectives for the MA V based on the assumption that the average turnover for a migrating shorebird was 10 days. The primary objective of this study is to estimate the turnover rates of fall migrating shorebirds in the MA V using 2 target species, the pectoral sandpiper Calidris metanotos, PESA and the least sandpiper Calidris minulilla, LESA. We will estimate turnover rates from PESAs using radio telemetry data from 2001 and 2002 and from LESAs using captureresight data from 2002.

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Hillside National Wildlife Refuge consists of about 16,000 acres in the MississippiYazoo River alluvial plain, at the foot of the loess bulff hills, in Holmes and Yazoo Counties, Mississippi. The Army Corps of Engineers purchased the refuge lands under the Hillside Floodway, Yazoo Basin Project 1964 and transferred the property to the Fish and Wildlife Service in 1974. A cutoff levee along the west edge of the refuge and a bluff on the east side form an elongated floodway that functions as a sediment collection area for Black and Fannegusha Creeks. Sedimentation altered the vegetative composition on a large portion of the north end of the refuge.

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The United States Fish and Wildlife Service has proposed to establish a Nulhegan Basin Division of the Silvio 0. Conte National Fish and Wildlife Refuge to provide longterm protection for important migratory bird habitat, habitat for rare species and plant communities, important fisheries habitat, and valuable wetlands. This Final Environmental Assessment and its supporting documents describe a vision for longterm protection of important habitat and the species in and around the Nulhegan Basin. Land protection in this area will safeguard the important biological resources the Service recognized when it designated this area as a high priority Special Focus Area in the Refuge Draft and Final Environmental Impact Statements.

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This document lists amphibian, reptile, and turtle species found on Quivira National Wildlife Refuge.

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These Deer Harvest Forms show raw data for Archery hunts collected from check in stations at Hillside National Wildlife Refuge during 1999

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This Land Protection Plan for Sangre de Cristo Conservation Area provides a description of the project, a description of the area and its resources, threats to the resources, and project implementation. The purpose of the SCCA is to protect the highelevation wildlife habitats of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains and the uplands of the southeastern San Luis Valley, with an emphasis on migratory birds and imperiled species. Acquisitions within, and administration of, the SCCA will focus on promoting the adaptive capacity and resilience of these ecosystems by ensuring connectivity between existing protected areas and by protecting wildlife movement corridors, particularly riparian areas.

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This report outlines a study done to document the distribution and relative abundance of nocturnal owls on the 48,000 acres comprising the Nulhegan Basin Division of the Silvio O Conte National Wildlife Refuge and the West Mountain Wildlife Management Area.

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This presents the results of two separate Ruffed Grouse drumming survey routes conducted in May of 2006 on the Nulhegan Basin of the Silvio O. Conte National Wildlife Refuge.

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In 1999, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources acquired two adjacent properties encompassing 48,000 acres of former timberland in Essex County, Vermont. The Nulhegan Basin Division and the West Mountain Wildlife Management Area contain regionally significant wetlands that support potentially vulnerable amphibian populations. During the spring and summer of2001, the Vermont Institute of Natural Science conducted three calling anuran surveys at seven of the areas wetland complexes. The objectives were to gather distribution and abundance information for stewardship planning and to establish a baseline for future monitoring. We detected all seven species that had been inventoried the previous year by Andrews 2001. Although the roadbased surveys did not reach remote wetland habitat, they helped reveal an emerging pattern of species distribution and abundance. Two wetland complexes, Upper Yellow Branch Wetlands and Wheeler PondWheeler Stream Wetlands, appear to hold high conservation value for the anuran community. Each harbors six species,including Mink Frog, the regions only anuran with a restricted Vermont range. The author presents recommendations for conserving Mink Frogs and significant wetland habitat. They include the establishment of a longterm monitoring program that integrates nighttime call surveys and daytime searches. Such an approach would allow land managers to evaluate the effects of stewardship activity and measure progress toward achieving anuran conservation goals.

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This Land Protection Plan for Rocky Mountain Front Conservation Area provides a description of the project, a description of the area and its resources, threats to the resources, and project implementation. This project involves acquisition of up to an additional 125,000 acres of conservation easements within an expanded project boundary encompassing approximately 918,000 acres.

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This presents the results of two separate Ruffed Grouse drumming survey routes conducted in May of 2005 on the Nulhegan Basin of the Silvio O. Conte National Wildlife Refuge.

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Monthly Wildlife Information Report on Shore Birds at Mathews Brake National Wildlife Refuge

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During the spring of 2001, landbird breeding surveys were conducted at Honeypot Road, Westfield 20.62 acres of the Silvio O. Conte National Fish and Wildlife Refuge. The surveys purpose was to document the occurrence distribution and abundance of landbird species. Results will provide a baseline for future monitoring of bird populations. U. S. Fish and Wildlife Services provided funding for this survey.

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The purpose of this United States Fish Wildlife Service proposal is to ensure the longterm protection of unique wetland habitats adjacent to Lake Umbagog, on the northern New HampshireMaine border. These extensive wetlands serve as important breeding and migration habitat for many wetlanddependent migratory wildlife species of current concern to the Service. The proposal includes wetlands and portions of associated surrounding uplands, and would protect habitat for the endangered bald eagle and peregrine falcon, waterfowl species of priority such as the declining black duck, and many species of federal and state management concern including the common loon, northern harrier, American woodcock, and others. The proposal will serve to protect unique habitats that support a variety of migratory bird and resident mammal, fish, reptile, amphibian, invertebrate, and rare plant species, and will thereby contribute to the conservation of biological diversity in the northeastern United States. The Environmental Assessment addresses the threats to important fish and wildlife habitat in the study areas. Various alternatives for protection of these important habitats are presented.

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Major efforts have been initiated in the Lower Mississippi River Alluvial Valley LMA V. Fig. I from within both the U.S. Departments of Interior and Agriculture to restoreenhance wetlands, improve natural hydrology and reestablish bottomland hardwood forests. These programs were instigated because most palustrineforested wetlands have been either lost or altered and the rate of forested wetland loss continues to increase in the region Hefner et al. 1994. These restoration initiatives have many goals, one of which is the management of habitats for the benefit of migratory birds. While some management techniques are currently available for land managers to pursue these objectives, to date, few evaluations of the success of these programs have been made with respect to migratory birds. Also, evaluations of the use of these lands by migratory birds have not been made, nor have the management methods employed there been evaluated from the standpoint of bird use. One group of migratory birds that frequents the LMA V. birds preferring early successional habitats also referred to as grassland and scrubsuccessional birds. is of special interest to wildlife managers for two primary reasons. First, as a whole, this group of birds has experienced widespread population declines and range reductions Sauer et a!. 1999. Second, the habitats preferred by these birds require perturbations at regular intervals to set succession back to an earlier stage Krementz and Christie 1999. Thus, knowledge of management tools for publicowned lands, as well as private lands managed by federal assistance is required. Furthermore, understanding the wintering requirements of earlysuccessional species has been emphasized by the Southeastern Working Group of Partners in Flight in their Bird Conservation Plan for the Mississippi Alluvial Valley Twedt et al. 1999. Among the many general land management tools and programs available to land managers, we are in the process of investigating two in particular: reforestation and hydrologic restoration. The FWS describe these practices and the evaluation of these programs as of national significance in the FWS Research Needs. We hypothesize that both management practices will produce habitats that earlysuccessional birds prefer compared to sites not managed, and that active management will be necessary to maintain the attractiveness of these sites to earlysuccessional birds.

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Results of eastern bluebird nest box monitoring at Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge

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Monthly Wildlife Information Report on Raptorial Birds at Mathews Brake