Midwest Fish & Wildlife Conference 2018

AUTHORS. Sean P. Fields, Neal D. Niemuth - U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

ABSTRACT. The Prairie Pothole Joint Venture (PPJV) is a partnership of federal, state and non-governmental organizations focused on bird conservation in the Prairie Pothole Region (PPR) of the United States. The PPJV was established in 1987, through the North American Waterfowl Management Plan, as one of the first bird habitat joint ventures in the US. Known as the primary breeding area for continental waterfowl populations, the PPR is also important for a suite of other wetland and grassland dependent birds of conservation concern. The PPJV works to sustain abundant breeding populations of waterfowl, shorebirds, waterbirds, and landbirds through protection, restoration, and management of priority wetland and grassland habitats throughout the US PPR. Unfortunately, extensive wetland and grassland loss, coupled with ongoing changes in agricultural technology and practices, energy development, and climate, provide substantial challenges for wildlife conservation in the northern prairies. Three decades of science-based breeding bird conservation has placed the PPJV on the forefront of integrated bird management. Intensive, long-term monitoring programs have informed conservation strategies and provided the data necessary to develop spatially explicit models to guide management actions. Strategic spatial prioritization provides the foundation for leveraging the benefits of waterfowl conservation to non-waterfowl priority species of concern and enables partners to maximize desired biological outcomes from limited funding.