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Tuesday, December 20, 2005

Environment - Harrison County farmland program; Porter County birds

Grace Schneider of the Louisville Courier Journal reports:

The Harrison County commissioners postponed action last night on an ordinance that would launch a land-conservation program to protect woodlands and farms.

Opposition from some of the county's large farm owners surfaced in recent months, and one commissioner, James Goldman, also raised questions about how the county would pay for the program. * * *

Under the proposed ordinance, Harrison leaders would appoint an 11-member land conservation board that would work with established land trust groups to pay farmers for development rights to the property. The landowner, in turn, would agree to limit the land to agricultural uses.

It's envisioned that the local group would apply for federal land and ranch conservation grants to help pay for the program.

"Porter County is for the birds" is the headline to this story by Diane Krieger Spivak in the Gary Post-Tribune. Some quotes:
Northwest Indiana birders have known for years that the unique topography and climate of the Duneland area provides a perfect habitat for a variety of birds. * * *

The National Audubon Society is paying attention though, and this fall formally recognized three specific points in Porter County in its first Important Bird Areas program in the state of Indiana.

Beverly Shores, Cowles Bog in the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, and Indiana Dunes State Park are the first and so far only designated IBAs in the region, according to James Cole, Indiana Important Bird Areas coordinator. In Indiana, just 13 sites have been identified out of a potential list of more than 100. Porter County is the only Indiana County with more than one site.

The IBA program is a global conservation initiative, Cole said. It identifies critical habitats for bird populations. “We just started our inventory in the beginning of the year,” Cole said. “We’re still not finished with Porter County. We’re going with the highest priority sites.”

“Beverly Shores is a very important area for nesting waterbirds considered endangered or threatened,” Cole said. Along the southern shore of Lake Michigan, the private and National Lakeshore areas include lake, beach, wooded dunes and interndunal marsh habitats, Cole said. Migratory, nesting and waterbirds include passerines, bitterns, rails, ducks, loons and gulls.

Cowles Bog, part of the Dunes National Lakeshore, is what’s left of what locals call the “Great Marsh” that at one time ran from Gary to Michigan City. A National Natural Landmark, the bog attracts many types of birds, Cole said. “This is a very significant place not only for birds but for total ecology,” he said. * * *

The program is a global conservation initiative, Cole said. It identifies critical habitats for bird populations. “It’s not a regulatory program,” Cole said. “There is no legislation in place to protect the sites.”

Much of the data used to identify the areas in Porter County was compiled by Ken Brock, a retired Indiana University geology professor, and author of “Bird of the Indiana Dunes.” Brock, who has collected information on birds for more than 30 years, said the wooded dunes, oak savannas, and interdunal marshes of the Duneland area all contribute to a unique bird habitat.

They are important “not because of rare birds, but they offer breeding habitats that attract certain kinds of birds who wouldn’t be there otherwise.”

The Dunes State Park’s forest is the only area north of the Kankakee River where the cerulean warbler and Louisiana waterthrush breed, and the prairie warbler nests in the park’s blowouts and dunes.

Brock finds the IBA program “phenomenal. It focuses on what’s good and makes sure we preserve it,” he said. “All three of the areas in Porter County are great places,” he said. “I think they’re treasures.”

Posted by Marcia Oddi on December 20, 2005 09:32 AM
Posted to Environment