{"id":715,"date":"2019-09-08T17:29:52","date_gmt":"2019-09-08T22:29:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.wisconsinbirds.org\/iba\/?page_id=715"},"modified":"2019-09-10T15:54:38","modified_gmt":"2019-09-10T20:54:38","slug":"lower-chippewa-river","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/www.wisconsinbirds.org\/iba\/conservation\/lower-chippewa-river\/","title":{"rendered":"Lower Chippewa River"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Project Description<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The Lower Chippewa IBA project features a collection of mostly public properties in a large-river landscape of high conservation significance.\u00a0 Most of the key parcels within the IBA are owned by Wisconsin DNR; the one exception is the Tyrone Property, a large, undeveloped power plant site owned by Xcel Energy.<\/p>\n

The conservation plan for this IBA was developed concurrently with a WDNR master plan for the state properties of the Lower Chippewa.\u00a0 A master plan is a set of documents that details the resource management, facility development, and public use that will take place on a state property or collection of properties\u2014it is a property\u2019s management \u201cblueprint\u201d.\u00a0 The master planning process for the Lower Chippewa properties provided an excellent opportunity to develop a complementary, bird-focused document for land managers that would strategically identify high-priority bird species and habitats and propose recommendations for their management and monitoring.\u00a0 The IBA conservation planning process also included consideration of Xcel Energy\u2019s Tyrone Property, which was not treated in the master plan.<\/p>\n

The IBA conservation plan was finished in February, 2010.\u00a0 It is entitled Managing for Priority Birds on the Lower Chippewa River Important Bird Area<\/em>.\u00a0 This document will be a valuable guide to land managers within the IBA as they engage in ongoing management across this complex and ecologically rich landscape.<\/p>\n

Next Steps<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Inventory and monitoring were two needs identified repeatedly in the IBA report for the Lower Chippewa properties.\u00a0 There was a biotic inventory effort preceding the development of the master plan which included bird surveys and generated some recent data.\u00a0 However, these inventories targeted only certain areas of the public properties.\u00a0 The privately-owned Tyrone Property has almost no bird data at all.\u00a0 The general lack of comprehensive bird survey data across the whole IBA made the process of estimating populations of priority species a challenge, and complicates attempts to set population objectives or gauge effects of management.<\/p>\n

A 2010 Citizen-based Monitoring grant to the Chippewa Savannas Chapter of The Prairie Enthusiasts (TPE) has begun filling this data gap for the priority grassland birds.\u00a0 TPE is using this grant to establish long-term citizen monitoring of grassland and savanna birds, targeting the two properties on the IBA with the highest potential to manage for priority grassland species\u2014Dunnville Wildlife Area and the Tyrone Property.\u00a0 Data were collected at these properties during the 2010 breeding season.\u00a0 A final report will be made available to land managers.<\/p>\n

An important inventory and monitoring gap remains for forest birds, particularly on the Tiffany Wildlife Area, the IBA\u2019s largest property and major forest opportunity.\u00a0 The extensive forested landscape here makes forest birds such as cerulean warbler, Kentucky warbler, and prothonotary warbler an even higher priority on the IBA than grassland birds.\u00a0 Tiffany, with its extensive floodplain forests and adjacent upland forests on steep bluffs, presents a demanding monitoring environment.\u00a0 It is a large, remote property with difficult access.\u00a0 Establishing monitoring for priority forest birds at Tiffany and other key forested tracts along the Lower Chippewa will be this IBA\u2019s next challenge.<\/p>\n

Partners<\/strong><\/h3>\n