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Important Bird Areas |
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WASHINGTON’S
IMPORTANT BIRD AREAS PROGRAM Audubon
Washington released the initial results of its Important Bird Area program
in June 2001 with the publication of Important Bird Areas of Washington.
This 170-page book describing the first 53 Important Bird Areas (IBAs)
was widely distributed to government agencies, land managers, planners,
regulators, libraries, the media, and other conservation organizations,
as well as Audubon chapters. The
search for additional IBAs is continuing, and nominations are still being
accepted. Work sessions involving local experts are being held around
the state in an effort to fill gaps in the database. An update to Important
Bird Areas of Washington will be published in 2003. Audubon
Washington is coordinating conservation efforts with the Washington Department
of Fish and Wildlife, local land trusts, and other member organizations
of the North American Bird Conservation Initiative.
FEATURED
IMPORTANT BIRD AREA Site Description: The Arid Lands Ecology Reserve, in Benton County, is
one of the few large, contiguous blocks of shrub-steppe habitat in the
Northwest still retaining a dominant pre-European settlement ecology and
physical character. The site was closed to public access in the early
1940’s, which preserved the native shrub-steppe ecosystem in a quantity
and quality not found elsewhere in the Columbia Basin. Managed as a wildlife
reserve and environmental research area, this site has a long history
of biological and ecological studies, beginning in the 1950’s. The
area’s diversity of habitats—from a windswept treeless sub-alpine
ridge at 1,060 meters of elevation, to bunchgrass grassland, shrub-steppe,
and riparian habitats at 130 meters—supports a wide array of unique
plant and animal species. Biological inventories conducted in the 1990’s
yielded 20 new plant varieties and 50 species of insects previously unknown
in Washington. Ornithological
Summary: The
Reserve supports an extraordinary assemblage of breeding birds associated
with grassland and shrub-steppe ecosystems, including Ferruginous Hawk,
WatchListed Long-billed Curlew, Burrowing Owl, Loggerhead Shrike, Sage
Thrasher, WatchListed Brewer’s Sparrow, WatchListed Sage Sparrow,
and Grasshopper Sparrow. The site supports one of Washington’s largest
breeding populations of Sage Sparrows (up to 200 adults), a candidate
species for state listing. Breeding populations of Brewer’s and Grasshopper
Sparrows number as high as 300 and 1,000, respectively. Two other state
candidate species, Loggerhead Shrikes and Sage Thrashers, commonly breed
here; and as many as six Ferruginous Hawks, a state-listed threatened
species, have been recorded during breeding season. Two year-round springs
support extensive riparian areas that provide breeding habitat for flycatchers,
warblers, orioles, and other neotropical migrants. Conservation
Issues: In late June 2000, a massive wildfire swept through nearly
all of the Arid Lands Reserve. In many places, mature sagebrush was destroyed,
but native grasses are expected to recover quickly. Disturbance of soil
by fire-fighting equipment left the ground vulnerable to invasion by non-native
plants. Although infrequent fire is a natural part of the system, there
is a concern that cheatgrass will quickly re-colonize some areas, thus
leading to more frequent fires which, in turn, limit the growth of sagebrush.
Reserve managers have estimated that $600,000 will be needed to restore
the areas damaged by fire-fighting equipment and to prevent the rapid
spread of invasive exotic plants. Even before the fire, invasive exotics
were a conservation threat. Airborne pesticide drift from nearby agricultural
land is also a cause for concern. To
Learn More About Audubon Washington’s Visit
the Web Site: Contact:
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