Flat Ranch: Curlew Paradise!

Submitted by Chris Little, East Idaho land steward

Great news from Flat Ranch Preserve!

Last we conducted a pre-nesting curlew survey on Flat Ranch with biologist Rob Cavallaro of the Idaho Department of Fish and Game.

The survey involved three transects, each containing 5 to 9 survey points. Teams of two walked each transect, stopping at survey points for 5 minutes to record individual curlews, either by visual or auditory confirmation.

In the end, the survey recorded 95 curlews.

According to Rob, these preliminary findings suggest that Flat Ranch may have the highest density of nesting curlews in the country!

We will be conducting a second survey in several weeks when adults are brooding chicks - I will make sure to report again following this.

Big thanks to Nathan Welch, Chet Work, Sarah Grigg, and Rob Cavallaro for making this happen. Be sure to visit Flat Ranch this summer; the curlews are waiting!

5 Reasons to Visit Flat Ranch This Summer

The Nature Conservancy's Flat Ranch Preserve is located right off Highway 20 near Macks Inn, just 15 minutes west of West Yellowstone. It makes a perfect day trip from eastern Idaho, or a great stop en route to Yellowstone.

Admission is free, and our staff and volunteers love to meet visitors who stop by. Still need convincing? Here are five reasons to stop by Flat Ranch Preserve this summer:
The birds. The meadows of Flat Ranch offer perfect habitat for nesting birds, including sandhill cranes and long-billed curlews (pictured above). The whistling wings of snipe can often be heard in the evening, and ospreys and bald eagles hunt along the streambanks. Bring your binoculars and explore on your own, or join one of our birding groups later in the summer.

The blooms. Flat Ranch is carpeted with spectacular wildflowers in the summer, with mule-s ear, camas, sego lily and many others stretching out across the flat. It's a stunning sight. Bring your camera.

The fish. The Henry's Lake Outlet holds native Yellowstone cutthroat trout, and the Conservancy is working with partners to improve conditions for these fish. Fly fishing is permitted on the preserve. While fishing is highly dependent on water levels, it can be excellent early in the year. You may even catch one like this one that was captured during an electro-shocking survey on the preserve last year.

The kids. Throughout the summer, Flat Ranch hosts educational programs every Wednesday and most Saturdays. (A full schedule will be posted on this blog soon). Most of these programs are perfect for kids, offering the chance to meet hawks and Karelian bear dogs, look through telescopes or identify water bugs. The spotting scope is always set up for close-up views of pronghorns and cranes, and the preserve is a perfect place to wander around and explore.

The conservation. The Conservancy is working at Flat Ranch to demonstrate how a cattle ranch and wildlife habitat can coexist. Our restoration program is improving stream conditions for fish, waterfowl and other wildlife. And around the area, we're working with ranchers to protect their lands, benefiting the rural economy and Yellowstone's migrating wildlife. Stop by and see how your membership in The Nature Conservancy is making a difference in the Henry's Lake area, creating a hopeful future for people and nature.

We hope to see you at Flat Ranch this summer!

High Waters

Around Idaho (and many other parts of the country), it's been a cool, wet spring. That means many streams and rivers are raging torrents right now.

Boundary Creek (pictured above), on the border of Idaho and Canada, looks typical of many streams right: frothing whitewater raging past rocks and boulders.

For most Idahoans, this is a welcome sight. To be sure, there can be flooding in some areas. However, most recognize ample water as essential for Idaho's agriculture, hydropower, outdoor recreation and wildlife. High waters mean wetlands (like Ball Creek Ranch Preserve, above) are full and attracting nesting waterfowl. And a raging creek is much preferred to drought.

That's not the case everywhere. Along the Mississippi, from Missouri to Louisiana, is experiencing record floods this year--causing suffering and intense damage to communities and farms.

What's going on here? And what can we do about it? The Nature Conservancy's Jeff Opperman offers the fundamentals on flood science in a special feature on this week's nature.org.

Silver Creek Preserve Opens 35th season

For anglers, it's always a special day: The fly fishing opener at Silver Creek, always the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend.

This year it's extra special: It marks the start of a summer of celebration for the preserve's 35th anniversary.

We have a summer of activities planned, including a 35th anniversary gala with inspirational speakers, music, dancing, auction trips and more--set on the beautiful grounds of Heart Rock Ranch (formerly the Diamond Dragon Ranch). Mark your calendar for June 30 and sign up today!

First, though, is this weekend's opening day barbecue. Join us for food and stories at the visitor center from noon to 3 p.m. (or until the food runs out) on Saturday, May 28. And check out our complete summer schedule.

And how will the fishing be this year? It's always hard to know, but if last year is any indication, there should be some real monsters lurking in the depths. Maybe you'll be lucky and catch one like the one Conservancy staffer Mark Davidson caught (pictured below).

We hope to see you at the preserve this summer. We'll be saving a a place for you!

Lava Lake Video

Last week we announced new conservation easements on Lava Lake Land & Livestock lands, protecting 4533 acres in the Pioneer Mountains. Here's a video on The Nature Conservancy's continuing partnership with Lava Lake, including other conservation projects.

Additionally, check out Rocky Barker's blog on the easements and Pioneer Mountains, and this nice Twin Falls Times News piece on the same subject.

Sage Grouse Video

Jean Bjerke shares this video she filmed at Dubois Grouse Days, held each April in Dubois, Idaho.

Grouse Days features a visit to the Conservancy's Crooked Creek Preserve, where these grouse were found. This part of the state remains a stronghold for sage grouse. It's great to see so many strutting and puffing. Thanks for sharing, Jean!

Lava Lake Lands Protected

Two conservation easements will protect 4533 acres of ranchlands in the Pioneer Mountains owned by Lava Lake Land & Livestock. The Nature Conservancy will hold the easements.

Conservation easements are legal agreements that ensure traditional uses of the land continue while protecting the property from subdivision.

The two properties protected by easements are located in the West Fork of Fish Creek drainage in the Pioneer Mountains, an area identified as important for wildlife in Idaho’s Comprehensive Wildlife Conservation Strategy. The properties are particularly important for sage grouse populations in the Pioneers, and also provide habitat for pronghorn, elk, mule deer, moose, sage thrasher and rare plants.

Learn more.

Photo by William H. Mullins

Women and Water

Women everywhere are stepping up to encourage smarter choices about water. Get inspired by visionary women like Cindy Mann, an Idaho farmer who is saving water with "pivotal" new technology at Silver Creek.

And watch other women discuss their connections to water conservation at nature.org/womenandwater.

Silver Creek: Let the Spring Fun Begin

This year marks Silver Creek Preserve's 35th anniversary. To celebrate, we have a season of fun activities planned, beginning this month. Phone 208-788-7910 to sign up or for more inforamtion. All activities at the preserve are free. We hope to see you at Silver Creek this summer!

May 8, 8:30 am - Mother's Day! Early morning guided birding with visiting Audubon guide Bernie Smith. Meet at the visitors center.

May 19, 6-9 pm - Evening birding with local expert Larry Barnes, meeting at the visitor center.

May 21 - Wood River Land Trust canoe float (contact WRLT for details, 208-788-3947).

May 26 - Picabo Hills hike for wildlife and wildflower viewing. This is a strenuous hike through rugged terrain (no trail). Bring lunch and water.

May 27 - Friends of Silver Creek canoe float (3 pm) and barbecue (5 pm). Have the opportunity to float the creek and scout it before opening day!

May 27 through August 26 - Sam Beebe photographic exhibition and vintage Silver Creek photo exhibit, The Community Library, Ketchum

May 28 - Opening day of trout season! Barbecue (12-3 pm, or until the food runs out) at the visitor center.

Full summer schedule

Save The Date: Silver Creek 35th Anniversary Gala. 6:30 pm Thursday, June 30 at Heart Rock Ranch (formerly Diamond Dragon Ranch). More information

Heart Rock Ranch

This week, landowners Harry and Shirley Hagey, with their conservation partners, shared their conservation plans for Heart Rock Ranch, located in the southern Wood River Valley.

When the Hageys purchased the two properties (formerly the Diamond Dragon and Spring Creek ranches) that make up the ranch in December 2010, they announced their goal of protecting the wildlife habitat, spring creeks and agricultural heritage of the property.

This summer, they begin an ambitious plan to restore creeks and wetlands and to protect important wildlife habitat. Read more about the conservation plan at the ranch.

Heart Rock Ranch's blog will include the latest updates on the project throughout the summer, providing details on projects that benefit wildlife, habitat and clean water in the Wood River Valley.

Moose Encounter

Our new seasonal staff member Jeff Barney had a memorable close encounter at Silver Creek yesterday.

Moose have become a common sight on the preserve. Many visitors at first express surprise, because the surrounding area is so arid. But the moose thrive in the healthy habitat along the spring creek.

Be alert and you may be rewarded with your own sightings. Spring is a great time to be at Silver Creek, with lots of wildlife and very few visitors. Have fun.

Signs of Spring

Some years, spring can seem a long time coming in Idaho. The overcast days seem to linger a bit too long into the season.

Still, already some of spring's natural wonders are apparent:

On a hike into the foothills last week, horned larks were everywhere. These birds are in decline in many grassland areas, but they are still pretty easy to find around Idaho. They're a cool-looking bird, and well worth seeking out. Western meadowlarks were also calling in every direction, but I couldn't find the long-billed curlews yet.

Sandhill cranes have returned to Silver Creek Preserve, as have many other migratory birds. Check wetlands around the state and you'll likely find many duck species, grebes and even swans.

Raptors are very active and can often be seen hunting, building nests and interacting with each other. You can see some amazing bird behavior, particularly around the Snake River Canyon.

Yellow-bellied marmots are out sunning themselves on rocks. This relative of the more-famous groundhog actually is only out and about for a short period each year. Come the summer's heat, and marmots will be back underground--likely until next spring.

Soon, foothills will be painted gold with arrowleaf balsamroot (pictured above), the first of many great wildflower displays around Idaho. (And later in the season, join us at Silver Creek and Flat Ranch Preserve for wildflower walks).

Across the state, wildlife is more active and visible and plants are beginning to bloom. Even if it's a bit gray and overcast, head outside and enjoy our beautiful state.

Idaho Coalition of Land Trusts

by Susanna Danner, director of protection, The Nature Conservancy in Idaho

A sheep rancher in the Southern Pioneers wants to keep her ranch in the family for her children and grandchildren.

A Wood River Valley fisherman wants to restore the willow and cottonwood forested banks where rainbow trout lurk.

A birder in Council wants to wake up in the dark to sneak up on strutting sage grouse.

A wheat farmer in Swan Valley wants to run an economically-viable farm while encouraging elk and deer to migrate across his property.

A resident of Stanley wants to gaze over the Sawtooth Valley and see unbroken vistas all the way to the mountaintops.

A forester in Bonners Ferry wants to harvest larch trees from a forest that is also a seasonal home to grizzly bears.

A Boise resident wants to walk her dog from her home up into the Boise Foothills while great-horned owls flutter overhead.

A cattle rancher in Challis wants to expand his operation while ensuring that the ranch never gets broken up.

What do all of these people have in common? They can benefit from the land trusts of Idaho. First of all, what is a land trust? Some kind of bank?

Land trusts are private, independent, nonprofit organizations that have joined with landowners to protect private lands in the United States for over 50 years.

There are over 1,600 land trusts operating across the U.S.

In Idaho, twenty land trusts and two local and state government-sponsored programs make up the Idaho Coalition of Land Trusts. The Idaho Coalition of Land Trusts (ICOLT) was created to serve as a unified voice for all land trusts in the state.

ICOLT supports the values that so many Idahoans prize: clean drinking water, local food, plentiful wildlife, places to walk, ride, hunt and fish, and scenery that is unmatched in the Northern Rockies.

The land trusts of Idaho are diverse in size, scope, and mission. Land trusts work in all parts of our state, on everything from potato farms to wolverine habitat. Among other places, land trusts are key members of their communities in Pocatello and McCall, Salmon and Twin Falls, Driggs and Boise. But they all share one thing: a focus on private land conservation.

Land trusts work with private landowners to protect and enhance private lands through voluntary agreements called conservation easements and by assisting landowners with stewardship projects.

Land trusts are not environmental advocacy groups. Land trusts work closely with landowners and a large group of partners that includes county governments, sportsmen, Tribes, state and federal land and wildlife management agencies, local watershed groups and others to protect open lands.

To learn more about Idaho’s land trusts and which ones work near you, visit http://www.idaholandtrusts.org/.

Idaho Feral Hog Redux

After their presence was officially determined last year, feral hogs have become a hot topic in Idaho for conservationists and hunters.

What is the latest status of feral hogs in Idaho?

The hogs are still confined to the Bruneau Valley, where despite hunting and control efforts, they remain in signifant herds. A recent story in the Boise Weekly offers an excellent overview of the hogs and the threats they pose.

Hogs are prolific breeders and extremely intelligent. They seek out inaccesible places where hunters can't reach.

The fear is that they could spread to other parts of the state and become a major pest. In other states, like Texas, they have destroyed wildlife habitat and ranch lands. It is estimated they cost that state about $52 million a year.

The thick cover of the Bruneau Valley will make finding hogs a challenge. Added to this is the fact that much of the land is in private ownership, which can make access to the hogs difficult.

But are feral hogs really going to be a problem for Idaho?

Let's face it: While people don't want them established, they are also fascinated by these animals. After all, they are large mammals that thrive in spite of humanity's best efforts.

Certainly hogs could realistically spread along the Bruneau Valley to the Snake River Valley, causing damage to habitat.

Statewide, it seems hard to believe hogs could escape undetected in the sagebrush; the country is just too open. Idaho's habitat and land use is not the same as in Texas, so it appears unlikely that hogs could ever be as problematic.

Obviously, there needs to be control and preferably eradication of these animals.

Hopefully, the level of interest in these hogs can also extend to other, perhaps less dramatic, invasive species.

Cheatgrass, for instance, may not seem as compelling as herds of wild pigs, but its effects on the Idaho landscape are much more devastating than hogs. Aquatic invasive species like zebra and quagga mussels are still not established in Idaho, and you can keep it that way by cleaning your boat and recreational equipment. By not moving firewood, you can keep our forests free of non-native pests.

These actions may not be as exciting as chasing down hogs. But, in the long run, the smaller pests pose much more dramatic threats to Idaho's wildlife, agriculture and economy.

Green Beer

For Earth Month this year, The Nature Conservancy is celebrating sustainable food--and the eating choices you can make that benefit clean water, clean air and wildlife habitat.

We'll be linking to some of these stories throughout the month, and posting Idaho-related pieces on this blog.

To start, many beer drinkers are now interested in buying brews that are sustainably produced.

In places as diverse as Silver Creek and Bogota, Colombia, it's being demonstrated that beer production depends on clean water.

At Silver Creek, this is resulting in a barley farm that is significantly reducing water use--and helping protect the Silver Creek watershed. Read more.

National Geographic also featured sustainable beer production recently, including the work at Silver Creek.

So raise a toast to Earth Month, and join us for more tasty (and sustainable) choices throughout April.

Photo by Giuseppe Saitta.

Lava Lake Ranch in late winter

While on a recent trip to Conservancy partner Lava Lake Land & Livestock, staffer Sara Sheehy captured a few late winter shots. We'll have more stories and photos from the ranch in the coming weeks.

Sage Grouse Without Sagebrush

Imagine you just received a burn on your arm—not a serious one, but enough to cause some discomfort. While painful, you’d probably not worry about it too much. Your arm would recover and you’d be fine. If you’re healthy, that is.

If you’re already suffering from an illness, or have a comprised immune system, that simple burn could be enough to threaten your life.

Habitat is the same way. Healthy habitat is able to withstand the normal fluctuations and dramatic events that occur: flood, fire, predators, disease, invasive species.

If the habitat is not healthy, such factors could threaten the entire ecosystem.

Fire is a part of sagebrush habitat. But today, a burn in sagebrush habitat is often like a burn to a person with a comprised immune system.

The fire typically starts a cycle of non-native grasses like cheatgrass, which are prone to fire and cause hotter blazes. These repeated burns harm and eventually eliminate sagebrush habitat.

Sage grouse without sagebrush are like fish without water. The grouse need sagebrush and native plants for every stage of their life cycle.

That’s why The Nature Conservancy is working to keep habitat healthy, so that sagebrush country remains home to grouse and other wildlife—and can better withstand periodic fires.

Your support enables the Conservancy to work in places that still have excellent, healthy sagebrush-steppe habitat—the Pioneer Mountains, the Owyhee Canyonlands and the Crooked Creek area.

We’ve also developed innovative tools to help range managers select the places and methods where conservation can accomplish the most for sagebrush habitat. And we’re restoring areas with degraded habitat.

Your support is critical to these efforts. They’re truly keeping sage grouse (and other wildlife) in the sagebrush.

Image of fire near Silver Creek Preserve, Dayna Gross/TNC. Image of sage grouse, Bob Griffith.

Strutting Sage Grouse

The annual display of sage grouse on their strutting grounds—called leks—is one of the most dramatic wildlife spectacles in Idaho. If you’re willing to get up early, you’ll be rewarded with the sight of male sage grouse popping air sacs on their breasts, puffing and fighting.

Where to catch this great wildlife show?

Here are two upcoming opportunities to enjoy sage grouse on their leks. If you haven’t seen the sage grouse yet, make this your year.

Golden Eagle Audubon Lek Trip – April 2, 2011—The Golden Eagle Audubon Society offers a lek tour every year, leaving from Boise. It visits a sage grouse lek near Weiser. Typically, participants will have excellent views of 15-20 displaying grouse. The expert birders from Golden Eagle continue the trip through grasslands and wetlands, and you can often see many interesting birds, including burrowing owls, long-billed curlews, golden eagles and more. Phone Pam Conley at 208-869-0337 to sign up for this free excursion.

Dubois Grouse Days – April 15 and 16, 2011 - Dubois Grouse Days celebrates the great grouse leks (some of the largest remaining in the West) of eastern Idaho with two days of presentations, great food and visits to leks. One of the tours visits the Conservancy’s Crooked Creek Preserve, where participants should see fifty or more grouse displaying. This year’s speakers include wildlife photographer Paul Bannick, Idaho birder and photographer Kathleen Cameron (who also frequently photographs Silver Creek) and falconer Jack Oar. This is a great event to see sage grouse and support a small, rural Idaho community through wildlife tourism.

Image by Bob Griffith

Thinking Big

How do you do effective conservation on 40 million acres of grasslands across a landscape ten times that size? We don’t know for sure yet, but Carlos Fernandez and his team in the Conservancy’s Patagonian Grasslands office are giving it a shot. To put it in perspective, that’s like taking an area about the size of Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, and the Dakotas combined and setting out to effectively conserve all of say, North Dakota. Did I mention that 80% of the land is in private hands and less than 5% is in public protected areas?

Well first off, Carlos and company have begun by focusing on two out of four grassland ecoregions in Argentina. The Patagonian Steppe and Low Monte ecoregions form what we now call the “Patagonian Grasslands” project area. This cuts it down from 400 million acres to about 220 million acres, around the size of four Idahos. (See graphic)

The map above, designed by Nathan Welch of the Idaho Chapter, shows the size of Idaho compared to our Patagonian Grasslands project as well as the relative position of the 45th parallel in each location. In the Idaho, it’s safe to say we have our hands full with our work. Our 27 employees work hard to implement conservation strategies for sagebrush steppe, forests, and freshwater habitats across Idaho.

The Patagonian Grasslands team has just five permanent staff members. So that’s 1/5 the staff covering 4 times the area. It’s simply not feasible to manage preserves, monitor conservation easements, and do hands-on stewardship projects like we do in Idaho. They’ve got to rely on partners to do much of the on-the-ground work.

The Conservancy’s three strategies for the Patagonia Grasslands are:
1. Sustainable grazing
2. Public protected areas
3. Private lands conservation

Done right, these strategies hold the promise of conserving habitat across millions of grassland acres.

The key to success in implementing these strategies is engaging partners like sheep producers, Argentina’s National Park Service, and Fundacion Neuquen – the country’s first land trust. Established in 2008, the Patagonian Grasslands project is young and ambitious. After spending a month here, I’m convinced they’re on the right track, and I’m optimistic, given time, they’ll be able to answer my opening question.

-- Bas Hargrove, from TNC's Patagonian Grasslands office in Bariloche, Argentina.

Western Idaho Sharptails

Sage grouse command a lot of attention from conservationists (and we have more posts on sage grouse coming up soon). But there is another grouse that has an interesting conservation story in Idaho.

By the 1970s, everyone thought that the Columbian sharp-tailed grouse was lost—forever—from western Idaho.
Like sage grouse, sharp-tailed grouse occupy established dancing grounds where males attract females each year. The birds disappeared from their western Idaho dancing grounds.

In 1977, a Bureau of Land Management manager accidentally discovered a small dancing ground on a private ranch near Midvale. He alerted Alan Sands, then a BLM biologist, of his discovery.

This prompted extensive searching efforts throughout Washington and Adams counties, resulting in the discover of three other dancing grounds, two more of which were on the same ranch.

In the early 1980s, the ranch came up for sale, and Sands sought the Conservancy’s help to acquire it. The Nature Conservancy worked with committed conservationists Tim and Karen Hixon, who donated funds to purchase the 4200-acre ranch, and worked with the BLM to designate 30,000 acres as critical habitat for these grouse.

Several years later, the Conservancy transferred most of the ranch to the BLM through a land exchange, retaining a core 200-acre parcel in the heart of the grouse display grounds.

Fast forward to today. What has changed? How are the grouse doing?

Well, Alan Sands is now an ecologist with The Nature Conservancy. Last year, 110 grouse were counted on the Conservancy’s Hixon Sharptail Project, part of a long-term upward trend (there were less than 25 birds in 1982).

Additionally, grouse have expanded beyond the project, with three new dancing grounds documented last year.

With your support, we’re working to continue to protect habitat and expand the grouse’s range, and to protect other vital bird habitat around Idaho.