News050707

The Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation is funding a small grant to the NC Audubon for survey work being completed on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Many of North Carolina’s “important bird area” (IBA) sites identified and catalogued by Audubon are on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Moses H. Cone Memorial Park and Julian Price Park areas are part of the Grandfather Mountain IBA and the Balsams, Craggy and Black Mountains and Bull Creek in the Asheville area are also IBA sites.

The pastoral landscape that characterizes much of the Blue Ridge Parkway provides many locations for “early successional species” that prefer scrubby or brushy habitat. Often, these pastures are maintained through agricultural leases which help preserve the pastures through grazing or harvesting, preventing it from reverting to forest and reducing the maintenance burden on Parkway staff. However, in some areas, rigorous management and mowing can remove scrub and brush that would provide diverse habitat for various species, including the field sparrow and common yellow-throated warbler.

Now, the Blue Ridge Parkway and the state’s Audubon organization are partnering to survey some of the lands in an effort to determine which species may be using the land for nesting or foraging, and to evaluate how different management decisions impact the species found. As the Blue Ridge Parkway decides how to manage leases that are being renewed or to negotiate new leases, this new information will help inform its management decisions, such as reducing the frequency of mowing or changing the time of year when mowing is completed, and help preserve the habitat and biodiversity of the Parkway. The Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation recognizes that while the Parkway’s scenic vistas are treasured, its ecosystem also provides a broad array of habitats for wildlife.

This project has been funded by the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation and through the generosity of its donors. Further information can be obtained by contacting the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation at (336) 721-0260 or www.brpfoundation.org

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Caption: Curtis Smalling, ornithologist and resident scientist for the NC Audubon Society, stands at a transect in a study area on the Moses Cone Estate. The study is investigating nesting populations in various successional growth areas; here white pines have begun to invade fields once densely covered by blackberries.

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