Practical Conservation

The Comprehensive Review of Farm Bill Benefits to Wildlife reviews the impacts of USDA Conservation Programs on wildlife habitat and populations from 1885-2000. Much of the document focuses on grassland birds because the vast majority of the enrolled acres are in grass practices, and most of the available research is on birds. There are chapters specifically on waterfowl & CRP, grassland birds & CRP, and grassland birds & buffer practices. The Southeast and Midwest each get their own chapter. There are chapters on Swampbuster, WRP, WHIP and EQUIP. The list of authors is impressive – Pete Heard, Douglas Johnson, Louis Best, just to name a few. The highlight of the document is an extensive annotated bibliography. Fifteen years of ag-wildlife research in one volume. The individual chapters are available HERE. The chapters by Burger, Ryan, and Best are central texts in my Ag-Wildlife course.

In 2005, the NRCS in conjunction with the Wildlife Society produced two additional reviews.

The first one – Fish & Wildlife Benefits of Farm Bill Conservation Programs – covers the first half of this decade. Some chapters from the 1985-2000 document are present in revised form (e.g., Johnson, Grassland Bird Use of CRP in the Great Plains; Burger, The CRP in the Southeast; Reynolds, The CRP and Duck Production in the US Prairie Pothole region). There are also several new chapters on the CREP, the Grassland Reserve Program, and the Conservation Security Program. This update lacks the annotated bibliography of the first document. Individual chapters are available HERE. Hard copy can be be purchased from the Wildlife Society.

The second one – Fish & Wildlife Benefits of Farm Bill Conservation Practices – organizes the reviews by particular types of conservation practices, which can be useful from an objective-oriented planning perspective. Chapters include ones on cropland conservation practices, grassland establishment, agricultural buffers, grassland conservation practices, wetland establishment practices, and effects of conservation practices on aquatic habitats and fauna. The final chapter summarizes ways of “Using Adaptive Management to Meet Conservation Goals.” Individual chapters are available HERE. Hard copy can be be purchased from the Wildlife Society.

The USDA just opened up > 24 million acres of CRP to help offset increased feed costs. Many wildlife concerns are directly addressed. “Eligible land may not be hayed or grazed until after the end of the primary nesting season. Also, some ….. land must be reserved for wildlife and …… must have a conservation plan. In many instances, the removal of some of the grass cover will increase the diversity of the stand and provide long-term benefits for wildlife. Further, the most environmentally-sensitive land …. will not be eligible.” {emphasis mine}. This has been met with mixed reviews, so I link some of them below:

“Opinions vary….” Brownfield Network.

“America’s Duck Factory to also serve as Beef Factory.” Ducks Unlimited.

“Beef groups oppose USDA Plan….” Cattle Network.

“Corn prices slip after USDA opens….” MarketWatch.

“Are we subsidizing forages?” AgWeb Blogs.

“Mixed feelings….” from Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever at Eden Prairie News.

“CRP Release Rankles Hay Growers…” – from Hay & Forage Grower.

“Pros & Cons of USDA Releasing….“  – from Wallaces Farmer.

Conservation Corridor Planning at the Landscape Level (CCPLL) is now part 613 of USDA NRCS National Biology Handbook. Overall, it is an excellent resource aimed at conservation practitioners. It is clearly written in a way that can be understood by laymen without sacrificing scientific content. It is suitable as a supplemental text in advanced undergraduate and perhaps graduate level courses. I have used it as a primary text in my Managing Wildlife in Agricultural Landscapes course.

After a brief introduction, the second chapter of CCPLL reviews the ecological effects of fragmentation. The third chapter describes the different types and functions of corridors. Together, these two chapters review the principles of landscape ecology most relevant to conservation in agricultural landscapes. The fourth chapter moves into ecologically-based design principles, although amount of real empirical verification for varies among them (i.e. some of them are better bets than others). The last two chapters move away from ecology and into area-wide planning process and conservation planning.

A major advantage of this document are the case studies sprinkled generously throughout each chapter. A second major advantage is that it is available free here (very large pdf).

Real-time water quality data across the US available at WaterQualityWatch from USGS. “Measurements include streamflow (through WaterWatch) water temperature, specific conductance, pH, dissolved oxygen, and turbidity. These measurements are available at more than 1,300 sites in streams with watersheds as small as a few square miles to more than 1,000,000 square miles in the Mississippi River as it enters the Gulf of Mexico.” Thanks Common Sense Agriculture.

Nice little documentary about prescribed burning in Florida longleaf pine system from Terra.

Three reviews of the Farm Bill from the Wildlife Management Institute, FarmPolicy.com, and the Wildlife Management Pro.

“…buried deep in this monster bill are what could be the seeds of change.” FarmPolicy.com summarizes the new Farm Bill. Many of these seeds of change may be good for conservation.

Terra has a a 3-part video – Bison Haze – about the current bison-cattle conflict near Yellowstone Nat’l Park. These online videos give even-handed treatment to the different interests (ranchers, tribes and conservationists) with a stake in the conflict. This should be a great discussion starter for my class next spring.

Get Windbreaks for Conservation from USDA National Agroforestry Center. It is an excellent guide to design considerations for conservation windbreaks. You may have to supplement regional woody plant species information to select the appropriate trees & shrubs for your region. They have additional windbreak publications including Windbreaks for Wildlife, How Windbreaks Work, & many other more detailed aspects of windbreak design, establishment and management.

Living the Country Life has articles on creating wildlife on your property in cooperation with Pheasants Forever and New Holland.