Nebraskaland

MARCH 2017 • NEBRASKAland 53 Conservation Efforts It would be remiss to discuss the state of Nebraska's birds without acknowledging the commitment of state and federal agencies, non-governmental organizations, and landowners to work in partnership for the benefit of our birds and wildlife. Notable among these partnerships are statewide efforts to return fire to the prairie landscape to reduce the scourge of eastern red cedar invasion and to promote the health of prairies and grasslands. The Berggren Plan is intended to increase ring-necked pheasant numbers, and efforts to restore habitat for that gamebird will benefit native grassland species as well. In the Rainwater Basin, Platte River valley, Eastern Saline Wetlands, Sandhills and elsewhere, people are working in innovative ways to restore and enhance wetlands in a manner that is compatible with birds, wildlife and agricultural production. Collectively, these conservation efforts are having positive impacts on the landscape and are striving to achieve the goals of the Nebraska Natural Legacy Project, which is our state's blueprint for wildlife conservation and is focused on species that are in greatest need of conservation. Outlook Change is a constant for Nebraska's birdlife, as it has been since before settlement and will be forever. Emerging trends make some future changes in our bird populations predictable, but without question, some future changes will be unexpected. Observing how birds respond and adapt to the perpetual cycle of change is what makes birds a never ending source of wonder and intrigue. Despite the changes there are constants; much of our birdlife is similar to what Lewis and Clark and other early explorers and settlers experienced. As the human population grows and we demand more from our natural resources, some of our birds will become increasingly at-risk and could possibly become extirpated from our state or even become extinct. Whether legal protections, conservation efforts and human innovation can find a future balance whereby we preserve the full complement of our avian natural heritage remains to be determined. ■ Managing and protecting threatened or endangered species can be challenging when those animals occur in habitats that are also used by humans. Legally-protected species occupying private lands or that occur in close proximity to people can create a burden or liability for landowners and others. Least terns and piping plovers nest and raise their young at aggregate mines, lakeshore housing developments, and on the beaches of one of Nebraska's most popular recreation destinations, Lake McConaughy. Successfully protecting these birds, their eggs, and young depends on avoiding confl icts and on working cooperatively with stakeholders rather than merely focusing on the birds' biology. At aggregate mines and lakeshore housing developments in eastern Nebraska, this has meant cooperation between companies, developers and regulatory agencies through the Tern and Plover Conservation Partnership. At Lake McConaughy this has meant adjusting how human- bird confl icts are addressed in the face of an increasing number of visitors coming to the lake. In Nebraska's southwestern panhandle, an effort to work cooperatively with landowners is being implemented to protect the state threatened mountain plover. In this landscape, mountain plovers nest in fallow agriculture fi elds, and their eggs are at-risk of destruction from tillage intended to control weeds. The Bird Conservancy of the Rockies successfully leads an effort where they work cooperatively with 80 farmers, and together they locate and mark nests before tillage operations begin so that farmers can avoid destroying nests. Since 2002, the partnership has found and marked over 900 mountain plover nests in agricultural fi elds. Cooperating with, rather than obstructing people is proving to be the foundation of conservation success in these habitats. ■ Conserving Threatened and Endangered Species in Human Environments

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