A New Model for Public Lands Conservation

Migratory birds make a long and perilous journey across North America every year. Along the way, these birds depend on critical breeding, stopover, and wintering sites for their survival. Much of the essential habitat needed for avian migration is located on state and federal public lands. The management of these migration corridors and associated public lands dictates the survival of migratory birds. 

While the idea of migration route management is taking hold, it has not yet translated to meaningful measures for migratory birds or the lands they need. Moreover, our public lands and birds are under threat like never before from climate change and habitat loss. A comprehensive approach is needed to maintain migratory bird populations, their habitat, and the countless ecological, economic, visual, and recreational benefits they provide to society.

Each year tens of thousands of migratory birds use the Pacific Flyway, a massive flight path spanning from Alaska's Arctic tundra to the beaches of South America. California plays a vital role in their journey. Birds traveling this pathway depend on the state's public lands for food, rest, and habitat. But much of California's public lands are under threat from habitat loss, a changing climate, unchecked development, and other human activities.

Efforts are currently underway to preserve the Golden State's land and waters. In 2020, California became the first state to commit to conserving  30 percent of its land and coastal water by 2030 . In an executive order, Governor Gavin Newsom directed the state's agencies to develop strategies to reach the 30x30 goal by maintaining biodiversity and combating species and ecosystem losses. This effort is just one of many promising proposals that could result in long-lasting and positive outcomes for migratory birds. 

As the state government, federal agencies, Tribes, private landowners, and California residents work to enact their land management goals, they must collaborate to conserve and restore the public lands on which migratory birds depend. Land managers can take a new "corridor approach" to migratory bird conservation by incorporating science-based mapping tools into the decision-making process.

Corridor approaches that can embody this new model for public land conservation are highlighted in the following three landscapes: the Mono Ecoregion, the California Desert, and the Salton Sea. Using Audubon's recently developed mapping capabilities, they emphasize the convergence of avian and big game migration corridors, the balance of multiple uses with habitat needs, and the importance of wildlife refuges.

Migratory birds and big game species share many of the same migration corridors in California. Just like the state's mule deer, elk, and pronghorn, migratory birds depend on suitable habitat sites for breeding, wintering, and stopovers that provide rest and food during their long journey. If California maintains and restores intact wildlife corridors, avian and ungulate migratory species will continue to thrive on this landscape, enhancing residents’ quality of life and strengthen rural economies. 

Public lands are a crucial component of the U.S. plan to combat climate change. However, balancing multiple uses like renewable energy development and recreation with important Native cultural sites and ecosystem needs provides a unique challenge to land managers. Holistic and collaborative planning efforts give state and federal agencies the opportunity to conserve essential habitat for migrating birds and other species while identifying the best places for renewable energy development. The search for this balance is exemplified in the California desert, one of the largest intact landscapes left in North America. 

California is home to  39 National Wildlife Refuge System units , including refuges and management areas, many of which were explicitly created to safeguard the habitat that migratory birds need to survive their perilous journey across the continent. Managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, these refuges promote healthy migratory bird populations and bolster local economies.

In fact, visitors to wildlife refuges generate roughly  3.2 billion dollars in economic stimulus  every year. However,  according to recent reporting  by Audubon, refuges across the country are underfunded and understaffed, leading to insufficient measures and policies for migratory birds. 

On January 27, 2021, President Biden signed a  series of executive orders and memorandums  aimed at combatting climate change, conserving and restoring our public lands and waters, and incorporating social justice into the federal government’s efforts to maintain its environment. Now, both the state of California and the federal government are committed to conserving 30 percent of land, water, and ocean by 2030, as well as addressing the climate crisis.

By utilizing Audubon's migration, climate, and public lands data, California has the opportunity to demonstrate a new model of conservation that can be replicated by states and the federal government as they tackle the mounting crises of biodiversity loss and climate change. By safeguarding migratory birds and the public lands they need, land managers, advocates, and everyday citizens can build enduring policies that are not only supported by a diverse and broad constituency but also promote the continued health of nature and people.