The OBI service area in the western Jefferson County’s Lake Ontario Plain is of critical importance to grassland birds in New York State. Many of these declining birds find important nesting, migration staging and wintering habitat in our region. Some species such as Bobolink and Savannah Sparrow remain abundant breeders locally.Other species such as Eastern Meadow lark, Northern Harrier and Grasshopper Sparrow, although declining, remain fairly common in western Jefferson County. Still others such as Sedge Wren, Henslow’s Sparrow and Upland Sandpiper have vanished from many parts of the northeastern U.S. but remain present in small numbers here. In addition, local grasslands provide important habitat during non-breeding season for arctic raptors including Short-eared Owl, Rough-legged Hawk and Snowy Owl. Many other species of wildlife from nesting ducks to butterflies and dragonflies also benefit from these grasslands at various times of year.
A priority for OBI’s future conservation efforts is the maintenance and sound management of these grasslands for birds and other wildlife. These grassland habitats face many serious threats from invasive plants such as swallow wort, development, succession to brush and wildlife unfriendly mowing regimes. In years to come a wide variety of conservation tools will be applied by OBI, as resources permit, to this priority effort. In addition to direct acquisition of fee title and conservation easements from willing land owners, OBI will seek to apply other conservation tools. For example, we will be initiating a registry program that notifies landowners of particularly important conservation values of their land and recognizes their stewardship with a certificate. In addition there are a number of voluntary federal programs available through the Natural Resources Conservation Service and US Fish and Wildlife Service to aid land owners in conserving grassland birds and other wildlife. These programs provide a variety of cost share options that aid land owners 3 in implementing voluntary conservation programs on their private property. OBI hopes to facilitate contacts between interested land owners and agencies providing programs. Anyone interested in exploring these program options should visit OBI’s website at http://www.obilandtrust.org.
Long-term conservation of grassland birds and wildlife in our region require well-developed partnerships between all interested agencies, organizations and individuals. Part of OBI’s future mission will be to help facilitate building and expanding these partnerships in order to assure that these species do not vanish from our area. There are few sights in the wild as inspiring as the congregations of dozens to hundreds of Rough legged Hawk and Red-tailed Hawk mixing with lesser numbers of Northern Harrier, Short-eared Owl and Snowy Owl. These assemblages occur in our area in years when meadow voles are abundant. During these years arctic raptors are the winter tenants of grasslands that are amongst that last refuge in the northeastern U.S. for some rare grassland breeding birds. Your support of OBI’s efforts will assure that we may play a vital role in assuring that this natural bounty remains for future generations of residents and visitors to the North Country.
