The Colorado state office of The Nature Conservancy
has worked for years to preserve chunks of the state’s shortgrass
prairie, breeding grounds for birds such as mountain plovers,
burrowing owls and long-billed curlews. But staffers always knew
their efforts in Colorado could provide only part-time protection,
since most of these species travel south during the winter.
So this year, Chris Pague, conservation
scientist for the group, followed the birds to their off-season
home in northeastern Mexico. Near the town of Saltillo, he found
substantial remnants of the birds’ grassland habitat. “It was
amazing to come across the valley floor and see nothing but prairie
dogs,” he says, enthusiastically listing off the bird species that
also frequent the area.
Much of the land in the
area is owned by communal agricultural settlements called
ejidos, which are under great pressure to sell
their holdings to the highest bidder. Options such as conservation
easements are almost unheard of. In an attempt to counter this
trend, the Colorado office teamed up with local stakeholders in
Mexico. With the help of a grant from The Nature Conservancy’s
national office, the group is beginning work on a conservation plan
for the region. They hope to use a variety of tactics, including
conservation easements, to protect key areas in a 60,000-acre swath
of grassland habitat.
For more information,
contact The Nature Conservancy of Colorado, 1244 Pine St., Boulder
CO 80302, call 303/444-2950, or check out the office’s Web page at
www.tnccolorado.org.
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Birds break boundaries.
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