Conservation Story Archives - Page 2 of 3 - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

WVU Researcher Examines Declining Wild Turkey Populations

With Thanksgiving just around the corner, a West Virginia University researcher is looking into the apparent decline of wild turkeys in several states.

Unlike the farm-raised fowl that grace holiday tables across America, wildlife conservationists say wild turkey populations are declining.

With funding from hunting advocacy organization National Wild Turkey Federation, West Virginia University Associate Professor of Wildlife Ecology Chris Rota will study wild turkey populations in South Dakota. He will use radio transmitters placed on turkeys to better understand their movements and nesting locations.

“Turkey populations are strongly driven primarily by hen survival, and secondarily by reproduction,” he said. “Some of the big factors that might be limiting the population could be predation of adult females. It could be hunter harvest of adult females, and that’s something that we can change via management. But reproduction can also be a part of this as well making sure that there’s appropriate nesting habitat to produce young.”

Rota points out that protecting potential turkey habitats will have a broader reaching impact beyond helping hunters.

“We are protecting that habitat for a whole suite of other critters that are going to use that habitat as well,” he said. “When people enjoy going to wildlife management areas, maybe to hike or to view wildlife, they’re looking at a whole suite of species, even if that habitat was set aside for hunters.”

Rota said hunters drive conservation efforts because the fees they pay, from excise taxes on firearms to hunting licenses, fund wildlife conservation efforts.

“Hunters for a century or more have been really integral in the conservation, not just of our iconic big game species, like turkey or white tailed deer, but also in conservation of myriad species,” he said.

Reversing downward trends is important because turkeys play an important ecological role as prey, but also a societal role as part of many Native American food and cultural systems.

New Program Hopes To Teach Teens Conservation And Careers

A new program in Raleigh County is looking for teens interested in conservation jobs.

The program, called Beckley Youth Day Crew, is meant to teach about conservation work and careers with the National Park Service.

The program offers 16 to 18 year-olds an opportunity to gain firsthand experience with conservation initiatives and national service during the summer. Selected teens will work with mentors on projects around Beckley and New River Gorge National Park and Preserve.

The paid positions will include work on trail construction and maintenance, improvements to recreation access, and habitat improvement.

It’s a partnership between Stewards Individual Placements and Appalachian Conservation Corps.

Applications for the Beckley Youth Day Crew will be accepted on a rolling basis.

Interested teens and/or their families should visit Appalachian Conservation Corps website to apply.

Meet The National Park Service's New Head — She's A West Virginian

The‌ ‌National‌ ‌Park‌ ‌Service‌, the federal agency that oversees America’s national parks, monuments and other conservation lands, ‌got‌ ‌a‌ ‌new‌ ‌leader‌ ‌last month. West Virginia native Margaret‌ ‌Everson‌ ‌istaking the helm at the agency. Everson comes to the role with‌ ‌decades‌ ‌of‌ ‌natural‌ ‌resources‌ ‌experience.‌ ‌

Most‌ ‌recently‌ ‌she‌ ‌was‌ ‌principal‌ ‌deputy‌ ‌director‌ ‌of‌ ‌the‌ ‌U.S. Fish‌ ‌and‌ ‌Wildlife‌ ‌Service and has previously ‌worked‌ ‌for‌ ‌Ducks‌ ‌Unlimited‌ ‌and‌ ‌as‌ ‌general‌ ‌counsel‌ ‌for‌ ‌the‌ ‌Kentucky‌ ‌Department‌ ‌of‌ ‌Fish‌ ‌and‌ ‌Wildlife‌ ‌Resources.

Reporter‌ ‌Brittany‌ ‌Patterson‌ ‌spoke‌ ‌with‌ ‌Everson‌ ‌about‌ ‌how‌ ‌growing‌ ‌up‌ ‌in‌ ‌West‌ ‌Virginia‌ ‌affected‌ ‌her‌ ‌outlook‌ ‌on‌ ‌the‌ ‌natural‌ ‌world,‌ ‌how‌ ‌the‌ ‌agency‌ ‌is‌ ‌balancing‌ ‌newfound‌ ‌interest‌ ‌in‌ ‌its‌ parks‌ ‌during‌ ‌the‌ ‌COVID-19‌ ‌pandemic‌ ‌and‌ ‌how‌ ‌a‌ ‌recently passed‌ ‌law‌ ‌could‌ ‌bring‌ big‌ ‌changes‌ ‌to‌ ‌the‌ ‌park service.‌

***Editor’s Note: The following has been edited for clarity and length.

Brittany Patterson: I understand you’re a native of West Virginia.

Margaret Everson: I am, I am. I was born and raised in Morgantown, West Virginia. I grew up out by Cheat Lake. I had wonderful memories of growing up out there.

Patterson: So, you have a long history working in conservation and natural resource issues. What drew you to those fields?

Everson: I think it really all goes back to how I grew up, the values that were identified very early on in my life. There’s this wonderful expression that a mentor of mine, former director of the Fish and Wildlife Service Dale Hall, uses. He talks about this concept of “belly botany.” This idea that children learn best about the outside world by being out there and turning over stones and getting down on your belly and turning over rocks and looking for bugs. And I think that is a lot about how I grew up.

We were outside pretty much my entire childhood, as I recall, whether we were hiking in the woods, we were riding our bikes, riding horses, getting outside and exploring the natural world. We had a very large garden growing up, and so I learned a lot about growing certain foods, shelling way too many peas, those were the kinds of things I can remember as a child. And so, as I looked at what I would study in college, I was affected very deeply by the way that I grew up. Also, my father was with [West Virginia University] and he was in the physics department, and then ran the planetarium, and so he was a big influence in connecting sciences. When I looked at colleges, I looked at studying sciences, particularly biology. I ended up pursuing that as a career, but I always knew that I wanted to connect those outside spaces and places that really made a huge impact in my life at an early age to policy, which eventually took me to law school.

Patterson: These are unprecedented times with the COVID-19 pandemic, and many people have been seeking outdoor recreation, sometimes for the first time, including in our national parks. How do you balance the act of keeping park employees and the parks themselves safe and maintained while also honoring this desire by the public to get outside?

Everson: Sure, and that’s such an important question. Our No. 1 priority is the safety and health of our employees and our visitors and that’s really our North Star as we’re looking at making these decisions. As we went into the pandemic, we didn’t know a lot about the disease. We didn’t know about the spread. And so, at the very beginning, a lot of, particularly our national parks, had to take a pause in their operations until we figured out what a safe path forward was. And through careful planning, we have been able to do that. We know through the CDC, and we’ve worked so carefully with the CDC guidance, we know that outdoor spaces are much lower risk, and we think that that’s why people are choosing them.

Patterson: The National Park Service is more than 100 years old. As you step into this role, what do you see as priorities for the agency?

Everson: Yes, we are 104 years old or young, depending on the way that we look at it. There are some wonderful opportunities. A couple of weeks ago, we had a landmark opportunity that is really going to shape, I think, our trajectory forward. The president signed the Great American Outdoors Act. [It has] two very important pieces.

One of the pieces was to permanently fund, in perpetuity, the Land and Water Conservation Act. This is incredibly important. There’s a federal side and a state side that looks at being able to acquire places to allow the public, or to welcome the public, to come to parks and other places. There’s also the state side that encourages recreation opportunities within the state. That’s really important as we’re thinking about in West Virginia, the Gauley [River] for example. [It] has utilized these funds to be able to add to the park there, the Gauley River.

The other side of it was they called it the Parks Bill, which basically provided the funding, $1.3 billion annually for the next five years, will go to the National Park Service to be able to invest in the backlog and maintenance. I think this is really important. So currently, the National Park System has about $12 billion worth of backlog and maintenance. These are places in our units that have fallen into disrepair, and we are going to be aggressively working with these new dollars on a plan forward to be able to get on top of these needs.

Patterson: Is there anything else I’m missing, anything that you’d like to add?

Everson: Well, I think one of the things just to really highlight is the importance of having public places, these national parks, open through the pandemic and through as we’re moving forward and being able to really invest in these places through the Great American Outdoors Act.

I think it will continue to be important, particularly as we look at what this brings to the economy in West Virginia. We know that the recreation economy is so important across the state. I think that there were over 1.5 million visitors to national parks in West Virginia just last year with almost $90 million in economic benefits to local communities. This is a huge driver for the economy there in West Virginia, and it’s something that I am particularly proud of being a native of West Virginia.

How Protecting Civil War Battlefields Helps Protect Drinking Water

After the 2014 Elk River chemical spill in the Kanawha Valley, the West Virginia Rivers Coalition created the Safe Water WV initiative. The idea is simple: to strengthen a community’s connection to their drinking water and encourage them to work together to better protect it.

A couple years ago, Jefferson and Berkeley Counties decided to build off that initiative in a unique way – using the conservation of farmland and Civil War battlefields as a model for drinking water protection.

About two miles from the heart of Shepherdstown is the site of the bloodiest battle in West Virginia during the American Civil War. More than 600 Union and Confederate soldiers died in a two-day battle in September 1862.

The Battle of Shepherdstown may have been small in comparison to other battles of the Civil War, but historians agree, the battle not only halted the Confederates’ northern invasion, but it also opened the door for President Abraham Lincoln to issue the Emancipation Proclamation.

Since 2011, the site of the Battle of Shepherdstown has been a protected historic landmark. The battle site also happens to be at a unique location – along the Potomac River. The Potomac provides drinking water to Shepherdstown residents, and other nearby areas.

“The Landmarks Commission owns about a half-mile of the Potomac River frontage,” Martin Burke said.

This map shows details of the attacks and soldier divisions during the Battle of Shepherdstown. A marker for the cement mill can be seen along the Potomac River.

Burke is the chairman of the Jefferson County Historic Landmarks Commission – the group responsible for protecting the site of the Battle of Shepherdstown.

“Controlling the runoff, planting trees, all helps improve water quality.”

That’s why his group, along with the Jefferson County Farmland Protection Board, the Berkeley County Farmland Protection Board, and the West Virginia Rivers Coalition decided two years ago to work together. They started an initiative called the Safe Water Conservation Collaborative in the Eastern Panhandle.

“We formed the Safe Water Conservation Collaborative to bring together, for the very first time, water utilities, land conservation organizations, and watershed groups to take a collaborative approach to protecting drinking water using the conservation of land, and protecting land forever, to protect our drinking water sources,” Tanner Haid said.

Haid is the Eastern Panhandle Field Coordinator for the West Virginia Rivers Coalition.

The initiative focuses on using land conservation easements to protect drinking water. A conservation easement is a voluntary private or government contract with a landowner to protect land for ecological reasons – to improve water quality, maintain a historic site, or protect wildlife.

Haid said this approach makes drinking water protections stronger, because land conservation easements help to prevent potential contamination threats or development that could impact a source water intake.

In Jefferson County alone, there are more than 16,000 acres of battlefield land that have been identified, according to the Jefferson County Historic Landmarks Commission. Only 861 acres of that is currently protected.

Liz Wheeler is the Director of the Jefferson County Farmland Protection Board. Her organization administers conservation easements to protect historic farmland and battlefields in Jefferson County.

“When we protect land, we’re not just protecting cropland. We’re protecting woodland, we’re protecting streams, we’re protecting historic resources, so it fits into what we do; to be able to contribute to source water protection,” Wheeler said.

But the Safe Water Conservation Collaborative in the Eastern Panhandle doesn’t come without its challenges. Finding enough money to protect the land can be the biggest challenge, but so can educating landowners about their options if they qualify for a conservation easement or historic status.

Haid said, in the coming year, he and his team hope to identify and prioritize areas of land in the Eastern Panhandle not currently protected that are close to drinking water areas.

“And then in particular, closest to the water intake or the utilities who draw up the water, because those are the areas most threatened by development and actions that we take on our land that has an impact on our water quality,” Haid said.

Jefferson and Berkeley Counties are among the most successful in the state for land conservation, according to West Virginia Rivers. Together, these counties have protected more than 10,000 acres of land.

West Virginia Rivers said, so far, they haven’t collected data on how water quality has improved through the Safe Water Conservation Collaborative in the Eastern Panhandle, but over the past two years, they have signed up 30 partner organizations interested in the project.

The group hopes this model – to protect water by conserving land – isn’t just for the Eastern Panhandle but could be used across the state.

W.Va. Conservation Agency Taking Public Comment on New Grant Program

The West Virginia Conservation Agency Thursday announced it is now taking public comment on a new rule that would create a grant program for conservation projects across the state.

The proposed rule outlines eligibility requirements and technical standards for grant recipients seeking funding from the State Conservation Committee through a newly created conservation grant program.

The rule was created by a bill passed by the Legislature last session. Senate Bill 655 authorized the creation of a grant program to boost conservation projects that reduce soil erosion and protect West Virginia’s waterways from sediment.

In a press release, the West Virginia Conservation Agency said it had begun a 30-day public comment period and would accept comment through Saturday, June 29 on the proposed rule, which can be viewed on the West Virginia Secretary of State’s website.

The agency will also hold a public meeting on June 5 from 1 p.m. until 4 p.m. at the Braxton County Technical Center/Rural Emergency Trauma Institute Training Center at 89 Richard D. Minnich Drive in Sutton.

Comments may be submitted to: Belinda Withrow, 1900 Kanawha Blvd., East, Charleston, WV 25305, or bwithrow@wvca.us. Please write “Proposed Rule” in the subject line of an e-mail comment.

Birders Needed: W.Va. Christmas Bird Count

The National Audubon Society Christmas Bird Count is, for many people, a holiday tradition. Every year, for a 24 hour period between Dec. 14 and Jan. 5, citizen scientists look to the skies, trees and bird feeders to identify and count as many birds as possible. This year marks the 119th season. West Virginians have been participating for about 80 years.

A Different Tradition

“In West Virginia, we have 20 Christmas bird count circles throughout the state,” Larry Helgerman said. He is the National Audubon Society’s West Virginia state Christmas Bird Count editor. The count began, he explained, in response to another holiday tradition.

“Back in 1899, people would go out at the new year and shoot as many birds and animals as they could. It was a sport,” Helgerman said.

An ornithologist at the time named Frank Chapman thought of a different tradition.

“He came up with the idea of instead of shooting the birds, why don’t we count the birds and make it a conservation thing.”

Christmas Day, 1900, 27 people across the U.S. and Canada counted about 18,000 birds and 90 species. Last year, 77,000 people across more than 2,500 locations participated. According to the Audubon Society, it’s the oldest running citizen scientist survey in the world.

The survey’s West Virginia manager, Larry Helgerman, says he’s looking for more participants — especially in southern regions of the state. The counts are ongoing through the first week of January.

Birding

“It’s a good way to go with somebody who knows more about what’s there,” Jan Runyan said. An educator and regular Christmas bird counter who lives Brooke County, she said the count presents valuable learning opportunities for people just getting into birds.

“It’s not overwhelming, like the spring with all the songs. It’s an entry-level thing that you can do to become a better birder.”

Runyan explained that most experienced birders are really good at identifying the various calls and songs of bird species.

“They do most of their birding, more than 50 percent — some even say 90 percent — by ear. So when you really want to know what’s out there, you need to know what you’re listening to.”

Runyan said it often seems like an impossible task to differentiate between bird calls for newbies. But just as you can close your eyes at a family gathering and know the difference between family members’ voices, she said, you can learn to know the birds.

“You just have to be out there and experience with them,” she said.

Citizen Science

Beatty and Runyan love to be outside, especially during winter months. The walk around their house was very quiet and peaceful. But Beatty said it isn’t always this way.

“This same spot later in the spring is so loud with bird songs because the birds sing songs to defend their territory. That’s what they do the whole time during nesting season,” he said.

Beatty explained that there are different bird surveys throughout the year. In the spring, surveys usually identify varieties of species; but during the Christmas bird counts, people identify species and count as many birds as are seen.

“With a Christmas bird count, we’re trying to determine population,” he explained.

During the Wheeling Christmas count, Runyan pointed out, every year someone focuses solely on American crows, counting a population of 50,000 birds that roost along the Ohio River. The murder of crows has been meeting in the Ohio Valley for years.

Beatty said a lot has changed since he started observing, more than 40 years ago.

“It’s not at all the same today,” he recalled. “I remember going in the woods early on, and we’d have what we call a ‘fall out,’ which means that there would be these birds called warblers migrating, and when they’re hungry, they just fall into a forest. And when you’re in a fallout, they’re just absolutely everywhere.”

“We don’t see it like we used to at all,” he continued, “There’ll be a fallout, but they are much fewer birds.”

Beatty explains the bird population trends gathered during Christmas count are good environmental indicators to warn humans about various dangers. The data is used in many ways. On the Audobon website there are even mapping tools that show how and where populations of various species have changed in the past decade.