This year, Playa Lakes Joint Venture (PLJV) joined a region-wide bird monitoring effort. The program, called Integrated Monitoring in Bird Conservation Regions (IMBCR), is a large partnership-driven program that uses state-of-the-art approaches for the entire process, from the sampling design to how it reports results. The implementation of this program within the Joint Venture region is called IMBCR for PLJV. Through this program, the Joint Venture will greatly increase its ability to focus and evaluate habitat work and support proactive, targeted conservation action.
“It is especially notable how the PLJV Management Board pulled together multi-year funding of nearly $400,000 per year,” says PLJV Coordinator Mike Carter. “Using the partnership model for collaboration, the cost of the program will be spread among many, making it relatively inexpensive and hopefully sustainable in the long run.”
Bird Conservancy of the Rockies, a PLJV Management Board member, will execute most aspects of the program from hiring field workers to posting summary results in the Rocky Mountain Avian Data Center, which will be available to all partners. Landowners are contacted to request access to survey locations on private lands before field technicians conduct surveys late April through June. These data will allow the Joint Venture and its partners to better understand bird use of rivers, playas and prairies in the region which, in turn, will create better conservation outcomes.
For more information about this program, visit the IMBCR for PLJV webpage or listen to episodes of the Playa Country radio show:
