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.

The Expert

An intrepid explorer, naturalist, and diplomat, Francisco “Perito” Moreno is widely considered the father of conservation in Argentina. Part John Wesley Powell, part Teddy Roosevelt, Moreno’s exploration and vision led to the creation of the first National Park in Argentina.

In Spanish, ‘perito’ means ‘expert’, and Moreno got this nickname from his extensive surveying work along the Andean boundary between Argentina and Chile. Born in Buenos Aires in 1852, Moreno spent much of his twenties and thirties exploring Patagonia. Like Powell, he was an earnest geographer and a passionate student of nature and indigenous peoples. When a boundary dispute with Chile arose around the turn of the 20th Century, Argentina called on Moreno to represent its interests.

Historians credit Moreno with helping Argentina retain more than 10 million acres of land in the negotiations with Chile. In compensation the government gave ‘el Perito’ some 225 square miles of land. He sold most of it and gave the money to charity. In 1903, he donated the remaining 27 square miles (17,280 acres) back to Argentina on the condition that it become a nature preserve. In his donation letter, Moreno cites inspiration from Teddy Roosevelt’s conservation advocacy.

The Argentine government made good on its promise, and in 1922 went one better, creating the nearly 2 million acre Parque Nacional del Sur (National Park of the South). Today it’s called Nahuel Huapi National Park after its iconic lake, and forms the centerpiece of Argentina’s national park system.

Photos, top to bottom. 1. Francisco P. Moreno; 2. Perito and me; 3. Grace enjoying Nahuel Huapi National Park.

-- Bas Hargrove, Week 3 of Coda Fellowship in Argentina.

Silver Creek Summer Fun & More

For 35 years, Silver Creek Preserve has been a conservation success that has only been possible by the support of landowners, guides and outfitters, anglers, birders, community members, our donors and individuals like you.

Join us for a summer-long celebration of the preserve's anniversary, from nature walks to canoe floats to barbecues. Full schedule of summer activities.

And mark your calendars for a special Silver Creek celebration gala at Heart Rock Ranch (formerly Diamond Dragon Ranch) south of Bellevue, on Thursday, June 30. Call Sara Sheehy at 208-788-8988 for details.

Silver Creek Enhancement Plan

The Silver Creek enhancement plan has been completed and is available for review. The plan may be checked out at The Nature Conservancy’s Hailey Office on 116 First Avenue North in Hailey or at the Silver Creek Preserve office. You may also phone the Silver Creek office at 208-788-7910. Or you can download the full plan on-line.

In a prioritized format, the plan highlights places and actions where restoration activities can achieve the most for conservation. It was completed by Ecosystem Sciences in conjunction with The Nature Conservancy. Ecosystem Sciences held public meetings and met with many landowners to gather input through the twelve months they were developing the plan.

“The plan offers a comprehensive view of opportunities for conservation throughout the Silver Creek basin,” says Dayna Gross, Silver Creek Preserve manager. “The strategies for implementing the plan may vary from landowner to landowner but the general concepts are applicable on all reaches of the creek. I think of it as a living document--- one that will change over time as we learn more and begin to implement some of the recommendations. We look forward to discussing the ideas and next steps with all those who care about this watershed."

A lot was learned from reviewing years of research and monitoring information, as well as gathering insights from landowners and other community members. The plan identified sediment inputs via overland flow and increasing water temperatures as the top stressors to the creek. Further protection and enhancement of the tributary streams is recommended to address these stressors through increased shading and sediment filtering.

This spring, the Conservancy, working with landowners, will begin to implement some key projects identified in the plan, including:
• Improving the riparian vegetation buffer width and quality on Stalker and Patton creeks.

• Stabilizing sediments and increasing shading and habitat in Kilpatrick pond by building islands.

• Addressing many of the data gaps identified by the plan including nutrient monitoring, field verification of mapping, and spring source protection options.

A list of funding opportunities and a time line is available for landowners who are interested in investing in an enhancement project on their properties and would like to find matching funding sources.

For more information, phone Dayna Gross at the Silver Creek Preserve office at (208) 788-7910.

Silver Creek in the Statesman
Finally, Silver Creek Preserve was featured in a story by Natalie Bartley in today's Idaho Statesman. Silver Creek remains a popular story topic in Idaho and beyond. It's a special place for people and nature.

We hope you can visit the preserve this year to celebrate its 35th anniversary. We'll be saving a place for you!

Canoeing photo by Giuseppe Saitta.

Guanaco Country

It was a busy first week of work at the Conservancy office in Bariloche, Argentina, capped by a trip to the field last Friday. Gustavo Iglesias, TNC’s Director of Protected Areas -- think National Parks -- led a training for office staff in the use of global positioning systems (GPS). That's Gustavo and my colleagues Melissa, Annika, and Valeria (L to R) outside the Bariloche TNC office in the photo to the right.

Our journey east of Bariloche took us past Estancia Fortin Chacabuco, a 12,000 acre ranch owned by Conservancy partners, to a place called Valle Encantado.

On the way, I got my first chance to see guanacos in the wild, and apparently, these guys were unusually curious. As we slowed the Conservancy truck to get a better look at the trio browsing the roadside grasslands, one of them approached us to within about 25 feet.

Guanacos are a major conservation target for the Conservancy’s work in Patagonia. These camel-related creatures once roamed the steppes and grasslands of South America in Chile, Bolivia, Peru and Argentina and numbered more than seven million. After the arrival of Europeans, guanaco populations dropped dramatically due to over-hunting and competition from livestock. Now 95% of the remaining half million wild guanacos live in Argentine Patagonia. By promoting sustainable grazing practices, the Conservancy and its partners hope to maintain the guanaco’s stronghold in Patagonia.

Saludos, Bas Hargrove

Tweet, Tweet

On this wintery (at least in Boise) Thursday, we have some bird and birding-related links for you to enjoy.

But first, a different kind of tweeting: The Nature Conservancy in Idaho is now on Twitter. Follow us at @Nature_ID.

If you are social media user, please follow us, retweet links and share with friends. Join us for regular conservation news and links, green tips, wildlife factoids and more. It's a great way to get the word out on conservation and green living to younger audiences.

It's another way for you to stay connected to the Conservancy's work in Idaho.

Now, for some bird links:

Protecting sage grouse - Sage grouse will soon be strutting on their leks around southern Idaho. But these birds have been in a long-term decline. Do collaborative projects with landowners offer the best hope. This New York Times piece offers an interesting look at sage grouse programs and the hope they offer for the birds.

Great Backyard Bird Count - You only need fifteen minutes to count. The Great Backyard Bird Count is this weekend (February 18-21). Count the birds you see and record them on-line. The count has a goal of 100,000 lists this year--offering a great look at bird population trends across the country.

For more information on such citizen-science programs, my latest column for Down to Earth Northwest takes a look at "counting for conservation."

California condors lay their first egg of the year at Boise's World Center for Birds of Prey, run by the Peregrine Fund.

Cecil D. Andrus Wildlife Management Area - The Idaho Statesman's Pete Zimowsky has a feature today that covers wildlife watching at the WMA and Hells Canyon area. Large concentrations of bald eagles are apparently quite common at this time of year.

New to birding? Natalie Bartley's recent Statesman column offers local groups that can get you started, as well as excellent places to visit.

It's a great time of year for birders and bird enthusiasts in Idaho. Last evening at dusk, I saw four great horned owls along a short stretch of the Greenbelt. They're really hooting at this time of year. Over the weekend, a large flock of Bohemian waxwings was active in the Barber Pool Conservation Area, and a varied thrush was hanging around my backyard.

Waterfowl species are on the move, and you can see huge flocks on the Snake River and any other open water. Tundra swans are passing through many parts of the state. Raptors are beginning to become very visible along the Snake River canyon. In short, it's the perfect time to grab your binoculars and enjoy Idaho's natural wonders.--Matt Miller

Condor Conservation

I’ve seen three Andean condors in my life: two in the Boise zoo and now one of a pair in the Buenos Aires zoo. (I’m not sure where the condor’s mate was that day.) They’re not the prettiest birds in the world, but they’re among the grandest. With a wing-span topping ten feet and weighing up to twenty-five pounds, the Andean condor is the largest flying bird in the world.

Andean condor population numbers are higher than their California cousins, though they are declining. Conservationists at the Buenos Aires Zoo are partnering with Fundacion BioAndina on a captive breeding program to help rebuild wild populations. Although the condors are doing fairly well in the southern part of the range in Argentina and Chile, many parts of the historic range in Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru and Columbia have been depleted.

Andean condors feed on carrion, spotting carcasses from above while soaring on updrafts in the cordillera. One of the major threats stems from the misconception that condors are hunters. Although revered by some people, others kill the huge birds, afraid that they will prey on livestock. In addition to augmenting wild populations of the condors, the conservation partners are working to dispel myths about condor predation. If I’m lucky, I may see one of these giants of the sky during my stay in Patagonia.

--Bas Hargrove

Urban Ecology

Walking through the Parque 3 de Febrero in Buenos Aires, I came upon an old acquaintance. There it was, by the side of the path in a hardscrabble patch of dirt. The scourge of cyclists everywhere. Puncturevine.

I can't count all the flats I've changed due to this invasive species. Puncturevine, or the 'goathead' plant, is on the Idaho noxious weed list that categorizes 64 different harmful, non-native species. Invasive species are one of the greatest threats worldwide to The Nature Conservancy's mission of protecting biodiversity.

As a native of the Old World, it's also an invader in Argentina. Fortunately, puncturevine is not a big threat to our conservation targets in Idaho or Argentina. All the same, this was a surprise encounter I could've done without.

-- Bas Hargrove

Review: An Entirely Synthetic Fish

On Saturday, I hiked up into a rocky gorge with my fly rod, casting in every deep pool I could reach. As with many difficult-to-access streams, the trout were small but hit my attractor flies ferociously--a perfect way to spend a sunny February day.

The trout were obviously rainbows but looked unlike any I had caught previously: They were dark--almost black--with a bright orange-tipped dorsal fin. Beautiful fish. But what were they? Native trout adapted to the volcanic streambed? Hatchery fish stock from afar? Hybrids?

The answer is not easily found, in large part due to reasons described in Anders Halverson's An Entirely Synthetic Fish: How Rainbow Trout Beguiled America and Overran the World.

Halverson documents the global spread of a beautiful wild fish once confined to waters of the American West. It's an amazing and sometimes exasperating story: People believed the best way to improve "rivers" was by stocking them with "better" species like rainbow trout, giving rise to a massive hatchery system that continues to produce trout by the millions to this day.

For years, the stocking of non-native fish was viewed as sound conservation practice--a way to sustain fishing while rivers underwent dramatic changes. Even John Muir supported trout stocking in Sierra Nevada lakes.

Adding to fishery dilemmas was our nation's surprisingly complicated attitudes towards fishing. Early Puritans considered it an idle activity that led to sin and damnation, but later politicians viewed it as a "manly" activity that could keep urban citizens from growing too soft.

Factors like these led to enthusiastic, and "science based" fish stocking, often at the expense of native species. Halverson's most dramatic example was the mass poisoning of all native fish in the upper Green River to make way for an introduction of trout. At the time, this was considered scientifically defensible.

And that, perhaps, suggests the real issue here: that conservation is so often about values more than science, a point Halverson's book makes repeatedly. Even today, the push to remove non-natives and restore native trout rests on a value for native ecosystems more than scientific necessity.

Writes Halverson: "I do believe, though, that those who promote the conservation and restoration of native species should do so with a good understanding of history and a concomitant sense of humility. People have been a part of this world for a long time. There's no going back to the way it was, even if it were possible to define it. Reading through the letters and public pronouncements of the men who were most responsible for spreading nonnative species like rainbow trout throughout the world in the nineteenth century, I have been struck by the similarity of the rhetoric of those who promote native species restoration today. They, too, were sure they were doing the right thing for the world."

Yes. That's it exactly. One hopes that, indeed, humility and conservation history could help inform our many pressing conservation issues today. Halverson's book shows that many societal factors have always informed our values about the natural world--a fact that continues to influence conservation to this day. --Matt Miller

Trueblood

Overhead, on the ponds, in every direction: Thousands of ducks and geese, quacking, honking whistling. The mind tries to comprehend the flurry of winged activity.

Scattered amongst the massive flocks are the highly visible tundra swans, as well as stalking herons and and chattering gulls. Raptors--bald eagles, red-tailed hawks, kestrels, Cooper's hawks--circle overhead, perhaps checking for signs of injury amongs the quacking hordes.

Look more closely and less obvious birds reveal themselves: Resting great-horned owls, flushing quail, flitting flickers. And on the ground, jackrabbits and coyotes maneuver through the bush, in a serious chess match with life-and-death consequences for both.

It's just another winter day at the Ted Trueblood Wildlife Area.

The Trueblood area--320 acres near Grandview, Idaho--is an easy place to zoom by en route to the Owyhees or other "wilder" regions. That would be a shame, though, because this patch of sagebrush and "duck ponds" tucked along the Snake River is an absolute haven for birding and wildlife watching.

At this time of year, the migrating flocks rank as one of Idaho's best wildlife spectacles.

It's a beautiful patch of wildness where you can witness Idaho's spectacular birds. While you cannot walk around on the wildlife area at this time of year--to protect the resting migrants--you can watch them easily from the parking and observation areas.

Alan Sands, now an ecologist for The Nature Conservancy, was the force behind the purchase and protection of the Ted Trueblood Wildlife Area when he worked for the Bureau of Land Management (the agency that still owns the property).

Alan lives the old Edward Abbey motto that "it's not enough to fight for the land; it's even more important to enjoy it." Throughout his career, Alan has been responsible for conserving many great places for people to enjoy and wildlife to thrive, including the Indian Creek Recreation Area and the Conservancy's Hixon Sharptail Project.

Such a place is also a great tribute to outdoor writer and conservationist Ted Trueblood. As a kid growing up in Pennsylvania, one of my very favorite books at the local library was the Ted Trueblood Hunting Treasury. I thrilled to Trueblood's descriptions of Idaho's wildlife and wild places, never imagining that one day I would be able to experience firsthand the places he described.

Trueblood is the kind of outdoor writer that we desperately need: He not only knew hunting and fishing, he also fought for the habitat that wildlife needed to survive. He was a key figure in the creation of the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness and worked tirelessly on behalf of Idaho's wildlife.

The wildlife area near Grandview is not wilderness, but seeing the tremendous numbers of birds and other wildlife around, I think Trueblood would approve. Stop by there on a winter day, enjoy the wildlife and remember the hard-working conservationists who made places like this possible. --Matt Miller

Redband: Trout of the Desert

The above video by the Ted Trueblood Chapter of Trout Unlimited provides an excellent introduction to the redband trout of Idaho's high deserts.

Redband trout are still abundant in a number of streams and rivers in the Owyhee Canyonlands of southwest Idaho. They have been spared the introduction of non-native trout stocks largely due to warm water. It was originally thought that desert redbands could thrive in much higher water temperatures. As the video above notes, this may not have been a correct assumption. It seems that redbands know and congregate in cold water refuges in these desert rivers--enabling them to survive in what must be a hostile environment for trout.

As such, protecting cold water refuges will be key to ensuring their survival.

There is another threat. While brown trout and hatchery rainbows can't survive higher water temperatures, smallmouth bass can. They have been introduced to Owyhee Reservoir, and already have displaces native trout in the Owyhee River. Hopefully, they can be prevented from spreading to other waterways in the Owyhees.

The Nature Conservancy has been actively involved in Owyhee Canyonlands conservation efforts for more than 15 years. The Owyhee Initiative, a collaborative effort that led to the first wilderness in Idaho in 29 years, includes provisions for protection of the special native wildlife found in Idaho's sagebrush country.

One of the recent successes of the initiative was the purchase of three land parcels that will allow direct access to two new wilderness areas, Jacks Creek and the North Fork of the Owyhee River. Both of these canyon rivers contain redband trout, and are open for fishing. You can reach these wilderness areas by passenger car directly from the Owyhee Backcountry Byway.

Fishing in the desert seldom yields large fish, but it's a unique experience for anglers who enjoy exploring new terrain and catching new varieties of fish.

Foot of the Andes

In two weeks I’ll be embarking on a Nature Conservancy fellowship to Patagonia in Argentina. The Conservancy is doing groundbreaking work with sheep ranchers to conserve Patagonia’s expansive grasslands, and this fellowship is an opportunity to learn more about the work and lend a hand.

I’ve done a bunch of reading and imagining ahead of this journey. The reading has ranged from technical TNC stuff to Bruce Chatwin’s classic In Patagonia. I've constructed a mental collage, a patchwork of images, anecdotes, data, conjectures, and comparisons for a place I've never been.

My picture is of a place a lot like Idaho, but super-sized and untamed. Like Idaho's sagebrush steppe, the Patagonian grasslands comprise a vast high desert landscape bumping up against the foothills of big mountains. (Although Mt. Borah at 12,662 feet might be considered a rung on the ladder to Aconcagua at 23,841 feet.) The town where I'll be, Bariloche, is about halfway between the equator and the South Pole, a mirror to Boise's 43 degrees north latitude.

In Chatwin's book, he visits the house that Butch Cassidy built in Patagonia after leaving the U.S. with the Sundance Kid. Though I'm not on the run for bank heists -- like the one he pulled in Montpelier, Idaho in 1896 -- I wonder why Cassidy chose this place and what he thought he'd find. How far off were his imaginings? How far off are mine? I'll keep you posted.

-- Bas Hargrove

Extinction

There's a popular saying among conservationist: "Extinction is forever."

Which is true, of course. Usually.

I well remember reading about the "extinction" of black-footed ferrets. I could not have imagined that 30 years later I would be watching wild ferrets run around at my feet. You can read how this is possible in today's blog for Cool Green Science.

Naturalists have often approached extinction in curious ways. Even into the early 1800s, many astute observers (including Thomas Jefferson) considered extinction to be a biological impossibility.

Later, when extinction was established as fact, many naturalists did not consider conservation to be realistic. Instead, they rushed off to "collect" the last remaining specimens for museums and collections, as recounted in Mark V. Barrow Jr.'s excellent book Nature’s Ghosts: Confronting Extinction from the Age of Jefferson to the Age of Ecology.

William Hornaday traveled west to shoot some of the last remaining wild bison for museum exhibits. He unapologetically killed as many as he could. He considered their extinction inevitable, and as such believed that the public should at least be able to see them in museums.

In later years, Hornaday had a change of heart. He later became one of the key figures in saving the bison.

Fortunately, conservationists have come a long way. Or have they? Sure, they no longer rush off to shoot the last remaining individuals of a species in the name of science.

But read many environmental magazines or blogs, and you'll find a gloomy inevitability about extinction. It all seems so...hopeless.

Fortunately, there are many stories of hope, with the ferret being a prominent example. Consider also the history of many species we today take for granted--wild turkeys, peregrine falcons, elk.

And read the excellent tales on Jane Goodall's web site and in her book Hope for Animals and Their World--full of examples of people restoring nearly extinct species, often against very long odds.

The risk of constant pessimism among conservationists is that it leaves young people and the general public with the sense that there is nothing that can be done. And that's simply not true, as those wild ferrets prove.--Matt Miller

Photo: Black-footed ferret by Jon Hall, Mammalwatching.com

Public Lands Foundation Honors Upper Snake River Partnership

The Upper Snake River Land Conservation Partnership received the Public Lands Foundation’s (PLF) Landscape Stewardship Award and Citation during a ceremony at the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) Idaho Falls District Office today.

Accepting the award were Mark Elsbree, vice president and northwest director of The Conservation Fund; Chet Work, executive director, and Babette Thorpe, land protection director, for the Teton Regional Land Trust; and Laura Hubbard state director of the The Nature Conservancy in Idaho.

Each was presented with a plaque and citation by Deane Zeller, PLF Idaho state representative.

The foundation grants this recognition to honor private citizens and organizations that work to advance and sustain community-based stewardship on landscapes that include, in whole or in part, public lands administered by the BLM.

In 1998, The Conservation Fund, The Nature Conservancy and the Teton Regional Land Trust formed The Upper Snake River Land Conservation Partnership with BLM in response to imminent threats of subdivision and resort development, the great potential of many conservation projects across a large geographic scope, and the diversity of landowners along the Snake River corridors and Henry’s Lake.

Through the efforts of these organizations, approximately 91 privately owned properties, many of them working farms and ranches, have been protected through purchase of 10,300 acres of fee estate and 14,500 acres of conservation easement.

Thus far, the partnership has leveraged approximately $57 million from diverse funding sources including BLM LWCF appropriations and BLM Federal Land Transaction Facilitation Act funds, the Bonneville Power Administration wildlife mitigation fund, the National Resource Conservation Service’s Wetland Reserve and Farm/Ranchland Protection Programs, the Fish and Wildlife Service’s North American Wetland Conservation Act funds, the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, and landowner donations.

Partial donations by land owners, nonprofit conservation partners, and charitable contributions totaling about $4.5 million have allowed the BLM to stretch LWCF appropriations.

Additionally, the partnership is using a combination of acquisition strategies to assist the BLM. The nonprofit partners also have augmented the BLM’s limited acquisition and legal staff.

And, they provide negotiation experience and skills to facilitate complex and sensitive acquisitions, ensure that the needs of landowners and the BLM are met, provide a qualified legal staff to craft conservation easements and fee-title acquisitions acceptable to landowners and the BLM, and assist the BLM with conservation easement stewardship issues.

The nonprofit organizations collaborate as a team with the BLM to acquire key properties from willing landowners to secure and preserve open space and public recreational access within Areas of Critical Environmental Concern.

They also participate in the long-term stewardship responsibilities of conservation easements, maintain landowner relations, cooperate in annual conservation easement compliance visits, and assist in preparing conservation easement stewardship reports.

According to Zeller, “The purpose of this program is to recognize and call public attention to individual and group efforts, to promote collaboration by a broad range of participants to achieve shared natural resource protection and enhancement goals, and to call attention to the many values and management needs of the Nation’s National System of Public Lands.”

The Public Lands Foundation is a national non-profit organization, which is made up predominately of retired Bureau of Land Management employees, that advocates and works for the retention of the National System of Public Lands in public hands, professionally and sustainably managed for the responsible common use and enjoyment of the American people.

Photo: Laura Hubbard, state director for The Nature Conservancy in Idaho, and Chet Work, executive director of the Teton Regional Land Trust, with their award plaques.

Out of Yellowstone

Here's a new film on the Conservancy's conservation efforts in the Greater Yellowstone region. We hope you enjoy it.

Winter Wildlife Chronicles: Bear Underground

Over the past four years, I've run two marathons and nine half marathons. That involves a pretty significant amount of training time. But even with all this running, if I take a few weeks off, my stamina decreases. My legs aren't as strong. In some ways, I have to start building up my endurance all over again.

Most of us know this and understand this. If someone is confined to a bed, their muscles atrophy and bones weaken. When it comes to the human body, it really is "use it or lose it."

Not so for black bears.

As Bernd Heinrich describes in his excellent book Winter World: The Ingenuity of Animal Survival, black bears can spend five months in a den, without eating and almost entirely immobile--and not lose muscle mass or bone strength.

Heinrich is fascinated by the bear's adaptations. He's an accomplished scientist and writer, who is also that rarity among biologists today: a skilled field naturalist. He also happens to be a record-setting ultra-marathoner, so he understands the physiology of exercise.

Bear hibernation is not easy to categorize. Bears are immobile, but they can awaken easily--a fact that makes studying bear hibernation quite difficult.

Heinrich writes that bears, unlike most hibernating mammals, don't lower their body temperature. They maintain a high metabolic rate. And despite this, they do not need to drink or urinate all winter.

Biologists have found that black bears metabolize their urea into nontoxic creatine, and nitrogen wastes are recycled back into protein.

But that still doesn't explain how bears remain, as Heinrich calls them, the "ultimate couch potatoes." How can bears lie inactive all winter long, and spring out of their dens in fine physical shape? It does not seem like it should be possible. The fact is, much about their physiology remains unknown.

Biologists are refining ways to work with black bears in winter (above, Conservancy staffer Justin Petty participates with an Idaho Department of Fish and Game winter bear survey). But even with these high-profile mammals, there is still much to be learned.

What we do know is that in dens around Idaho, right now, bears are lying--not quite asleep, not quite awake, not eating or drinking but not suffering from starvation or thirst, not moving but able to move quite well. --Matt Miller

Silver Creek Intern's Report, Part 3

Note: This is the final part of Silver Creek Preserve intern Dominique Lucio's report on his summer internship with The Nature Conservancy (read part 1 and 2). We appreciate all the assistance that Dominique and other interns provide on the preserve. They're helping to ensure that it remains one of the great spring creeks of the West.

Maintenance
As I mentioned previously, it takes a lot of work to keep the Preserve running smoothly. As temperatures rose and constant spring showers soaked the valley, the Preserve’s trails quickly became overgrown with grasses and branches.

Though the work was thankfully divided between the four interns, there was plenty of grass to weed whack and branches to trim. Some trails were no longer even visible, and had to be repeatedly cleared over the summer.

As I became acquainted with the flora of the Preserve, it became increasingly obvious that several invasive species such as Canadian thistle, houndstongue, and yellow iris were outcompeting native species, and needed to be stopped. Luckily the Preserve hosted several volunteer spray days where people on foot and ATVs covered the nasty invaders with herbicides targeting the specific species.

Though these days were certainly invaluable, weed spraying was a constant. Fishermen frequently reported new patches of thistle to spray, and interns would respond in Tyvec suits and three gallon backpacks of herbicide.

Other summer-long projects included pulling up and disassembling (think sledgehammer) old wooden and barbed wire fences on the Preserve and at other Nature Conservancy properties such as the Flat Ranch and Soldier preserves. For two days I designed a stencil and painted The Nature Conservancy logo on the side of the Preserve’s several canoes.

Other routine maintenance duties included cleaning the office and other facilities. Once a week interns cleaned the three preserve outhouses, which generally weren’t as bad as expected. Daily responsibilities included cleaning and refilling snail wash stations with natural citrus soap to keep invasive New Zealand mud snails out of Silver Creek.

One of the messiest and most hilarious projects I have ever worked on took place over the course of three days, in which three other interns and I dug up underwater patches of reeds and marsh grasses and transplanted them by the truckload to edges of the creek where the channel widens and heats up. By the end of each day we were completely drenched in mud and exhausted beyond caring about appearances, but we felt proud to have helped narrow the stream and hopefully better conditions for the wildlife.

Public Relations
The aspect of the internship I most dreaded at the beginning of the summer, public relations, turned out to be one of the most fun.

I greatly enjoyed accompanying different groups on canoe floats down the creek, from children with disabilities to Nature Conservancy employees from across the country.

I was also able to help with staff retreat work days and a ladies’ appreciation day held at Stalker Cabin. It was at the visitor center that I met the most fishermen, learned the most about the local wildlife, and heard wild stories of moose sightings, midnight fishing, and canoe mishaps.

These interactions really gave me a sense of the Preserve’s importance to several diverse groups throughout the state.

Conclusion
This summer was one of the best and most educational of my life. Working with Dayna Gross and the interns, as well as the volunteers and in-town office members, was the best work experience I have encountered thus far in my developing environmental science career.

Though I regret to say I never got around to fly fishing, I feel like I more than made up for it with bird watching enthusiasm. Never before have I seen such numbers and variety of birds as I did at Silver Creek, from tiny sora and hummingbirds to massive great horned owls, harriers, and Swainson’s hawks.

Most of all I would like to thank Jack and Sara Blumenstein for setting up and continuing to support the internship.

The opportunity to spend a summer so imbedded in nature is the perfect way to introduce people to Charlie’s passion. I am extremely grateful to the Blumenstein family for funding this amazing opportunity, and would strongly recommend the internship to anyone interested in working on the beautiful preserve and meeting so many great people.