Forest Service employees, partners named for national award

Newtown Square, Pa. —Four employees of the USDA Forest Service’s Northeastern Area State and Private Forestry office and their state and private-sector partners were recently named recipients of a Wings Across the Americas Award for 2006.  The Awards will be presented March 23 at the North American Wildlife and Natural Resources Conference in Columbus, Ohio.

The conservation award goes to the team responsible for the Machias River Project, Phases I, II, and III.  NA S&PF employees honored are project leader Deirdre Raimo, Robin Morgan, Neal Bungard and Scott Stewart, of the Forest Legacy Program staff.  Their partners sharing the award are Ralph Knoll, Maine Bureau of Parks and Lands; Tom Rumpf, The Nature Conservancy, Maine Chapter; and The Nature Conservancy, Maine Chapter.

Most of the more than 700 migratory and resident bird species in North America depend on forests, yet forest habitats in all of the Americas are declining. Long-term conservation of birds depends on sustaining forests that are suitable habitats for them, other wildlife and fish. Through partnership agreements with state and local governments, conservation organizations, and private landowners, the NA S&PF Forest Legacy Program protects important forestland from conversion to non-forest uses.

The Machias River Project has brought many diverse partners together to conserve forests, riparian areas, lakeshores, and wetlands by using land acquisition and easements. By the end of Phase III, the project will have invested more than $5.4 million in federal funds, leveraged by more than $8.8 million non-federal matching dollars from State and private sources such as The Nature Conservancy, The Conservation Fund and the Open Space Institute. By connecting with other protected tracts, the project will help protect 416,301 acres.

More than 59,000 key forested and wetland acres are already protected by this project through fee purchase and easements. These are acres identified by the US Fish and Wildlife Service as the top priority for wildlife and fish protection along the Gulf of Maine coast. More than 28 bird species of high conservation concern, including the Bald Eagle, American Black Duck and Canada Warbler, use the project area as do four species of declining migratory fish.

“It’s wonderful to get the award,” said Raimo, the FLP coordinator for the NA S&PF’s Durham, N.H., field office. “We had a lot of partners, and it’s representative of the level of projects put forth in forest protection programs. It shows what Forest Legacy is doing across the country.”

She said it was interesting that this project is adjacent to a tract preserved through a project on Nicatous Lake, which won a Taking Wing Award in 2000. Taking Wing was the predecessor of the Wings Across the Americas Program.

Knoll is the Deputy Director of the Maine Bureau of Parks and Lands, and played a crucial role in the project. He helped craft the coalition of Federal, state and private partners that made the project possible.

“It sounds cliché, but it truly was a group effort,” said Knoll. “These people are all good quality people working for good organizations. They were partners out of the gate and all the way to the finish line.”

He hopes the Machias River project can be an example for what other states and regions can achieve through the Forest Legacy Program.

“The legacy program has served Maine well over the years,” he said. “Anytime Maine gets recognition, for any project, it spotlights the conservation work in the state.”

Knoll said the project really succeeds on two levels. First, the average citizen of Maine, or a visitor to the state, gets the protection of key recreation resources like camp grounds and day use sites, available on a permanent basis.

“The Machias River has always been a popular river trip and camping area,” he said.
Second is the successful protection of key habitat for wildlife.

“What’s less obvious is the protection afforded to habitats,” Knoll added. While the award is presented for protecting avian habitats, Knoll said a key thrust of the Machias River project was also protection for the Atlantic salmon.

Rumpf was invited by State partners in the project to be the lead negotiator. He is the associate director of The Nature Conservancy’s Maine Chapter. The Nature Conservancy is a global organization with a 50-year history in Maine, Rumpf said. In that time, it has helped protect more than a million acres.

Rumpf led negotiations with landowner International Paper, instituted a public outreach program and oversaw the appraisal process - each of which contributed to the successful completion of Phase I. In the process, Rumpf laid out the key elements and understandings that have been relied upon in Phase II as it moves toward conclusion.

“The guidelines we used in this project were actually developed by a wildlife biologist who worked for Champion International,” Rumpf said. “When IP acquired Champion, they agreed to use the Champion standards state-wide on their lands.” He said the guidelines used by IP made it a leader in riparian management in Maine, and made it easier to establish guidelines to continue protecting the Machias River.

In addition, Rumpf is the prime architect of Phase III, working with landowner GMO Renewable Resources (which purchased IP's Maine holdings in 2004) and conservation partners to craft a sustainable forestry easement on more than 27,000 acres of priority unfragmented forest. This property supports roosting and nesting areas for Bald eagles as well as potential great blue heron rookeries in the wetlands surrounding the dozens of miles of stream and lake-associated wetlands. It’s a key connector between the first two phases and other conservation efforts in the area, Rumpf said.

Receiving Certificates of Appreciation in connection with the project were Kathryn Maloney, NA S&PF Director, and 15 Federal, State and private partners:  International Paper Company; Atlantic Salmon Commission; Machias River Watershed Council; Sportsman's Alliance of Maine; Atlantic Salmon Federation; Trout Unlimited Maine; Project Share; Quoddy Regional Land Trust; Downeast Rivers Land Trust; Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife; Land for Maine's Future Program; Gulf of Maine Project—US Fish and Wildlife Service; The Conservation Fund; Open Space Institute; and Downeast Lakes Land Trust.

The 20 states served by the NA S&PF include 43% of the nation’s population and 25% of the nation’s forests, of which 93% are non-federally owned. It helps ensure sustainable public and private benefits from these non-federal forestlands.

The Wings Across the Americas Program is a Forest Service initiative that brings together partners from around the western hemisphere to manage, restore and maintain the habitat of the hundreds of species of birds native to the Americas.  Forest Service employees apply their skills in land management, research, and private land assistance to advance bird conservation science and address management opportunities and concerns. Local and regional partnerships and projects anchor bird conservation on the ground on the National Forests, National Grasslands, and with private landowners. Wings Across the Americasbrings together these efforts at the national and international levels, helping make the vision of integrated all-bird conservation a reality.

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