Idaho

Idaho's Important Bird Areas (IBA) Program was launched in 1996 as a partnership between Idaho Partners in Flight and the Idaho Audubon Council. Since 1997, the IBA Technical Committee has encouraged and reviewed nominations for potential IBAs. To date, 55 sites have been officially recognized as Important Bird Areas in Idaho, representing 3.8 million acres of public and private wetland and upland habitat throughout the state. The monitoring phase of the Idaho IBA program is underway, with monitoring at several IBAs being conducted either by biologists responsible for the management of the area, or by volunteers. These monitoring efforts, which are intended to collect basic information about the IBAs, will create an inventory of bird species present at each site, at a minimum, and will likely lead to further investigations. The Nongame and Endangered Wildlife Program of the Idaho Department of Fish and Game (IDFG - http://www.fishandgame.idaho.gov), where the IBA Program is now housed, has recently initiated a coordinated all-bird monitoring program, the Idaho Bird Inventory and Survey (IBIS), that will initiate more extensive monitoring at all wetland IBAs and select upland IBAs across the state. Under the IBIS program, monitoring was initiated at five wetland IBAs in 2004, with 20 more being added in 2005. In addition, proponents are being sought to work toward conservation and stewardship of IBAs. These individuals and organizations will be champions for bird conservation at particular sites and will work cooperatively with each site's land manager or landowner.