BOISE, Idaho - Whether you enjoy bird-watching in the spring or bird-hunting in the fall, a new report says birds are multi-billion-dollar economic drivers - and that protecting them reaches north into Canada's boreal forest. The Boreal Songbird Initiative says in order to play its role as the "bird nursery" of North America, at least half of the massive Canadian forest must be kept free of large-scale industrial development.

Jeff Wells, the group's science and policy director, says it's an achievable goal.

"Fortunately in the boreal forest, we have one place where that's much easier to do, because it's still 70 percent intact," Wells says. "Most of the world is nowhere near even 50 percent intact, in the ecosystems that you're looking at."

The report says bird-hunting is an almost $7 billion annual business in the U.S. alone, and bird-watchers spend more than $40 billion a year on travel and equipment. Wells says Americans can have a lot of impact on what happens in the boreal forest with their buying choices, as U.S. consumers are the chief recipients of Canadian exports.

For most Americans, it's "out of sight, out of mind," but the boreal forest spans millions of miles around the Northern Hemisphere. It makes up about 60 percent of the land in Canada and is home to a longtime timber trade, rich mineral deposits and even diamonds. So, Wells says, it's a constant struggle for Canadians to balance these extractive industries with conservation.

"With mining there's a lot of infrastructure, you've got to build railroads and roads to move the products around. And of course, there's oil and gas in the western boreal forest. So, lots of different kinds of industry, spread pretty much across the whole boreal forest," he explains.

The report was issued jointly with Ducks Unlimited in the U.S. and Canada. It says bird populations already are coping with the effects of climate change, which has reduced their habitat for nesting and breeding and altered their migration patterns throughout North America.

The report is at www.borealbirds.org.




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The Wyoming Game and Fish Department will soon have a new director, and she's taking stock of the challenges ahead.

More than half of Wyoming's total acreage is public land, and it's the least densely populated state in the Lower 48. So the director of its Game and Fish Department has a big job managing wildlife and habitats.

Gov. Mark Gordon recently appointed Angi Bruce to the role, the first woman to helm the agency. She is scheduled to take office in September.

Bruce said the state has a strong legacy, including the highest population of greater sage-grouse in the country, and the longest mule deer migration corridor in the world. But as weather patterns change and public land use increases, Bruce said the agency will need to focus on habitat resiliency.

"So, really looking at how we can make our habitat even stronger and more resilient to have the wildlife be able to take in those stressors and maintain their healthy populations will be a huge priority in the next few years," she said, "but then over the next decade as well."

Wildlife conservation requires work across agencies, which Bruce said makes outcomes stronger. She's looking out for important upcoming federal decisions that will affect state wildlife management for greater sage-grouse and resource management in the Rock Springs area.

Bruce said the department faces challenges including wildlife diseases. Chronic Wasting Disease, for one, is a fatal condition that affects mule and white-tailed deer, elk and moose, and its steady spread has become more concerning in recent years.

"Disease is where we don't have all the answers," she said, "and we definitely need more work done both management and research to understand it."

In her first year, Bruce said, she will prioritize listening to others-both within her department and Wyoming citizens at large.


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An art exhibit in Seattle is highlighting the dire situation for orca off the coast of Washington.

The show, called SUPER POD: All Together features all the members of the endangered Southern Resident orca pods.

Gabriel Newton, the artist behind the project, painted the whales in acrylic on 45 pieces of wood found on the shores of the Salish Sea, where the whales travel and feed. He said the whales are struggling to hold on.

"It was inspired by wanting to raise awareness around the plight that they're in and the lack of food that they're experiencing," Newton explained. "And to motivate people to take action to help the orcas recover."

There were 74 members of the Southern Residents left when Newton started the project but a recent population analysis found there are only 72 left. Newton argued removing dams on the lower Snake River would allow more chinook salmon, which are the whales' main food source, to travel to the Pacific Ocean. The exhibit opens at the A/NT Gallery at Seattle Center Aug. 1.

Deborah Giles, science and research director for the nonprofit Wild Orca, said the lack of prey is the biggest issue for the Southern Resident orcas. She stressed drastic action is needed to save them, including curtailing fishing to ensure they have enough food.

"These whales are not recovering, and they're not recovering because we're not taking serious enough action with regard to fisheries management," Giles contended. "That's the bottom line."

Newton added it is critical to save the killer whales and salmon, not just for them but for us as well.

"Anytime a thread in the web of life is broken our own capacity to thrive is reduced," Newton asserted. "I view orcas and salmon as both very integral threads."


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The federal Bureau of Land Management has published a new plan for managing public lands which will put oil and gas management in sync with Colorado's big-game conservation policies.

Suzanne O'Neill, executive director of the Colorado Wildlife Federation, said the proposed final plan, which will impact BLM-managed lands in all 64 Colorado counties, is an important move to protect Colorado's iconic wildlife.

"It will help safeguard mule deer, elk, pronghorn and bighorn sheep habitats," O'Neill outlined. "These populations inhabit almost three quarters of the 8.3 million surface acres that the BLM manages."

The plan would amend management plans for 12 BLM field offices in Colorado by limiting active oil and gas sites to one per square mile in big-game high priority habitat. It also requires operators to minimize and offset direct, indirect and cumulative adverse impacts on wildlife. The BLM's proposed final Western Solar Plan revision is expected to be published this summer.

John Howard, former chairman of the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission during the Hickenlooper administration, believes the plan will give energy developers more certainty and should also cut the red tape found when dealing with multiple regulatory environments, which are not always on the same page.

"I think most of them are going to react very positively to having something that aligns so well between the federal government, the state government and local government," Howard projected.

The BLM is charged with managing lands owned by all Americans for multiple uses, including hunting, fishing, camping, rafting and hiking. O'Neill pointed to a 2020 report showing work is also needed to ensure trails and other recreation areas do not harm wildlife.

"They need to be appropriately sited, so they don't disturb wildlife that are birthing in the spring, or trying to migrate," O'Neill urged. "They need to be located in the right places."

Support for this reporting was provided by The Pew Charitable Trusts.


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