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Atlantic Coast Joint Venture in Massachusetts
Cooperative conservation for migratory birds in the Atlantic Flyway
Pennsylvania is home to many species that depend on clean land and water. Photos from tope left clockwise: John Heinz at Tinicum NWR;
Cerulean Warbler, Robert Royce: Tundra Swan, USFWS; Golden-winged Warbler feathers, Marja Bakermans
Celebrating 25 Years of Migratory Bird Conservation
The Atlantic Coast Joint Venture (ACJV) is a cooperative, regional partnership
that works to conserve habitats for the benefit of birds, other wildlife, and
people in the Atlantic Flyway. The ACJV is dedicated to this collaborative
partnership to ensure the protection of habitats that birds rely on for survival
and people rely on for economically-vital activities like tourism, fisheries, and
flood-control, as well as quality of life issues important to local communities,
such as outdoor recreation opportunities.
Over the last 25 years, the ACJV has become widely accepted as a model
for cooperative conservation. Using state-of-the-art science to ensure that a
diversity of habitats is available to sustain migratory bird populations, ACJV
actions include:
◆ biological planning, conservation design, and prioritization;
◆ project development and implementation;
◆ monitoring, evaluation, and research; and
◆ communications, education, and outreach.
ACJV staff have worked directly with close to 1,000 non-governmental
organizations; local, state, and federal agencies; private landowners; tribes;
businesses; universities; and other partners.
Over the course of our 25 year history, the ACJV has leveraged every dollar of
Congressional funds 35:1, helping to conserve nearly 8.5 million acres of critical
habitat.
North American Wetlands Conservation Act
From the Ridges of the Appalachian Mountains to the Chesapeake River
and beyond, Pennsylvania contains a diversity of wetland habitat types and
wetland-dependent species. Many species of waterfowl, shorebirds, wading
birds, and songbirds use one or more of these habitats at some time during
their life cycle. The North American Wetlands Conservation Act (NAWCA)
NAWCA Grants
Matching Funds
Between 1990-2015, Pennsylvania has
received $13.6 million in NAWCA funds.
Those grant funds have leveraged $20 million
in matching funds.
has been used in Pennsylvania to protect, restore, and enhance over 55,239
acres of valuable wetlands and adjacent upland habitats important to
migratory birds.
Four Standard and five Small NAWCA grants have been approved for
Pennsylvania, providing $3.6 million in NAWCA funds and leveraging over
$20 million in matching and related (non-matching) project funds. The most
significant NAWCA project is the Chesapeake Bay Initiative; a four-state
partnership lead by Ducks Unlimited, Inc. with Virginia, Delaware, Maryland,
and Pennsylvania. Partners joined forces to implement a landscape level
approach to restore a total of nearly 54,000 acres of wetlands, uplands, and
riverine habitat to help improve the overall habitat and water quality of the
Bay.
A Local Tale
Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI)
The ACJV has helped partners protect and restore some of the highestpriority wildlife habitats in the Great Lakes Basin, while providing important
benefits to the area’s citizens and economy through the Great Lakes
Restoration Initiative. The ACJV awarded three matching grants to the
Western Pennsylvania Conservancy from 2010-2013, to protect wetlands,
shrublands, grasslands, and forests for migratory birds and other wildlife
along the Lake Erie shoreline. These grants, totaling $1.1 million, represented
a collaboration between the Pennsylvania Game Commission (PGC), the
Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission, Audubon Pennsylvania, the Western
Pennsylvania Conservancy, Lake Erie Region Conservancy, the USFWS, and
private landowners, to permanently protect more than 500 acres of important
stopover habitat and breeding areas for migratory birds. An ACJV grant to
Ducks Unlimited supported long-term habitat restoration and management at
Presque Isle State Park, one of the most important migratory stopover areas
in North America.
Conservation Solutions for Pennsylavania
Assessing Bird and Bat Migration Over the Appalachian Ridges
In the eastern United States, the focus of onshore wind power development is in
the Appalachian Mountains where exposed summits or ridge crests have high
wind power potential. Large numbers of birds and bats are believed to follow or
cross these landforms during their seasonal migrations and wind power projects
could impact them. At present, we lack the knowledge to fully assess the
potential impacts of wind power development in the Appalachians on migrating
birds and bats.
To address some of these information needs, biologists at the U.S. Geological
Survey’s Patuxent Wildlife Research Center and the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service are implementing a multi-year study designed to increase
understanding of nocturnal bird and bat migration through the Appalachian
Mountain region of the mid-Atlantic states (MD, PA, VA, WV). The study uses
portable marine radar and acoustical monitoring techniques to document
passage rates, species relative abundance, flight direction and altitudes of
migrating birds and bats during fall and spring at multiple locations in the
region. This information will be used to model the effects of weather, site and
landscape characteristics, and other variables on migrant abundance and flight
characteristics to identify where, when, and under what conditions migrants
may be at risk. This information will be used by a variety of partners so that
informed and scientifically sound conservation recommendations can be made
to reduce the risk of development to migratory wildlife when siting wind
projects.
Contacts
Caleb Spiegel
ACJV North Atlantic Assistant Coordinator
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
413/253-8490
[email protected]
Vacant
ACJV Management Board
Kevin Jacobs
ACJV Game Bird
Technical Committee
Pennsylvania Game Commission
814/382-3061
[email protected]
Andrew Vitz
ACJV Non Game
Technical Committee
Pennsylvania Game Commission
570/547-6938
[email protected]
Atlantic Coast Joint Venture
Partners
Connecticut, Delaware, Florida,
Georgia, Maine, Maryland,
Massachusetts, New Hampshire,
New Jersey, New York, North Carolina,
Pennsylvania, Rhode Island,
South Carolina, Vermont, Virginia,
Puerto Rico,
American Bird Conservancy
National Audubon
Ducks Unlimited, Inc.
National Park Service
The Nature Conservancy
U.S.D.A. Natural Resources
Conservation Services
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
U.S. Forest Service
U.S. Geological Survey
Wildlife Management Institute
www.acjv.org
2015