Conservation Design: A State Agency Perspective Doyle Shook, Chief Wildlife Management

1. Conservation Design: A State Agency Perspective Doyle Shook, Chief Wildlife Management

2. Conservation Design A State Agency Perspective • It is an outgrowth of an ongoing shift in the conservation paradigm. • Its implications to state wildlife agencies will be long term. • Our response is expected to be comprehensive and strategic.

3. Conservation Design A State Agency Perspective Three things shaping our thinking… • Our experiences with national/international bird conservation plans • Our experiences with Comprehensive Wildlife Conservation Plans • Our experiences as a Joint Venture partner

4. Are we seeing a conservation paradigm shift that is more science based, comprehensive and strategic? If so, what role does the state fish and wildlife agency play in that shift?

5. The traditional conservation paradigm: • Habitat protection, restoration, and management are founded on a well justified sense of urgency. • Wildlife conservation rests on a broad body of scientific knowledge. • “Every conservation action is progress.”

6. Mississippi Alluvial Valley BCR in Arkansas Arkansas BCR 26

7. Mississippi Alluvial Valley Arkansas Delta Conservation Estate State Wildlife Management Areas 151,148 National Wildlife Refuges 270,238 National Forests 21,258 Wetland Reserve Program 108,222 Public Reforestation 19,113 Hydrology Restoration - Public 71,019 Hydrology Restoration - Private 64,256 Total – 705,254 acres

8. What has determined the state’s conservation priorities?

9. NorthAmericanBirdConservationInitiative Partners in Flight North American Waterbird Plan U.S. Shorebird Conservation Plan North American Waterfowl Management Plan Northern Bobwhite Quail Conservation Initiative NABCI Vision Regionally-based… Biologically-driven… Landscape-oriented partnerships… Delivering the full spectrum of bird conservation across the entirety of North America.

10. Species US & Canada Population Population Objective Ivory-billed Woodpecker ? Locate Henslow’s Sparrow 79,000 Increase 100% Cerulean Warbler 560,000 Increase 100% Prothonotary Warbler 1,800,000 Increase 50% Kentucky Warbler 1,100,000 Increase 50% Rusty Blackbird 2,000,000 Increase 100% New Challenges…fundamentally Target: Landscapes capable of sustaining populations range-wide at prescribed levels.

11. New Challenges…fundamentally Target: Landscapes capable of sustaining populations range-wide at prescribed levels. Approach: Means and methods of developing goals and objectives that reflect measurable biological outcomes achieved across multiple spatial scales.

13. 7 Ecoregions 369 SGCN 45 Terrestrial Habitats 18 Aquatic Habitats Arkansas Comprehensive Wildlife Conservation Strategy

14. Two Challenges… Effecting Conservation at Ecoregional Scales

15. NorthAmericanBirdConservationInitiative Partners in Flight North American Waterbird Plan U.S. Shorebird Conservation Plan North American Waterfowl Management Plan Northern Bobwhite Quail Conservation Initiative

16. Arkansas Kentucky Ducks Unlimited Louisiana The Conservation Fund MO KY Mississippi TN OK AR The Nature Conservancy Missouri MS TX LA Wildlife Mgt Institute Oklahoma Tennessee US Geological Survey US Fish & Wildlife Texas Forest Service Lower Mississippi Valley Joint Venture

17. Two Challenges… Bridging the Gap…

18. Lower Mississippi Valley Joint Venture Conservation Framework • Biological Planning • Conservation Design • Conservation Delivery • Decision-based Monitoring • Assumption-driven Research

19. Biological Planning… Use of transparent, replicable processes and procedures to derive conservation objectives expressed as measurable biological outcomes. Conservation Design… The process of translating biological objectives into spatially explicit conservation priorities and developing spatially explicit decision support tools.

20. Population Response Landscape Composition Landscape Structure Forest Structure Density Productivity Non-hostile/hostile ratio Forest Patch Size Stem Density Biological Planning…Population/Habitat Modeling = Landscape Quality + Site Quality Forest Composition Deciduous / Forested Wetlands

21. Swainson’s Warbler Prothonotary Warbler Northern Parula Hooded Warbler Wood Thrush Acadian Flycatcher Blue-gray Gnatcatcher Red-eyed Vireo American Redstart State 10K 20K 100K 9 0 2 19 14 6 1 11 1 1 15 6 1 1 3 0 0 7 2 0 1 Arkansas Illinois Kentucky Louisiana Mississippi Missouri Tennessee Totals Cerulean Warbler Kentucky Warbler Summer Tanager Yellow-billed Cuckoo Louisiana Waterthrust Eastern Wood-Pewee Yellow-throated Vireo Yellow-throated Warbler Great Crested Flycatcher Scarlet Tanager White-breasted Nuthatch 51 36 13 Swallow-tailed Kite Red-shouldered Hawk Broad-winged Hawk Pileated Woodpecker Cooper’s Hawk Biological Planning… MAV Forest Breeding Bird Source Population Objectives

22. Conservation Design… Arkansas Delta Circa 1950 Forest Cover

23. Conservation Design… Arkansas Delta 1992 Forest Cover

24. Conservation Design… Arkansas Delta State/Federal WMA’s