Seventy-three percent of the forests in the United States are privately owned - 14% by timber companies and 59% by nonindustrial private forest owners. Environmental groups tend to focus on the 18% of our forests that are federally owned for a number of reasons, including that they are home to almost all virgin, old growth, and roadless forests, and we have the greatest ability to influence management of these forests. But private forests are vast and very important to many species. In addition to participating in forest certification programs which try to improve the management of these lands through the marketplace, Audubon has initiated a few of its own programs to reach out to the people who manage these lands. Maintaining the quality and value of forests and preserving the wildlife that occurs within them are important social needs. Most of the private forests in this country are logged without the advise and guidance of a professional forester or biologist. For such sites, training and education programs for loggers have been identified as key tools for promoting sustainable and responsible forestry. Any effort to train loggers on the management of wildlife habitat must be based on sound scientific information on how logging affects forest fauna and flora. To date, no such science-based training modules exist in many parts of the country.

Audubon has initiated cooperative research projects to provide a scientifically based training module that will help sustain biodiversity and productivity of nonindustrial private forests. The Important Bird Areas Program identifies critical habitat on public as well as private land. Our science department works with an industrial timber landowner - International Paper - to study how it can minimize its impact on birds and wildlife, and with an industrial purchaser of timber from small private landowners - Proctor & Gamble - to inform loggers and owners of smaller tracts of private land how they can also minimize their impacts. The WatchList - the basis for all of these programs - identifies North American bird species faced with population decline, limited geographic range, and/or threats such as habitat loss on their breeding and wintering grounds. The WatchList is an early warning system that focuses attention on at-risk bird species before they become endangered.

Habitat loss is the leading cause of the declines of many bird populations in the United States and around the world. The Important Bird Areas Program is a coordinated worldwide response - a comprehensive effort to identify and protect essential habitats for birds. The Program uses standardized criteria to identify Important Bird Areas (IBAs), sites where significant populations or an exceptional diversity of birds occurs. These sites include public and private lands, and may be protected or unprotected. Once designated, IBAs become targets of focused conservation strategies, ranging from willing-seller land acquisition and conservation easements to working with land owners and managers to maintain high-quality habitat.

National Audubon Society established the first state IBA Program in the United States in 1995 in Pennsylvania, and the second in 1996 in New York. Other IBA Programs are underway in California, Idaho, Maine, Maryland, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Tennessee. We work in partnership with other conservation groups - including the American Bird Conservancy, which is leading the effort to identify nationally and globally important sites - and as a member of the Partners In Flight coalition.

We invite all interested birders and volunteers to participate in the IBA Program in their state, through their Audubon chapter, bird club, or independently. Volunteers are needed to help locate and nominate Important Bird Areas and to contribute to conservation efforts.

Contact:
Fred Baumgarten
IBA National Coordinator
National Audubon Society
99 West Cornwall Road
Sharon, CT 06069
(860) 364-0048
email: fbaumgarten@audubon.org

National Audubon Society and International Paper have joined forces on an exciting conservation partnership that is helping WatchList bird species. Along with researchers from North Carolina State University, Audubon and International Paper are documenting bird diversity and habitat characteristics in a variety of forests and management regimes on a 30,000 acre Woodbury Forest in eastern South Carolina. In the spirit of the WatchList mission to develop and implement wise land management practices for the habitats of priority birds, this research targets several WatchList birds - Swainson's, Prairie, and Prothonotary Warblers, Swallow-tailed Kites, and Eastern Wood-Pewees. International Paper and National Audubon are defining the needs and costs of stewardship of source populations of these species on the Woodbury Tract, and looking for ways to extend the research finding to other land holdings. Some cutting edge bird science is evolving from this project, such as an attempt to see the forest as birds see it, including which microhabitats they prefer. This initiative will serve as a model partnership for conservation of WatchList bird species in the future.

Contact:
Matthew McKown
National Audubon Society
700 Broadway
New York, NY 10003
(212) 979-3150
email: mmckown@audubon.org

The National Audubon Society is collaborating with the Proctor and Gamble company, which purchases vast amounts of wood for its paper-based products from relatively small private landowners, on a study of wildlife populations in nonindustrial forest lands in northeastern Pennsylvania. The study is designed to evaluate the effects of various harvest techniques on wildlife habitat. Forest songbird surveys are conducted on all sites, along with surveys of small mammals, reptiles, amphibians, and understory plants. Eleven WatchList bird species have been encountered on the study sites. The results will strengthen and expand training and education programs for loggers in northeastern Pennsylvania.

Brochures for loggers and private landowners have been produced. An example is "Wildlife and Forestry on your Northern Hardwood Stand," which explains how plants and wildlife in northeastern Pennsylvania respond to logging and management strategies. The brochure counsels "[i]f you have decided to harvest timber on your land you'll want to do so in the most responsible manner consistent with your management goals. This brochure can assist you and your logger/forester in understanding the consequences of different levels of cutting and different harvesting techniques." Suggestions are made for maintaining or even creating plant and wildlife habitat regardless of financial objectives. It is hoped that this project will serve as a model for improving forestry in other regions.

Contact:
National Audubon Society
Pennsylvania State Office
1104 Fernwood Ave, Suite 300
Camp Hill, PA 17011-6912
(717) 763-4985
(717) 763-4981 (fax)