Pacific Birds U.S. Partnership Grants

Awardee: Friends of the Dunes

Friends of the Dunes will engage the Wiyot Tribe as a long-term conservation partner for the bayside parcels of the existing Samoa Dunes and Wetlands project, while continuing to steward the entire 357-acre property and completing the transfer of open dune, coastal wetland, and coastal forest habitats of the Samoa Dunes and Wetlands to the BLM for long-term conservation management. Friends of the Dunes will also partner with the Wiyot Tribe and Humboldt State University on an exciting new conservation acquisition in southern Humboldt Bay, on a wetland-rich coastal property that includes Great Egret and Great Blue Heron roosting areas.

Awardee: Kahoʻolawe Island Reserve Commission

The island of Kahoʻolawe has been severely degraded from wind and rain erosion due to the introduction of grazing ungulates and wildfires.  Soil studies have shown that much of the remaining soil on Kahoʻolawe lacks many components of a healthy soil profile. Project partners will develop a novel technique that uses biochar to improve the health of the soil in three coastal and wetland project sites on Kahoʻolawe. These sites are currently undergoing restoration efforts to stabilize dune structures and increase the native biota, improving habitat for native Hawaiian birds.

Awardee: Klamath Bird Obsersvatory

Klamath Siskiyou Oak Network (KSON) conserves oak habitats in southern Oregon and northern California. KSON’s Strategic Conservation Action Plan outlines the need for increased engagement with Indigenous people in restoring oak woodland habitats–as an act of restorative justice and as a means for realizing the multiple ecological and social benefits that come from incorporating Traditional Ecological Knowledge into restoration planning and evaluation. This project will engage with Tribal governments, leaders, and communities through outreach to all Tribe(s) within the KSON geography and in-depth efforts to engage the geographically appropriate Tribe(s) in an upcoming proposal for restoration implementation and development of the Monitoring Strategy.

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Awardee: The Conservation Fund

The Conservation Fund is working to permanently protect 309 acres of coastal wetland habitat in the Kasilof River Flats Important Bird Area (IBA)—an Audubon global priority IBA—located on Alaska’s Kenai Peninsula. The estuarine delta and near-shore areas provide habitat for seabirds, while tidal ponds and sloughs provide important stopover feeding areas for migrant waterfowl and shorebirds. 165 bird species have been observed in the Kasilof River Flats, including 37 state Species of Greatest Conservation Need. The property will be added to the Alaska State Parks system.

Awardee: Friends of Kauaʻi Wildlife Refuges

This project will enhance the water infrastructure on Hanalei National Wildlife Refuge, one of the largest and most important wetlands on the Island of Kauaʻi. It will improve the habitat of five endangered or threatened endemic species in addition to a number of migratory species. Since 2011, the Refuge has had severe avian botulism outbreaks due to an outdated water supply system, impacting at least 1,600 birds. Project funding will support the cost of acquiring and installing new water infrastructure across the kalo loʻi (taro fields) and wetland management units, helping to reduce and mitigate the incidence of avian botulism outbreaks.

Awardee: Long Tom Watershed Council

This project will build prescribed fire capacity on Tribal and private lands, working in close collaboration with federal and public lands partners in the Willamette Valley. Collaborating with two Tribes, and more than 30 partners, the Long Tom Watershed Council will move forward  the establishment of a five-person year round ecological fire team and regional prescribed fire coordinator; regional training opportunities; close collaboration with Tribal and federal partners; and increased burning on non-federal lands. The partners are committed to developing a regional prescribed fire program that centers Indigenous people and their priorities, and improves land and community health.

Awardee: Partnership for the Umpqua Rivers

This project aims to develop a more cohesive and strategic approach to restoration, conservation and adaptive management practices in Oregon’s South Coast wetlands and estuaries. It will bring Watershed Councils, Soil and Water Conservation Districts, Tribes, agencies, NGOs, and landowners together in a new collaborative to identify additional partners and potential projects, secure funding, and provide outreach for local officials and stakeholder groups. Project support will facilitate the development of an initial governance structure and strategic approach for the new collaborative.

Awardee: North Shore Community Land Trust

Waialee Lako Pono is a multidisciplinary, collaborative effort to restore a 25-acre coastal wetland agroecosystem and surrounding area in Waialeʻe, Oʻahu, Hawaiʻi. In an effort to restore lako pono (social-ecological abundance) at Waialeʻe, the North Shore Community Land Trust will be undertaking a planning process to guide the long-term implementation of the project, with a particular focus on endangered native Hawaiian birds. This planning process will entail measuring environmental baselines, consulting with experts, partners and the public in a series of meetings, workshops and field visits, and producing a long-range restoration work plan.

Awardee: Columbia Land Trust

The East Cascades Oak Partnership (ECOP) will advance oak management by developing a management decision-making tool that is responsive to stakeholder values and needs and considers the diverse way oak systems present in the East Cascades. The management decision tool will consider people in the suite of ways they interact with oaks: residential and working lands, fire suppression and hazard abatement, and first foods.

Awardee:Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources, Division of Forestry and Wildlife (DOFAW)

There is a critical need to fill knowledge gaps about endangered Hawaiian waterbirds, since these species will require active management in perpetuity. This project will identify causes of mortality for endangered Hawaiian Gallinule chicks, using radiotelemetry to determine which management actions best protect gallinules at their most vulnerable life stage. Results will be shared with wetland managers statewide and submitted for publication to a peer-reviewed journal.

Awardee:  The Willamette Partnership

The Oak Accord will design a more sustainable and durable model of delivering resources to support restoration of functional oak habitat in Oregon. This includes creating a collaborative conservation model with local, state and federal partners that will more effectively connect the financial and technical resources to landowners. It also includes the design of a business model for the Oak Accord that will help it meet the growing demand (from both landowners and from higher level regional strategic and funding plans) for its role in oak conservation in the Willamette Valley and throughout the state.