• Home
  • How We Work
  • Where We Work
  • News Room
  • About Us
  • My Nature Page

The Nature Conservancy in Africa - Conservation in Africa

The Nature Conservancy in Asia Pacific - Conservation in Asia-Pacific

The Nature Conservancy in the Caribbean - Conservation in the Caribbean

The Nature Conservancy in Central America - Conservation in Central America

The Nature Conservancy in North America - Conservation in North America

The Nature Conservancy in the United States - Conservation in the United States

The Nature Conservancy in South America - Conservation in South America

Sycan Marsh participates in Birds and Burns Network,
project work awarded by U.S. Forest Service

Sycan Marsh prescribed burn © Charles Quinn/TNC
"Burn boss" Kellie Carlsen of the Oregon Department of Forestry
assess conditions during one of two Sycan Marsh Preserve
prescribed burns last fall. © Charles Quinn/TNC

If you ride in Craig Bienz's truck and thumb through his CD collection, you won't find typical backcountry music fare. No John Denver or Highwaymen either. Instead, you'll find CDs of bird calls. But he is a researcher, so it's fitting after all.

It's no surprise that in 2002, when Bienz, the Sycan Marsh Preserve director for The Nature Conservancy, got a call from the U.S. Forest Service asking if he'd be interested in partnering on a "Birds and Burns Network" project, he quickly agreed.

To examine fire effects on wildlife and habitats in ponderosa pine forests, the U.S. Forest Service launched an ambitious eight-state, multi-year project with a slew of partners. Sycan Marsh is the Oregon site participating in the Birds and Burns Network project.

The Conservancy first acquired property at Sycan Marsh in 1980 and today owns over 30,000 acres. Surrounded by pine forest in the headwaters of the Klamath Basin, the preserve is a vast wetland that provides a refuge for vulnerable fish and is a critical stopover and nesting site for thousands of waterfowl migrating on the Pacific Flyway.

Bienz has been looking at bird populations, particularly cavity-nesting birds, for over 25 years. "As a scientist, what's happening to worldwide bird populations and the general decrease in bird species is critical," Bienz said. "Patterns of bird migration and populations are key indicators of the health of our environment."

After extensive study design, data collection, prescribed fire and forest treatments and years of monitoring, the work in eight states and at 16 sites across the Western United States uncovered interesting findings on bird population numbers, nest survival, forest management, burn severity and more.
 
The black-backed woodpecker and three-toed woodpecker, for instance, both federally and state-designated as sensitive species, increased in numbers after fire treatments in Northwest locations, including Sycan Marsh. In some locations the birds began to nest in areas previously unused before being burned.

Also showing gains in abundance after fire were other cavity nesters: hairy woodpecker, northern flicker and western bluebird. Perhaps not surprisingly, bird species that forage for insects in foliage declined in burned areas at least temporarily, while those that forage in bark tended to increase.

Forest conditions and fire significantly affect the health of species and ecosystems. In the Pacific Northwest, virtually every ecosystem is adapted to fire as a natural process. Fire can reset plant succession, recycle nutrients and stimulate new growth. For over 30 years, The Nature Conservancy has used prescribed fire to help restore habitats and native species on lands we manage.

Understanding the effects of wildfire and prescribed fire will help frame management options, according to to Birds and Burns Network, which is using the findings to shape forest and fire management recommendations.
 
On March 22, the Birds and Burns Network was lauded at the U.S. Forest Service's Wings Across the Americas Awards. Ten institutions and individuals were presented with The Research and Management Partnership Award, Bienz included.

The Wings Across the Americas Awards is an rousing annual event that recognizes exceptional bird conservation work by U.S. Forest Service personnel and their conservation partners throughout North America.

Barb Bresson, the regional land bird program coordinator for the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management, who just received her '20-year' agency pin, was wowed by the Birds and Burns Network project several years ago when first learning about it. Later she was even more impressed by the project's scale, findings and the effort to integrate research and management into on-the-ground application for land managers. So she nominated the network project for the award. 

Several months later she'd forgotten about her nomination. Then, when she was told the news, she was "tickled pink."

"It's an important project and they needed to be recognized for their efforts," Bresson said. "It's a great opportunity to match a great project with a great award."

Reports from the Birds and Burns study are online at http://www.rms.nau.edu/wildlife/birdsnburns/.