Atlantic coast joint venture waterfowl implementation plan

Over 250 species of birds use the floodplain habitats of the Ohio River. Of the 20 species on the WV Partners in Flight Priority Species List, at least 16 are known to nest along the Ohio River Valley. Osprey, which have been reintroduced into the valley by a cooperative effort of state, federal, and private partners, are now nesting successfully along the Ohio River. The largest Great Blue Heron rookeries in the state are also located within the Ohio River Valley. Bald Eagle began a nest in the Ohio River valley in 1999, the first such nest recorded in the WV portion of the Ohio River.

There are compelling reasons to be concerned about the future of this focus area. Since the early 1900’s 14 islands have been eliminated from the West Virginia section of the Ohio River through inundation for navigation and commercial dredging. Commercial sand and gravel dredging, barge mooring, navigation related activities, industrial development, dredged spoil disposal, and recreational and residential development have all contributed to the destruction and degradation of the valuable wetland and associated habitats found in this focus area.

1. 
   Fee title acquisition: Acquisition of lands to be owned by a conservation agency or organization and managed for wildlife conservation in perpetuity, especially in focus areas and in areas where acquisition of lands builds upon networks of contiguous existing protected lands. Major partners include the state fish and wildlife and land conservation agencies, National Wildlife Refuges, national Forests, The Nature Conservancy, land trusts, and state Audubon chapters.
   

2. 
   Conservation easements: Conservation easements with private landowners and local governments will be used to acquire legal interests to conserve and manage important wetlands and associated upland habitats and limit development while allowing some use by the landowner consistent with the easement conditions. These easements may be particularly effective in working landscapes including working forests and farms where the use of the land is consistent with wildlife habitat conservation. Habitat management plans are important tools to guide the use of the land consistent with the easement conditions. Easements to be generally held by a federal, state or regional conservation agency or organization with the resources to monitor and enforce the easement conditions.
   

3. 
   Cooperative agreements: Agreements with corporations, government agencies, private landowners, and other organizations will be used to protect wetlands and integrate compatible land use practices that benefit wetlands and associated upland habitats.
   

4. 
   Leases: Long-term leases with private landowners, corporations, and other private entities can be used to implement wetland protection and management activities.
   

5. 
   Financial incentives: Develop state and local legislation that would provide financial benefits, i.e., alteration in property taxes to individual landowners, to encourage protection and conservation of wetlands and associated upland habitats.
   

6. 
   Restore tidal wetland hydrology: Restore flow to tidal creeks and marshes that has been cutoff or reduced by placement of roads, dikes, and undersized culverts resulting in a major change in the marsh structure and often resulting in the invasion by Phragmites.
   

7. 
   Restore drained wetlands : Restore drained and ditched freshwater wetlands by eliminating drains and ditches, restoring hydrology and planting or seeding wetland plants where needed.
   

8. 
   Restore Riparian Systems: Restore the natural flow of streams and floodplain wetlands that have been straightened or altered.
   

9. 
   Improve water level management on managed wetlands: Upgrade existing federal, state, and other managed wetlands areas by providing adequate water control structures, dikes, etc., to maximize management opportunities and improve the quality of waterfowl breeding, wintering, and migration habitats as well as to provide for seasonal waterfowl, waterbird and shorebird needs. Impoundment management is particularly important in the southeast Atlantic Coastal Plain where there are thousands of acres of former rice plantations;
   

10. 
    Restore vegetation to impacted wetlands: Implement measures to restore natural vegetation and improve the health and productivity of wetland habitats that have deteriorated due to human impact and overgrazing by snow geese and other impacts resulting in loss of vegetation;
    

11. 
    Restore converted wetlands: Where appropriate, restore forested wetlands that have been converted to other wetland types through planting and management;
    

12. 
    Open marsh water management: Implement management measures to improve water surface and tidal exchange in salt marsh ecosystems by plugging ditches and creating ponds and channels for the benefit of waterfowl and waterbirds as well as the control of mosquitoes.
    

13. 
    Restore and Manage Riparian Buffers: Establish and restore riparian buffers through planting, streambank fencing and other techniques.
    

14. 
    Beaver management: Where applicable, encourage, develop, and support state beaver management policies and programs that would manipulate beaver populations to improve habitat for black ducks, other waterfowl, and wildlife. Also, install devices that allow for beaver-enhanced wetlands but prevent flooding of roads.
    

15. 
    Control exotic and invasive species: Eliminate or suppress the spread of invasive and exotic plants in wetlands through the use of physical, biological, or chemical agents. Eliminate or suppress population growth of invasive animal species through the use of trapping, egg addling or hunting.
    

16. 
    Prescribed burning: Use prescribed fire to restore natural fire-dependent ecological communities such as coastal grasslands and heathlands.
    

17. 
    Implement Farm Bill: Work with NRCS to implement Farm bill conservation programs including Conservation Reserve Program, Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program, Wetland Reserve Program, Wildlife Habitat Incentive Program and others to enhance wetlands and buffers in agricultural areas of the ACJV.
    

18. 
    Enhance habitats on Federal lands: Work with federal agencies such as the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Forest Service and the Department of Defense to develop and assist in the implementation of programs that would better manage and enhance waterfowl habitats on federal lands.
    

19. 
    Review regulatory legislation and enforcement: Evaluate existing wetland protection legislation and work with ongoing programs to strengthen or improve existing federal-state wetland protection efforts and to facilitate wetland management activities. Coordinate with the EPA, the Corps of Engineers, and appropriate state agencies to implement wetland protection provisions of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act.
    

20. 
    Streamline regulations for beneficial projects: Encourage and support measures that would facilitate implementation of management actions in wetlands to benefit waterfowl and other wildlife.
    

21. 
    Mitigation: Work with federal and state regulatory agencies to ensure mitigation policies and mitigation actions resulting from development projects result in enhanced wetland management opportunities.
    

22. 
    Information and education: Develop informational-educational leaflets/brochures, audio-visual programs, and other techniques to generate public interest and support for waterfowl and wetlands conservation.
    

23. 
    Extension education on best management practices: Develop “how to” information for private landowners. Utilize existing network or develop and implement an extension education program to encourage private individuals to conserve and manage wetlands and associated habitats and utilize best management practices.
    

24. 
    Public use management: Carry out public education efforts and provide public use opportunities in a manner compatible with reducing or eliminating disturbance to feeding or loafing waterfowl during critical winter periods.
    

25. 
    Watershed protection and management: Eliminate degradation of wetland health and productivity by municipal waste, agricultural runoff, sedimentation, and industrial contaminants by developing guidelines and providing input to watershed management and estuary plans.
    

26. 
    Predator management: Monitor predator populations on federal and state waterfowl management areas and implement appropriate programs to reduce depredation in problem areas.
    

27. 
    Eliminate waterfowl release: Eliminate releases of captive waterfowl to the wild to reduce competition for wintering habitat between released birds and wild birds. Eliminate state and private release programs to reduce potential for pair bonding between wild and released stocks within a species, reduce the likelihood of pair bonding and hybridization between released mallards and mottled or black ducks, and reduce the potential for spread of disease between released birds and wild stocks.