NABCI Partner Responses to the 5 Game Changing Paradigms

Examples of how American Bird Conservancy is contributing to bringing back 3 Billion Birds through 5 Game Changing Paradigms

1. Unprecedented Coalition to address the Bird Crisis

Since our inception in 1994, ABC has worked through partnerships and remains committed to supporting and developing partnerships throughout the Americas and the Caribbean that will contribute to this coalition. Highlights include: - Decades of support for expanding and sustaining the Migratory Bird Joint Venture (JV) network

to conserve all birds with highlights such as hosting 19 JV employees in seven JVs including the

new Central California Coast JV coordinator, serving on the Management Boards of 11 JVs,

substantial investment in lobbying and advocacy on behalf of funding for JVs, and helping lead

multi-JV efforts to conserve grassland birds.

- For many years, ABC has helped lead, support, and engage with the major bird initiatives

including Partners in Flight (PIF), U.S. Shorebird, and Waterbird Conservation for the Americas.

ABC will participate in upcoming efforts to revitalize the waterbirds initiative.

- ABC has a substantial, long-term commitment to partners in Latin America and the Caribbean

essential to full life cycle conservation. For example, our Latin America Reserve Stewardship

Initiative provides training and grants to partners throughout Latin America and the Caribbean

to help strengthen and sustain those organizations.

- ABC strongly believes in innovative approaches that bring new partners to the coalition. For

example, we recently joined forces with BirdLife International as a U.S. partner. ABC is also Chair

of the Alliance for Zero Extinction allowing us to engage governments across the hemisphere to

allocate Global Environmental Facility funding to the conservation of species on the edge of

extinction and establish relationships that can further conservation of migratory birds and

implementation of United Nations Sustainable Development Goals to benefit migratory birds.

ABC is actively working with the NABCI International Committee to mainstream bird

conservation in government policy, sustainable development initiatives, and private investment.

- ABC believes private investors and businesses can be part of this unprecedented coalition. We

are working to develop effective impact investing opportunities across a wide range of

industries including cattle, agroforestry, spices, carbon offsets, charcoal alternatives, cacao and

ecotourism. We will also actively participate in the Bird Friendly Products Coalition led by

Smithsonian. Through our Managed Forest for Birds partnership, ABC brings Sustainable

Forestry Initiative certified organizations to the conservation table representing over 350 million

acres of working forests in the United States and Canada.

- ABC will also expand the coalition by helping make people part of the solution. For example,

ABC is partnering with EPA, Gulf Coast Bird Observatory and others to launch a new initiative on

the Texas Coast focused on educating and engaging beach goers, recreationists, and citizens in

reducing plastic pollution. We will elevate plastic as a major threat to seabirds and shorebirds

and seek expanded opportunities to reduce this threat.

- ABC is committed to bringing birders, photographers and communities to the bird conservation

coalition through our Bird Cities program and webinar series targeting how these groups can

contribute to conservation.

2. Advanced science to identify the “Smoking Guns” of bird declines

- With substantial leadership from ABC staff in the Central Hardwoods JV, we play an active

leadership and research role in the multi-JV Eastern Grassland Bird Murmuration initiative that

will integrate demographic and habitat data into models (comparable to “Smoking Guns”

Science) that inform full annual cycle conservation through understanding cause and effect of

habitat delivery and bird population response.

- As the results of the recent Smoking Guns workshop become more widely available, we will

incorporate species of interest and resulting science into our BirdScapes approach to

conservation (see below).

3. Road Maps for Population Recovery and full life cycle conservation

- Through our BirdScapes focal landscape approach, ABC is working with partners to implement

conservation in priority breeding, wintering and stopover areas at the scale needed to lead to

recovery and to provide linkages for full life cycle conservation. In BirdScapes, we address

habitat needs through protection, improved management, and restoration; implement policies

to support habitat conservation and reduce threats; educate and engage stakeholders; and

bring impact investment dollars to working conservation lands. With partners, ABC has

identified 100 BirdScapes in the US, Latin America and the Caribbean and is currently active in

over 25.

- ABC helped secure funding for and is contributing to leadership and organization of Central and

Mississippi Grassland Bird Summits and will support development and implementation of

resulting conservation road maps. We will Integrate our work in BirdScapes with the road maps

to contribute to large scale conservation.

- ABC is currently working through the PIF Eastern Working Group to advance business plans for

the Caribbean Slope and Highlands PIFV regions, which can contribute to full life cycle

conservation road maps.

- ABC is engaged in a substantial amount of grassland bird conservation throughout the central

and eastern grasslands with many full life cycle connections such as between our work with

ranchers in the Northern Plains and ranchers and ejidos in Chihuahuan Desert Grasslands.

Additionally, ABC is helping lead the JV8 multi-national grassland effort that will span central

grasslands from Canada to Mexico for an unprecedented collaborative approach to recovering

grassland birds.

- ABC will continue to support and expand the very successful Grassland Restoration Incentive

Program (GRIP) with partners in the Oaks and Prairies JV where the concept originated and has

improved over 90,000 acres of grasslands since 2014, and in the Rio Grande, Gulf Coast, and

Northern Great Plains JVs.

- ABC has worked with US State wildlife agencies and the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies

(AFWA) to develop and implement the Southern Wings program, facilitating support for

wintering grounds conservation for priority migrants identified in state wildlife action plans. To

date, ABC has helped to implement $1M in state funds in seven countries. We will work with

AFWA to help expand Southern Wings to all state agencies.

4. Bold, new legislative agenda (Recovering America’s Wildlife Act, North American Grasslands Conservation Act)

- ABC is advocating for Recovering America’s Wildlife Act and helping to develop a North

American Grasslands Conservation Act.

- ABC is working to pass the Migratory Bird Protection Act to restore the necessary protections for

migratory birds lost through the M-opinion of the existing Migratory Bird Treaty Act and to

establish regulatory contributions to bird conservation through incidental take permits to apply

available best management practices.

- Reducing the major threats to birds must be a part of the recovery effort, and ABC is working

diligently to reduce losses from collisions by passing bird safe building legislation at local, state

and national levels. We will work to implement effective policies related to other major threats

including free-roaming cats, plastics and pesticides that kill billions of birds each year.

- New funding mechanisms will be required, and we will work to create a coalition that can

promote legislation needed to create a Songbird Stamp that can provide funding for

conservation of birds in steepest decline and complement conservation achieved through the

Duck Stamp. We will advocate for expanding the Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act to

provide more support for wintering grounds conservation and maintaining robust funding for

the North American Wetlands Conservation Act.

5. Unified messaging to bring back 3 Billion Birds

- ABC will remain an active part of the coalition of bird organizations that came together around

communication related to the Science publication documenting the loss of nearly 3 billion birds.

- ABC will work with this coalition to increase effective marketing for birds, inspiring people to

take action to help reverse bird declines.

- ABC is partnering with Project Learning Tree to develop a curriculum about birds and forests,

and take advantage of novel partnerships such as the Sustainable Forestry Initiative to reach the

next generation. Messaging from 3 billion birds will be incorporated.

Audubon’s Commitment to Bringing Back

Grassland Birds and Their Habitats

North American birds are in crisis, with nearly three billion birds lost since 1970. Nowhere are these losses worse

than in the grasslands, where >60% of grassland habitat has been lost and bird populations have declined by over

53%. Losses at this scale require an unprecedented response. National Audubon Society has joined a diverse suite of

organizations, agencies, and scientists working together to Bring Back 3 Billion Birds, with a focus on vulnerable

grassland birds.

Audubon has long been committed to conservation of grassland birds and their habitats. Our 2019 North American

Grasslands and Birds Report (https://www.audubon.org/conservation/working-lands/grasslands-report) presents the

science we have undertaken to evaluate threats, identify priority places for conservation across the full annual cycle,

and assess the success of our conservation efforts. Our grassland conservation efforts have three main pillars:

Using Market-based Strategies to Conserve Grasslands: the Conservation Ranching Initiative National Audubon Society developed the Conservation Ranching Initiative to create a market-based solution to

grassland bird conservation. Through this initiative, Audubon partners with private landowners and land managers

to develop and implement bird-friendly Habitat Management Plans (HMPs) on their ranches. In return, ranches are

certified as bird-friendly, and beef may then be sold into premium markets. Moreover, Audubon Science developed

the Bird-Friendliness Index, an accountability metric that quantifies the impact of bird-friendly management on

grassland birds so that consumers and funders can be confident of the impact of their choices. The Conservation

Ranching Initiative enhances habitat management on more than 2.3 million acres via the implementation of

Audubon-approved HMPs fully verified by third party certification.

Producing advanced science to assess grassland bird climate change vulnerability Audubon compiled over 4 million grassland bird observations to assess their climate change vulnerability under

three scenarios: 1.5, 2.0 and 3.0° C. We found that over 70% of grassland birds are vulnerable to climate change.

Nearly half (42%) are highly vulnerable to climate change under a 3.0° C temperature increase, but that reducing

emissions to 1.5° C would leave only 8% of species highly vulnerable. These findings highlight the need to consider

climate change when identifying grassland conservation areas.

Identifying Priority Grassland Conservation Areas under Climate and Land-use Change Audubon mapped conservation priorities for grassland birds across North America throughout their full annual

cycle. We identified both continental and regional (Northern and Southern Great Plains) priorities based on

vulnerability to climate and land-use change on both summer and winter ranges. Climate Strongholds represent

areas that are currently climatically suitable for grassland birds and are predicted to remain suitable in the future,

while Vulnerable Climate Strongholds represent Climate Strongholds that are threatened by predicted land-use

change. We also identified Consensus Priorities defined as areas where Strongholds overlap priority areas

independently identified by other organizations working to protect grasslands based on non-avian targets such as

grassland types and threats. Consensus priority areas were located mainly in the Prairie Potholes Region, the

Shortgrass Prairies of the western Great Plains, the Gulf Coast Prairie, and Chihuahuan Grasslands.

This report sounded the alarm, and provided a roadmap for Audubon’s grassland conservation efforts. We are now

mobilizing our network across the United States on behalf of policies such as the Farm Bill that benefit farmers and

ranchers, as well as grassland habitats and birds. Through our partnership with NABCI and the Bring Back 3 Billion

Birds team, we will redouble our efforts to conserve grassland birds and their habitats.

Biodiversity Research Institute

BRI is something of an outlier in the NABCI community. As an independent research body, we

do not have a membership to draw on or to disseminate information to. And, in order to maintain

our scientific integrity, we have to avoid anything resembling lobbying or advocacy. All of

which leaves us in a very different place than other NGOs on the committee, like Audubon or

TNC, for example.

At BRI, our mission is to "assess emerging threats to wildlife and ecosystems through

collaborative research, and to use scientific findings to advance environmental awareness and

inform decision makers." We fit neatly and completely within paradigm no. 2. Everyday we are

working to identify priority species, understand threats across annual cycles, and inform bird

conservation discussions and decision-making, and we will continue to do so.

Currently, our focal areas of research include:

- providing regulatory agencies and developers with broadscale baseline ecological information

via offshore digital aerial and boat-based surveys,

- working with regulatory agencies to track the movements and migrations of vulnerable offshore

species,

- working with a broad range of stakeholders to establish best management practices in the

energy sector in the U.S.,

- developing practices for the restoration of avian species to former breeding areas across North

America,

- working with the UN and other countries to reduce mercury pollution globally, in support of

the Minimata Convention, and

- providing regulatory agencies and developers with an important understanding of how

grassland birds respond to solar farms.

At every opportunity, we also put effort into identifying major ecological and avian data gaps,

and in advising federal and state agencies on the need for studies to fill those gaps. In doing so,

we may also already contribute to paradigm no. 5, and will certainly continue to do so.

BRI (perhaps unlike any of the other NGOs involved) is subject to the shifts and swings of a

fickle funding environment, which makes it difficult for us to commit to anything particularly

long-term. We have a few long-running pet projects, of course, that we pursue no matter what,

but they must always be balanced with enough funded projects to keep the lights on. Which

means we have to be nimble enough to go where the money is at times, and, obviously, that not

only changes but can change quickly. Thus, we have a necessary hesitancy when it comes to

committing our time or any other BRI resources to anything NABCI-related, especially long-

term or broadscale projects, because that reality is always at the forefront of any consideration.

Bird Conservancy of the Rockies and NABCI Game Changing Paradigms

Building an Unprecedented Coalition to address the Bird Crisis

The Grassland Roadmap Summit brings together diverse stakeholders (indigenous communities,

industry, state and federal agencies, producers, NGOs, academia, and foundations), to develop a

roadmap that identifies and mitigates the threats facing grasslands including birds across their

full annual cycle. Over the next year, we envision gathering additional input from more

stakeholders including a broader sector of industry, multi-national partners as well as

government leaders to garner more support and buy-in for the roadmap. We anticipate a

Grassland Branding Campaign targeting the 8-sectors as well as urban centers throughout the

grasslands. An in-person meeting in summer 2021 will occur to build on the roadmap, make

adaptations, and formal commitments/declarations from the 8-sectors for advancing the roadmap.

Our ultimate goal is to preserve natural and cultural heritage across the Central Flyway for

generations to come. This will be a long-term process that is adaptable, iterative, and inclusive.

Our Integrated Bird Monitoring of Conservation Regions (IMBCR) programs brings together 23

state, federal and NGO partners across 15 U.S. states to collect essential data for identifying

trends in bird populations and leverages these data to understand the causes of decline and

develop proactive conservation and management solutions. Our Stewardship program builds on

this collaborative conservation model by connecting Bird Conservancy biologists with hundreds

of private landowners across the Rocky Mountains, Great Plains and Chihuahuan Desert to

implement habitat conservation practices on their lands, including Natural Resource

Conservation Service Farm Bill programs. These partnerships facilitate management and

restoration practices on private lands where many declining bird species are facing threats. Our

education programs have established a coalition of educators focused on disseminating

information from our science and stewardship program to diverse audiences. Finally, our work

also takes a full-annual cycle approach and we have developed long-term partnerships with

dozens of organizations, agencies, communities, and individuals in Mexico to address non-

breeding and resident populations through science, education and land stewardship.

Advance science to identify the “Smoking Guns” of bird declines

Using IMBCR data, we aim to examine the interactions between land use change and climate to

quantify spatial and temporal patterns of decline, and develop spatial prioritizations to maximize

conservation ROI. We are also actively working with partners internationally (i.e., Canadian

Wildlife Service, CWS) to develop range-wide avian density models that integrate the best

available data sources including BBS, IMBCR and CWS count data. In addition, we are actively

involved with and developing integrated population models (IPM) for a number of key species of

conservation concern. These IPMs can inform when and where in the annual cycle populations

are limited by examining the contribution of different vital rates to population growth. Covariates

are introduced into these models to understand how ecological variables (habitat, climate and

even management action) affect vital rates. By identifying the specific factors that are driving

population declines, and by incorporating simulations of various conservation investment

scenarios, IPMs can be used to develop and target conservation actions to where they will have

the greatest impact on population recovery. Lastly, Bird Conservancy is working with diverse

partners to build the western Motus network. By pairing automated Motus towers and tagging

efforts on species of concern, we hope to understand essential components of migration ecology

(phenology, stop-over and site fidelity). These movement data are essential for informing local,

regional and national conservation and can provide spatial prioritizations for habitat protection.

Developing Road Maps for Population Recovery and full life cycle conservation

Bird Conservancy is playing a convening role in the Central Grasslands Roadmap Summit. The

initial phase of the Central Grassland Roadmap Summit is aimed at developing shared

conservation priorities and organizing resources across a diverse suite of stakeholders,

represented by nearly 300 delegates, 150 unique organizations. We expect to complete the first

draft of the Roadmap by early fall, after which it will be ‘road tested’ over the next year to

further improve upon the draft so that by the end of 2021 we have strong unifying guidance for

collaborative multinational grassland conservation efforts over the next decade.

We have multiple active effectiveness monitoring projects that measure avian responses to

diverse management practices and then provide adaptive feedback to resource managers to

ensure practices benefit populations. These projects span the full annual cycle to ensure that

management practices on the breeding and non-breeding grounds have maximum conservation

impact.

Contribute to Bold, new legislative agenda (Recovering America’s Wildlife Act, North

American Grasslands Conservation Act)

Bird Conservancy’s involvement in the Grassland Roadmap Summit aims to help identify key

policy actions that will support conservation and recovery of grasslands. We envision a team of

collaborators advancing policies that the 8-sectors have elevated as priorities and ensuring

engagement at the state, region, national and multinational levels.

Crafting a Unified messaging to bring back 3 billion birds

Bird Conservancy was a partner and key contributor to the 3 Billion Birds Science paper, as well

as the 3BB campaign in coordination with Cornell Lab of Ornithology, American Bird

Conservancy, and others. We have been incorporating the messages and other resources from

the 3billionbirds.org site into our own communications to draw relevancy to our ongoing work.

We are also continuing to work on development and dissemination of the unified messaging

from these efforts to expanded audiences. Co-author Arvind Panjabi recently gave a virtual

presentation on the article and campaign to over 700 viewers across the country through the

Denver Museum of Nature and Science, which included the ‘7 Simple Ways to Help Birds’ and

an overview of pending legislation like Recovering America’s Wildlife Act. Arvind will be

giving a similar presentation to the Mexican ornithological community later this year, which will

include academics, students, and government and NGO representatives. Bird Conservancy is

engaged in ongoing discussions within Partners in Flight regarding ‘What Next?’ after

publication of the Science article, which will likely involve significant communication needs. As

discussed above, a lot of energy is developing from the summit that complements the actions of

the 3 billion birds campaign and unified messaging that targets grasslands. We envision an 8-

sector, multinational strategy for a Grassland Branding Campaign that elevates the why of

grasslands and what they mean to our natural and cultural heritage, our way of life and the health

of our communities.

Cornell Lab of Ornithology: Response to 3 Billion Birds and 5 Game Changer Paradigms,

6 August 2020

1. Unprecedented coalition: As the lead-author organization on the Science paper, The

Cornell Lab helped build and lead the coalition of author and partner institutions that

came together to analyze 50 years of bird-monitoring data, publish the results, and

develop unified messaging that defined and sounded the alarm about the bird crisis.

a. Primarily through its Applied Conservation Scientist position (Ken Rosenberg),

Cornell Lab continues to play a lead role in coordinating the partnership response

within NABCI, PIF, and the 3BB coalition—which continues to meet on a weekly

basis.

b. The Lab’s Coastal Solutions Fellows Program is a partnership with the David and

Lucile Packard Foundation to conserve coastal habitats and shorebird populations

through international and multidisciplinary community-based solutions. The

program supports six young professionals per year to implement a project at a

priority shorebird site in Latin America along the Pacific Americas Flyway.

2. Advanced Science: Science directed at conservation action is at the core of the Cornell

Lab’s mission. Among the many ongoing research initiatives that contribute directly to

advancing recovery of declining birds, highlights include:

• Follow-up analysis of long-term bird-monitoring datasets (surveys and radar) to

identify more detailed spatial and temporal patterns of bird declines and

demographic factors.

• Co-leading (with Pete Marra and Tom Will) the “smoking guns” approach to

identifying causes of declines and advancing species along a “road-to-recovery”

process to keep the most steeply declining species off T&E lists.

• Advancing eBird as the world’s largest biodiversity data enterprise, including:

engagement of thousands of birders and citizen-scientists; structured protocols

(ProAlas) to monitor bird populations (including migrants) in Latin America;

cutting-edge quantitative analysis to track short-term, spatially explicit population

trends in near real-time throughout the annual cycle; a monitoring and evaluation

platform for large-scale programmatic investments from agencies and

Foundations (e.g. forest restoration), market-based sustainability incentives (e.g.

coffee certification), and federal/private sector investments and initiatives (e.g.,

CRP) in agricultural lands.

• Integrated population modeling of priority species, including development of new

methodologies and partnerships with federal and state agencies (e.g. FWS) to

integrate eBird status and trends data products into existing Integrated Population

Models.

• Co-lead (with SELVA, Colombia) the Neotropical Flyways Project to discover

and assess critical migration stopover sites in Central and South America through

extensive surveys, intensive banding, tracking technologies, and in-country

capacity building.

4. Bold, new legislative agenda: Although the Cornell Lab does not engage in direct

advocacy, we advocate strongly through our science and our science-based expertise.

Examples of the Lab’s recent policy-directed activities include leading in the production

of the 2017 and 2019 State of the Birds reports focused on the U.S. Farm Bill and

Recovering America’s Wildlife Act, testimony to Congress on detrimental effects of

MBTA rule and gutting of Clean Water Act and EPA, and Op-Eds in major media about

3 billion birds lost, MBTA, ESA, Sage Grouse, and lead poisoning.

5. Unified messaging: Cornell Lab’s communications and conservation media programs

continue to lead the coalition of organizations that developed and implemented the highly

successful media and outreach campaign following the 3BB publication, including

hosting the 3billionbirds.org web site. In particular, Cornell provides unique expertise in

producing and sharing digital and print media in support of 7 simple actions, NABCI’s

Relevancy Toolkit, State of the Birds, Grassland bird conservation, migratory

connections, and other shared topics.

3 Billion Birds Communications Group (lead by Cornell)

• The 3 Billion Birds Communications Group includes science and outreach partners, most

of them representing institutions of the coauthors of last year’s Science paper, including

the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, American Bird Conservancy, Smithsonian Migratory

Bird Center, Audubon, Bird Conservancy of the Rockies, Georgetown University,

Environment and Climate Change Canada, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, and NABCI.

The group includes scientists and communicators.

o This team led publicity for the 3 Billion Birds campaign, including media

outreach, website development (3billionbirds.org), editorial and multimedia

content, and social media campaign.

o The Science paper ranked #209 out of more than 14 million research outputs for

the quantity and quality of online coverage, equivalent to the top 0.001%

according to Altmetric.

o More than 1,750 outlets covered the news, with a combined circulation of 3.8

billion, and the social media campaign generated more than 3 million

impressions.

• This team will help shape external communications aimed at their constituents and

supporters, as well as the broader public, to advance game changing paradigm #5:

Unified messaging to bring back 3 billion birds. The group and its collaborations with

additional communications and outreach partners in the future, can also be considered

part of game changing paradigm #1: unprecedented coalition to address the Bird Crisis.

• The team is currently scoping potential initiatives for the coming year including the

following:

o Science communications: Readiness for media outreach to amplify awareness

and understanding of science breakthroughs and data-driven tools, including

publications arising from the Road to Recovery collaborations and the launch and

promotion of eBird Status & Trends, Migratory Bird Initiative, Atlas of Migratory

Connectivity for the Birds of North America, State of the Birds, etc.

o Policy communications: Communications in support of the Legislative Bird

Agenda and other initiatives, e.g.,

▪ Migratory Bird Treaty Act; Migratory Bird Protection Act

▪ Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act

▪ National Environmental Policy Act

▪ North American Grasslands Conservation Act

▪ North American Wetlands Conservation Act

▪ Recovering America’s Wildlife Act

▪ Waters of the United States

▪ Bird-Safe Buildings Act

▪ Agreement for the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels

▪ Songbird Stamp

o Engagement campaigns: Development of content and engagement campaigns

aimed at inspiring individual, influencer, and community actions under the

umbrella of the emerging coalition for “Live Bird Friendly”

The NABCI Communications representatives on this team are Miyoko Chu, Scott Anderson, and

Christopher Deets.

Ducks Unlimited

Ducks Unlimited response on how our organization is playing or can play a role in grassland

conservation efforts and the 5 Game Changing Paradigms identified by NABCI to address the 3

billion bird decline in North America.

1) Science and Business Planning (relates to Paradigms 1 & 2)

Ducks Unlimited Inc., and its sister organizations Ducks Unlimited Canada and Ducks Unlimited

de Mexico completed a revision to our International Conservation Plan (ICP) in Spring 2019.

We used a return-on-investment (ROI) model that combined the most recent applicable

waterfowl science with proprietary data on cost of conservation. Our model is continental in

scale but developed using landscape (essentially JV) level science and planning information, and

proprietary data on cost of conservation within each landscape.

Our ICP revision incorporated a first generation ROI model approach that included the following

variables: 1) Estimated waterfowl abundance across North America for breeding and

migration/winter periods of the annual cycle; 2) estimates of landscape capacity to support

desired populations of breeding waterfowl based on USFWS BPOP, or energy requirements of

migrant/wintering populations based on NAWMP Joint Ventures; 3) most recent available

estimates of habitat loss/gain by landscape (JVs essentially) for wetlands, and where appropriate

uplands (PPR grasslands mainly); 4) proprietary data on cost/acre (USD) of conservation

programs within landscapes, including direct costs, staff cost, and indirect costs. We then

applied a weighting factor based on peer-reviewed, published integration population models that

reflect where/when limiting factors act on waterfowl – simplified in the first-generation model to

an application of 0.72 multiplier for breeding landscapes, and 0.28 for migration/winter

landscapes.

The results clearly indicate that PPR grassland/wetland complexes are the landscape the provides

the most significant ROI (waterfowl) conservation funding. Consequently, DUI and DUC place

highest conservation priority on the PPR – and that landscape is where we will seek to focus our

allocable investments in the foreseeable future. Many species of waterfowl are best described as

grassland facultative specialists during the breeding season, which is also the period where

factors affecting population limitations are most influential. If it would be helpful, and given

the third statement in the NABCI Paradigms, DU is willing to present and or share our

experiences in developing our ROI model, and/or participate with NABCI members and other

partners in crafting ROI models as part of business plans to drive prioritized, effective and

urgent grassland conservation.

2) Direct Conservation Programs for Grassland Conservation (relates to Paradigms 1 and

3)

DUC and DUI, since our founding in 1937, have always placed a high priority on prairie

grassland landscapes embedded with high densities of wetlands that attract breeding waterfowl.

Over decades, and in collaboration with many, many governmental, NGO, and private landowner

partners, we have worked to protect via fee title purchase, or via perpetual conservation

easements, over 1.62M acres of grassland-wetland complexes. Tens of thousands of additional

acres of working grasslands, agricultural lands, and other areas are under shorter-term

agreements or have been influenced towards sustainable use by DU conservation programs.

Nearly all of these accomplishments have resulted from collaboration with conservation partners

that provide funding, science, policy, and important access to privately-owned grasslands on

which waterfowl and many other species of grassland obligate and facultative birds depend.

While most of our collaborative accomplishments have focused on the PPR, we remain

interested and seek opportunities to conserve wetlands embedded in other grassland dominated

landscapes like the PLJV and GCJV that provide important waterfowl migration and winter

habitat. DUMAC has also conserved wetland complexes that occur in Chihuahuan and Sonoran

JV landscapes, though our work in those areas is limited in scale and focused on a handful of

isolated wetland areas. All three DU organizations remain willing and able to collaborate

through existing conservation programs, or development of new conservation programs that

drive grassland conservation. While our mission focus requires our prioritization of grasslands

with embedded wetlands, if we can be helpful, we are willing to participate in discussion or

design of programs, and share our experiences, to facilitate conservation of more arid

grassland landscapes where wetlands are rarer or absent.

3) Public Policy for Grassland Conservation (relates to Paradigms 1 and 4)

NABCI has identified the Recovering America’s Wildlife Act, a potential North American

Grasslands Conservation Act, and elements of the Farm Bill as policy that may support a stated

national grassland policy of “no net loss of grasslands”. DUI, along with many other

conservation partners, has worked on Farm Bill conservation titles and disincentive programs

(Swampbuster, Sodbuster) from the earliest days of Farm Bill(s) development. We remain

supportive of successful passage of RAWA and wish to learn more about a conceptual North

American Grassland Conservation Act. Our public policy staff, with support from our science

and conservation staff, remain willing to coordinate and/or collaborate to advance public policy

on behalf of waterfowl, other grassland birds, and the habitat on which they depend. We also

welcome continued support of NABCI partners that can perform advocacy work for programs

that have important grassland conservation elements, especially NAWCA and the Migratory Bird

Habitat and Hunting Stamp (Duck Stamp). We also believe state-level policy and funding for

state waterfowl, migratory bird, or wildlife habitat stamps, and state-level dedicated

conservation funding policy can dramatically help support grassland conservation in states

with grassland habitat.

4) Communications (relates to Paradigm 5)

DUI and DUC both have messaged about the 3B Bird Crisis on our social media platforms,

website, and our printed magazines. Examples attached. Our social media posts have the

potential to reach hundreds of thousands of followers, and our magazine has potential to reach

~750,000 people. Our new magazine, slated for its first publication this fall, will also reach a

more diverse audience focused more on conservation – the feature article for that first edition

magazine relates to loss of 3B birds, and seeks to inform readers how our conservation programs

for waterfowl contribute to conservation of other bird species, and provides other ecosystem

services – ultimately aimed at attracting a larger and more diverse support base for conservation.

We have and will continue to make grassland conservation, especially but not exclusively

focused on the PPR, a priority for communication to our supporters.

IBP Actions to facilitate the 5 Game Changing Paradigms

(1) Unprecedented coalition to address the bird crisis and (2) Advanced science to identify the “smoking guns” of bird declines IBP has remained active in the BB3BB effort, and will continue to provide support. In particular, it’s nearly universally agreed that determining the causes of decline, especially identifying demographic factors throughout the full annual cycle, must play a role in BB3BB. IBP’s Monitoring Avian Productivity and Survivorship (MAPS) and Monitoring Overwinter Survival (MoSI) programs are the longest-running and geographically most-extensive network of demographic monitoring efforts in the hemisphere. The networks are a free, open source of full annual cycle demographic data for more than 150 species of birds. 3. Road Maps for Population Recovery and full life cycle conservation IBP has been active in the development of the original Relevancy Toolkit, and we regularly partner with the BLM, NPS, USFS, DoD, and other federal partners to conduct monitoring and develop conservation strategies that utilize or integrate with the noted existing conservation strategies. IBP was a participant in the development of some of the Conservation Business Plans, and hopes to remain an active partner. 4. Bold, new legislative agenda (Recovering America’s Wildlife Act, North American Grasslands Conservation Act) IBP supports RAWA, and is committed to providing data, studies, and communications materials in support of it, in ways that do not compromise our non-profit status. IBP does not conduct much work in grasslands, though a few of our projects have monitoring efforts that extend into this habitat. The MAPS network has several stations collecting demographic data on grassland species. 5. Unified messaging to bring back 3 billion birds IBP’s Communications Specialist is a member of the Comm Comm, and uses materials developed by it in our blog, email newsletters, and our Facebook, Twitter, and other social media.

Migratory Bird Joint Ventures

1. JV Leadership in grasslands work:

a. The JV8 work in the grasslands and scaling-up conservation efforts at the multi-

national Central Flyway level.

b. The Southern Mississippi Flyway Joint Venture Partnerships’ Grassland initiative:

A Multi-Joint Venture effort to model full annual cycle population-habitat

relationships of grassland birds (AKA: The 5 JV Murmuration)

c. JV leadership in the Central Grasslands and Mississippi Flyway grassland

summits

d. Increased activities and strengthened/broadened partnership efforts within

individual JVs that are directed at grassland bird habitats. This is a major

redirection of staff responsibilities, engagement of new partners, engagement of

existing partners in new ways, collective pursuit and administration of funding

support, addition of board members, changes/additions to partnership structure,

etc.

2. JV science and engagement in the Limiting Factors (smoking guns) workshop

3. Building potential for a national-level NRCS-JV Partnership Enterprise that would

institutionalize the existing NRCS-JV relationships and establish a pathway for new

partnerships. Formalizing the NRCS-JV partnership would accelerate strategic delivery

of Farm Bill conservation programs though improved long-term science and conservation

capacity needed to comprehensively address resource concerns at scale; increased

continuity in project implementation, partner and landowner relationships, and outcome

monitoring; and enhanced stability and confidence for long-term planning and strategic

use of resources.

4. Many JVs have developed unprecedented, novel partnerships with private landowners,

industry, and state and local governments to achieve bird conservation objectives. These

partnerships could be expanded as well as serve as case studies for new partnerships.

NABCI Private and Working Land Subcommittee

Many elements of our current subcommittee workplan fit well within the 5 Game Changing

Paradigms, and there are some additional actions the PWLSC can take to contribute further.

• Subcommittee Workplan Conservation Goal II: Build and maintain field delivery

capacity for Farm Bill and other private lands conservation programs

➢ The Private Lands Staff Forums are the primary action under this goal. Their

purpose is to provide a high-quality environment for training and mentoring,

exchange of ideas, and developing a sustained community of practice that

enhances the ability of private lands staff to effectively deliver Farm Bill and

other conservation programs. The forums apply to the following game changers:

1. Unprecedented Coalition to address the Bird Crisis: One goal of the

forums is partnership building and development of a sustained community

of practice among private lands staff

2. Advanced science to identify the “Smoking Guns” of bird declines: As a

training platform, the forums will integrate the most recent science into

conservation planning strategies as well as serve as a means for discussing

and identifying additional science needs.

3. Road Maps for Population Recovery and full life cycle conservation:

private lands conservation must be an integral component of any recovery

strategy

5. Unified messaging to bring back 3 billion birds: Relevancy messaging,

such as the Why Care About Birds campaign, as well as messaging that

promotes a conservation ethic (see next bullet) can be integrated into the

forum curriculums.

• Subcommittee Workplan Conservation Goal III: Promote and advance adoption of

private lands conservation ethic to encourage increased landowner investment in private

lands conservation.

➢ This work applies most directly to Paradigm 5: Unified messaging to bring back

3 billion birds, and could easily contribute to a broader, unified communications

strategy.

• Conservation Goal IV: Advance and support private lands conservation for birds outside

of NRCS/FSA programs; Strategy i: Engage land trusts in bird conservation (Land Trust

Alliance as well as regional and national land trusts) to facilitate creation of mutually

beneficial relationships between land trusts and bird conservation communities; explore

how birds can help these groups achieve their work with private landowners and further

their conservation mission.

➢ Applies to Paradigm 1: Unprecedented Coalition to address the Bird Crisis and

Paradigm 3: Road Maps for Population Recovery and full life cycle conservation

➢ To work at scale w/ private lands, it’s critical to engage landtrusts and encourage

the incorporation of birds into their planning & conservation. Many landtrusts

need additional capacity to successfully incorporate birds into their work, and the

Cornell landtrust small grant program provides that capacity.

• Additional steps for the PWLSC to contribute to the 5 Game Changers

➢ Assist with collating all the information and efforts for grasslands to create a

roadmap about what is being done and planned.

➢ Grasslands work aligns with a lot of NABCI’s efforts (e.g., NABCI’s 5 priority

themes). When available, review the draft roadmap the central grasslands summit

is developing to see how it aligns with NABCI PWLSC plan. How can our SC

help step down this roadmap?

➢ Grassland Summits are trying to bring together really broad stakeholder groups;

how can our subcommittee best continue this work and encourage this among

partners. This also overlaps with the NABCI Field Guide to Partnerships that will

be released soon.

Nebraska Game and Parks

1. Our agency has sponsored the Grassland Summit in the Central Grasslands, and will

continue to sit as a delegate and work through solutions with this amazingly diverse and

passionate group. We will also continue to support our JVs and their collaborative work

in the central grasslands by supporting the science, monitoring, and positions going on in

the Playa and Rainwater Basin JV’s. We will also continue to work together with all of

our conservation partners on grassland efforts across the state (SWAP Plan, Grouse work,

Pheasant Plans).

2. We will continue to support the work being done towards “smoking gun” science…we

NEED this information to help us (as a State Fish and Wildlife Agency) better target our

funding and habitat implementation in the most meaningful way possible with our limited

dollars. I feel out of all the arenas…this is the most lacking! We need to know what part

Nebraska plays in meeting which important habitat needs of grassland birds…where and

what type of work needs to be done…and how does that fit into the broader life cycle

puzzle of those migratory species? We don’t have the capacity to do this type of work,

but look towards our JV’s, University, and NGO’s to help with this part.

3. Our SWAP is geared up and ready for more specific (targeted) conservation goals. We

have a diverse partnership team of government, non-government, agriculture, and

ranching representatives that we can work with to make sure the goals include the

economic impacts to our farmers and ranchers.

4. Our agency is a part of the Association Fish and Wildlife Agency – Agriculture

Committee and is always looking at Farm Bill policy and ways to protect and enhance

our grassland communities, will continue to serve on this and other national committees

to help be a positive voice for grassland conservation.

5. The Conservation Roundtable in Nebraska (made up of most of the Conservation Groups

in NE) is taking on Grassland Loss/Degradation as a top priority to explain to our

Nebraska Senators next year at their annual breakfast. The 3 Billion birds information

will be key to helping explain the many reasons why our grasslands need to be

conserved. The agency has also used the “Why Birds Matter” campaign to continue to

bring birds into the lime light in Nebraska…this is being done through social media posts

and incorporated into our Fish and Wildlife Education Division ‘s messaging.

Partners in Flight (PIF)

Though Partners in Flight (PIF) we have worked with international and regional teams of

collaborators to develop a set of integrated conservation investment strategies. The Integrated

Conservation Strategy For Western Temperate, Mexican Pine‐oak, and Tropical Cloud Forest

Birds: North America to Central America resulted from PIF conservation business planning

efforts. This strategy:

• Is intended to help coordinate and focus international efforts to address the human

activities that are impacting the natural systems that our declining migratory and resident

bird depend on, and

• Serves as a tool for the voluntary integration of conservation efforts throughout the

breeding and overwinter distribution ranges of migratory birds that breed in North

America’s temperate western forests and winter in the pin-oak and tropical cloud forests

of western Mexico and northern Central America.

Specifically, the plan serves as a starting point for creating more specific and scaled output and

outcome indicator measurements that will help step-down the strategy to on-the-ground

conservation efforts and roll-up information across such conservation efforts to ensure cross-

project learning and adaptive progress on meeting our goal of stopping and reversing the declines

of our target birds. This allows us to better link and grow existing conservation efforts and better

design new ones. This also helps promote an adaptive management approach to range-wide

strategic conservation planning and implementation and facilitate the scaled monitoring of our

conservation investments based on specific habitat and bird population objectives.

Two new documents that demonstrate this approach are:

• State of the Rufous Hummingbird Science and Conservation, and

• Klamath Siskiyou Oak Network Strategic Conservation Action Plan.

U.S. Geological Survey

Our mission as a federal science agency precludes us from participating in advocacy efforts. As

the science entity for the U.S. Department of the Interior, and a bureau with no management

responsibility for Interior lands or waters, the credibility of USGS science is dependent upon the

bureau limiting its role to providing unbiased peer-reviewed science to inform management

decisions. Therefore, the second paradigm of the “call to action” is the portion USGS can help

address. The USGS sees our role as working with the bird conservation community to

understand and implement the priority science needed to understand limiting factors, as federal

budgets allow.

For your information, the Species Management Research Program is initiating a review of past

and present research on migratory birds and would be grateful for input from the bird

conservation community on research priorities and future needs, as we begin to chart the future

of the Program. We will bring this to the attention of the NABCI community at the August

meeting.

USDA Forest Service

Five Game Changing Paradigms:

A NABCI Call to Action to Address the Three Billion Birds Crisis

July 17, 2020

A Forest Service Response by Greg Butcher

1. Unprecedented Coalition to address the Bird Crisis

The Forest Service manages 193 million acres in 10 Regions, 154 national forests, and 20

national grasslands. The 10 regional wildlife biologists are setting up an Avian Conservation

Team to prioritize bird conservation actions on national forests and grasslands. In addition,

FS International Programs has two Migratory Species specialists who support partnerships to

prevent the listing of species that spend considerable time outside the United States.

Specifically for grasslands, FS wildlife biologists are contributing to grassland conservation

initiatives, including attending Americas Grassland Conference sponsored by National

Wildlife Federation in 2019 and the Central Grasslands Roadmap Summit now underway.

Internationally, trinational work is not sufficient. Dickcissels winter in Colombia and

Venezuela. A number of species pass through Colombia, Venezuela, Bolivia, and probably

the Amazon Basin to winter in the Southern Cone countries of Argentina, Uruguay, southern

Paraguay, and SE Brazil. These species include Bobolink, Swainson’s Hawk, American

Golden-Plover, Buff-breasted Sandpiper, Upland Sandpiper, Pectoral Sandpiper, and more.

USFS International Programs supports partners working throughout the Western Hemisphere

on grassland birds, with our emphasis so far on Chihuahua in Mexico and the Southern Cone

Grasslands.

2. Advance science to identify the “Smoking Guns” of bird declines

Several FS researchers are involved in relevant science activities, notably Joseph Wunderle

(recently retired) on Kirtland’s Warbler, David King on Golden-winged Warbler and other

Central American wintering species, Vicki Saab (woodpeckers and other fire-dependent

species), and Frank Thompson. Greg Butcher has contributed to State of the Birds reports

that attempt to interpret science for decision-makers and the public.

3. Road Maps for Population Recovery and full life cycle conservation

Greg Butcher and other FS employees have participated in the Partners in Flight business

planning sessions, especially for Tropical Dry Forest and Pine-Oak Forest. We anticipate

contributing the new Eastern Working Group business plan for Central America and the

Tropical Andes. We support the pine-oak planning for Chiapas Mexico and northern Central

America. We are helping to implement the Pacific Shorebird Conservation Strategy through

our CRIMBI program (Copper River International Migratory Bird Initiative) and its partners.

For grasslands, we are contributing to the Central Grasslands Roadmap Summit and to the

Rio Grande Valley Joint Venture grassland planning

4. Bold, new legislative agenda

Sorry, we are a federal agency.

5. Unified messaging to bring back 3 billion birds

I agree that the messaging needs to go beyond birds. In grasslands, we are lucky in that birds

and cattle both benefit from improved grazing practices. Bird-friendly beef is already a

reality in Brazil and Argentina. As a result, the ranchers have taken the lead in the Southern

Cone Grassland Alliance. These successes can be duplicated throughout the hemisphere.

Outside of grasslands, we have many other agroforestry systems, including of course shade-

grown coffee. NABCI has collected a number of relevancy stories and is continuing to add to

those.

USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service

Coalitions: NRCS offers financial and technical assistance through conservation practices, activities and enhancements to help agricultural producers make and maintain improvements on their land. The 2018 Farm Bill continues its strong support for conservation efforts of America’s farmers and ranchers through reauthorization and expanded flexibility of NRCS conservation programs, such as committing at least 10% of Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) funding to meet local wildlife objectives. By implementing the 2018 Farm Bill conservation programs in partnership with producers, NRCS contributes to grassland bird habitat objectives in working agricultural landscapes. NRCS uses Landscape Conservation Initiatives to accelerate the benefits of voluntary conservation programs in priority regions. These initiatives enhance the locally driven process to better address nationally and regionally important conservation goals that transcend localities. They build on locally led efforts and partnerships, and they’re based on science. Through the initiatives, NRCS and its partners coordinate the delivery of assistance where it can have the most impact. Through Working Lands for Wildlife, NRCS works with landowners within the context of coordinated partnerships to reduce and remove threats impacting both wildlife and agricultural sustainability. NRCS is currently working with partners at the local level to update, review and expand efforts for greater sage-grouse, the lesser prairie-chicken and the southwestern willow flycatcher. Looking ahead, we anticipate the following:

▪ Sage Grouse - Replicate success in untreated priority watersheds, capitalize on new

innovations like the Cheatgrass Challenge and increase delivery of emerging practices

like wet meadow and riparian restoration.

▪ Lesser Prairie-Chicken – Expand the geography of the initiative to include all of the Great

Plains taking a threat-based approach (maintain focus on primary threat reduction such

as woody encroachment that degrade grasslands). Replace the name ‘Lesser Prairie

Chicken Initiative’ with a more inclusive name such as the Great Plains Grassland

Initiative under WLFW.

▪ Southwestern Willow Flycatcher - Update milestones for FY 21-23 as well as explore

potential opportunities to broaden focus. One such emerging opportunity is the

application of low-tech, low cost techniques being used to restore wet meadows and

riparian habitats across sagebrush rangelands.

Advancing Science: The Conservation Effects Assessment Project (CEAP) is a multi-agency effort to quantify the environmental effects of conservation practices and programs and develop the science base for managing the agricultural landscape for environmental quality. The wildlife component of CEAP is implemented as a cooperative effort with the fish and wildlife conservation community

involving multiple regional assessments that document habitat condition and biological response to conservation practices and programs at multiple spatial scales. Below is a link to CEAP supported publications: https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/detail/national/technical/nra/ceap/pub/?cid=stelprdb1186080

U.S. Shorebird Council

USSCP Council Input on Five Game Changing Paradigms – 4 August 2020 Besides suggested actions, some recommended changes to game-changer text (highlighted) 1. Unprecedented Coalition to Address the Bird Crisis

a) USSCP: Increase stakeholder involvement from all sectors (private, public, social/civil)

across a diversity of communities in the Atlantic and Pacific Flyway shorebird initiatives

by 10% over those involved in plan development (e.g., more inclusive landowner field

days).

b) NABCI Grasslands: Track development of new partnerships, particularly with private and

social/civil sectors (goal = 10%).

2. Advance Science to Identify the “Smoking Guns” of Bird Declines

a) USSCP: Participate in the Road to Recovery assessment. Populate 100% of fields for

highest priority shorebirds.

b) USSCP: Work with PRISM Committee and others to identify one high priority shorebird

population in each of four (Atlantic, Midcontinent, Pacific, East Asian-Australasian)

flyways to investigate or compile information on survival throughout the annual cycle.

c) NABCI Grasslands: Integrated population models (IPM) for some key species underway.

Leverage NABCI partner support for other key species (metric = # of priority species with

IPMs).

3. Road Maps for Population Recovery and Full Life Cycle Conservation

a) USSCP: Develop strategic framework for (hemispheric) Midcontinent Shorebird

Conservation Initiative. Integrate with efforts in the North American Central Grasslands.

b) USSCP: More fully integrate human wellbeing and ecosystem services objectives and

social-oriented results with shorebird conservation objectives where appropriate.

c) NABCI Grasslands: Help broker inclusion of shorebirds in Grassland Roadmap effort and

promote wider linkage to shorebird conservation in Midcontinent.

4. Bold, New Legislative Agenda (Recovering America’s Wildlife Act, North American Grasslands Conservation Act)

a) USSCP: Appropriate partners support legislation to improve conservation opportunities.

b) USSCP: Provide technical assistance to agencies and organizations developing programs

under the Recovering America’s Wildlife Act to ensure support for shorebird

conservation activities.

c) USSCP: Work with National Wildlife Refuge staff to revise and improve their Targeted

Resource Acquisition Comparison Tool (TRACT) for shorebirds to take advantage of Land

& Water Conservation Fund and other funding.

d) NABCI Grasslands: Coalition of partners is formed and effective in delivering legislative

wins for grasslands.

5. Unified Messaging to Bring Back 3 Billion Birds

a) USSCP: Revise/expand the seven actions for birds to better address shorebird and

seabird needs.

b) NABCI Grasslands: Use Human Dimensions Sub-committee and others to solicit input

and develop culturally appropriate action messages relative to sectors and diverse

communities.