A new national report released today by the North American Bird Conservation Initiative, and contributed to by local science-based non-profit Klamath Bird Observatory, highlights the considerable extent to which native bird populations in the United States depend on private lands. Significantly, the 2013 State of the Birds Report on Private Lands also demonstrates that conservation action on private lands is not just for the birds; landowners and the general public benefit from conservation actions that result in cleaner air and water and more resilient and productive landscapes.  

Throughout our nation, some two million ranchers and farmers and about 10 million woodland owners look after 1.43 billion acres, or roughly 60% of the land area of the United States. These private lands support more than 300 forest-breeding bird species, and several grassland birds have more than 90% of their distribution on private lands. Waterfowl also depend heavily on private lands. Innovative conservation partnerships are changing the face of private lands conservation as private landowners see real benefits and neighbors follow suit through so-called “contagious conservation.” 

In our own backyard, Klamath Bird Observatory is partnering with Lomakatsi Restoration Project, US Fish and Wildlife Service Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program, Natural Resources Conservation Service, and private landowners, and using birds to guide restoration on 2,000 acres of private oak woodlands in southern Oregon and northern California. This unique collaboration—the Central Umpqua-Mid Klamath Oak Conservation Project—received the 2012 Department of Interior Partners in Conservation Award and is restoring one of the West Coast’s most imperiled and biologically rich habitats, benefiting Oak Titmouse, Acorn Woodpecker, and Black-throated Gray Warbler. (To learn more about oaks ecosystems in the Pacific Northwest, download Klamath Bird Observatory and American Bird Conservancy’s Land Manager’s Guide to Bird Habitat and Populations in Oak Ecosystems of the Pacific Northwest, as well as the supplemental guide that features species accounts.)  

Klamath Bird Observatory advances bird and habitat conservation in the Klamath-Siskiyou Bioregion and beyond, and has contributed to the high-profile annual State of the Birds reports since the initial report in 2009. Klamath Bird Observatory believes that bird conservation is relevant to every American because the same landscapes that support diverse and abundant bird communities also provide vital services to humans.  

John Alexander and Jaime Stephens from Klamath Bird Observatory, and Marko Bey from Lomakatsi Restoration Project, will discuss the 2013 State of the Birds Report on Private Lands on Jefferson Public Radio’s news and information program Jefferson Exchange on Wednesday, July 10^th from 9:00am until 10:00am. Tune-in to learn more about what birds tell us about the state of the environment; how these local organizations are working with private landowners to provide benefits for landowners, wildlife, and society; and how America’s famous land ethic—articulated by Aldo Leopold—is being realized.

Access this Press Release in PDF Format by clicking here.  To listen to the Jefferson Exchange interview with John Alexander, Jaime Stephens, and Marko Bey by clicking here.

KBO’s Formative Years: 2000-2003

By John D Alexander, KBO Executive Director

From an expanding regional bird monitoring program, KBO fledged as an institution supporting observation-based science and its application to conservation and land management. By the time KBO was incorporated in 2000 we were implementing our Klamath Basin bird monitoring plan out of our field stations on Upper Klamath Lake. Realization of this program resulted from the  diverse partnerships that have been essential to KBO’s success. NGOs (PRBO Conservation Science and World Wildlife Fund), academic and research institutions (The Evergreen State College, Southern Oregon University [SOU] and the US Forest Service Pacific Southwest Research Station), land management agencies (Klamath Basin Wildlife Refuge Complex, Fremont-Winema National Forest, Bureau of Land Management Lakeview District, and Bureau of Reclamation), and private industry (PacifiCorp) all contributed to that effort. At our first board meeting, Stewart Janes (SOU professor), George Alexander (business leader), Margaret Widdowson (biological consultant with international experience), CJ Ralph (ecologist at the US Forest Service Redwood Sciences Laboratory), and I established KBO’s operating philosophy. KBO’s philosophical approach includes: (1) taking a science-based non-advocacy approach to conservation; (2) providing broad-based information, based on fair, unbiased science to inform the conservation process; (3) sharing data; and (4) providing insight to management questions based on science rather than personal opinion. The Rogue Valley Audubon Society Chapter and the World Wildlife Fund’s Siskiyou Regional Program gave KBO a leg up by providing our first non-federal funds as matching dollars for federal grants. We were up and running, working in concert with the Redwood Sciences Laboratory and continuing efforts on the Klamath National Forest in California and in the Klamath Basin. In the Rogue Valley we were developing partnerships with many groups including Medford BLM, Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest, Applegate River Watershed Council, and Friends of the Greensprings. Early members of KBO included colleagues, leaders of the local birding community, and community and business leaders from across the region, demonstrating wide public support. After years of volunteer service Glenn Johnson became KBO’s first field crew leader. In 2001 KBO developed an important partnership with the Ashland School District. We moved our headquarters to the District’s Willow Wind Community Learning Center, starting our outreach and education program. Ben Wieland, SOU Environmental Education Masters Student, fledged KBO’s education program, working with K-12 students, college students, community members, and land managers. In 2002 Jaime Stephens joined KBO as a Master’s student at SOU, taking over our extensive censusing program, and Bob Frey joined KBO in 2003 to oversee our banding and training programs. In 2003, KBO, in partnership with the Redwood Sciences Lab, received the Forest Service and Ducks Unlimited Taking Wing award for increasing understanding of wetland ecosystems and habitat relationships through excellence in science and management applications, testimony that we were heading in the right direction. With a clear mission, diverse support, exciting projects and a devoted board and staff, KBO was off to a strong start.

KBO in the Nest: 1992-1996

By John D Alexander, KBO Executive Director

Partners In Flight (PIF) is a cooperative effort involving federal, state, and local government agencies, philanthropic foundations, professional organizations, conservation groups, industry, the academic community, and private individuals to conserve bird populations in this hemisphere. KBO grew from Partners In Flight research and monitoring efforts that were designed to inform conservation in the Klamath-Siskiyou Bioregion. In 1992, as CJ Ralph and Kim Hollinger, with the US Forest Service Redwood Sciences Laboratory in Arcata, California, were forming the Klamath Demographic Monitoring Network, I had the fortune, under the guidance of Sam Cuenca, Kathy Granillo and Bill Maynard, to lead a comprehensive bird censusing effort on the Klamath National Forest in Siskiyou County, California. As inspired Steve Herman students from the Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington, my wife Taylor and I came to northern California with a passion for using science to advance conservation along with a love for mist netting birds. With support from CJ and Kim, who shared our passion, we expanded The Network eastward by establishing mist netting stations across the Klamath National Forest as a volunteer effort. Our bird monitoring efforts in northern California were focused on gathering information to be used for integrating bird conservation objectives with land management programs. Our efforts informed a variety of land management projects including: the Goose Nest Adaptive Management Area, Marble Mountains range management, and late successional reserve management. From the beginning our efforts were coordinated with California’s PIF chapter, and we expanded our participation with PIF by presenting our efforts at the 1994 International PIF Meeting in Cape May, New Jersey, and participating with CJ, Borja Mila (UCLA Center for Tropical Research) and many others in training and program development efforts for the Neotropics. While attending a PIF Western Working Group meeting in Klamath Falls, Oregon, Geoff Guepel  (PRBO Conservation Science), CJ, and I wrote a songbird monitoring plan for the Upper Klamath Basin. This set the stage for realizing a comprehensive bioregional conservation program that would cross land management jurisdiction lines, not to mention the Oregon-California state line.