27 March 2014
On March 26th, the Migratory Bird Conservation Commission (MBCC) met in Washington, DC to consider important investments (fee-title, easements, and leases) to secure habitat for the National Wildlife Refuge System.
Here is a summary of those realty decisions:
- Anahuac NWR (TX) 1,277 acres fee-title $1,718,200
- San Bernard NWR (TX) 30 acres fee-title $ 138,500
- Trinity River (TX) 234 acres fee-title $ 162,399
- Upper Ouachita NWR (LA) 18,711 acres fee-title $3,830,013
- Tulare Basin WMA (CA) 305 acres easement $ 782,000
Clearly they were both small (30 acres at San Bernard) and large (18,711 acres at Upper Ouachita) acquisitions. But all were directed to improve the situation for birdlife. The first three, all along the coast of Texas and all within an hour or two of Houston, help secure a network of regional refuges specifically designed for migratory waterfowl (e.g., Mottled Duck, Northern Pintail, Northern Shoveler, and Black-bellied Whistling-Duck) and also shorebirds, long-legged waders, as well as neotropical and grassland songbirds. The large Upper Ouachita NWR acquisition is intended to protect bottomland hardwood forest for wintering waterfowl but also other habitats such as shrub-scrub and pine, contributing to the goals of the Red-cockaded Woodpecker Recovery Plan. The Tulare Basin easement arrangement in the San Joaquin Valley of California is intended to stem the rate of wetland habitat fragmentation in the valley. The Tulare Basin WMA is part of a creative mosaic of federal, state, and private wetland-associated properties.
The Commission also received a summary of the year's MBCF habitat investments, which included $18.46 million for National Wildlife Refuge acquisition and $46.35 million for WPAs, mostly grassland and wetland habitat in the northern Great Plains.
Did you buy at least one Stamp last year? Well, give yourself a pat on the back.
This is where your dollars went to work!
The MBCC also approved 50 extremely valuable North American Wetland Conservation Act (NAWCA) decisions, unrelated to Stamp investments, but crucial for wetland conservation in parts of Canada, the U.S., and Mexico. Also, 45 U.S. Small NAWCA Grants were approved.
Finally, at the end of the meeting, a "birthday cake" was shared, recognizing the 80th anniversary of the signing of the original Stamp Act in March of 1934.