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| VINS News Release Contact: Lisa M. Green, Director of Marketing, lgreen@vinsweb.org, (802) 457-2779 ext. 107 VINS RELEASES REPORT ON IMPACTS OF SKI AREAS ON HIGH ELEVATION BIRD POPULATIONS  Woodstock, VT - The VINS Conservation Biology Department recently completed a landmark report that yields new insights on the impacts of ski areas on high elevation bird populations. Titled "Evaluating the Use of Vermont Ski Areas by Bicknell's Thrush: Applications for Whiteface Mountain, New York", the report summarizes 10 years of hard-won data from VINS' pioneering avian research on Stratton Mountain and Mt. Mansfield. Focusing on Bicknell's Thrush, a rare habitat specialist of mountaintop conifer forests, VINS scientists studied the species' ecology, nesting success, and population dynamics on each mountain. Studies were simultaneously conducted in areas developed for skiing and on nearby areas of undeveloped, natural forest. Results may surprise some. On both mountains, which have had operational ski areas for more than 40 years, few significant differences existed in how successfully Bicknell's Thrushes used areas developed for skiing and natural forests. Nest predation rates and overall nesting success were similar, as was the survival of adults from one year to the next. There was no evidence that behavior or movements of thrushes differed between ski areas and natural forests, although ski trails wider than 50 meters were rarely crossed, and small or narrow habitat islands between trails were seldom used.  The VINS report was prepared for the Olympic Regional Development Authority as part of its proposal to expand an existing ski area on Whiteface Mountain in New York's Adirondacks. It recommends a number of explicit measures to minimize and mitigate possible impacts of ski area construction, as well as to maintain or enhance habitat suitability for Bicknell's Thrush on existing ski areas. These measures range from very local and site-specific, to more regional, to even hemispheric in scope. They include: (1) restricting the timing of construction activities to before May 15 or after August 1; (2) encouraging dense vegetation regrowth along ski trail edges; (3) retaining low and dense understory in gladed ski trails; (4) actively restoring natural habitat in degraded areas; and (5) establishing a designated fund for the protection and management of threatened Bicknell's Thrush winter habitat in the Dominican Republic and Haiti. Chris Rimmer, lead author of the report and Director of VINS Conservation Biology Department, offers a caveat to those who might interpret VINS' findings to suggest that construction of ski trails and lifts pose no adverse impacts to Bicknell's Thrush or other high elevation birds: "While our results suggest a long-term adaptability by Bicknell's Thrush to ski areas, we emphasize that our data do not allow us to predict the impacts that creation of new ski trails may have on the species or its habitat. This report pertains only to existing ski areas that have been in operation for more than 40 years, and our findings can not be directly applied to areas that are currently undeveloped for skiing. There have been no controlled studies to examine the effects of ski area construction on Bicknell's Thrush or other bird species. Such studies, examining pre- and post-construction periods on developed and undeveloped "control" sites, are necessary to definitively address the short- and long-term impacts of ski area development." Rimmer and his colleagues believe that their report promises to pave the way for responsible efforts to balance ski area development and long-term conservation of mountaintop bird populations. The VINS report is available in its entirety at http://www.vinsweb.org/assets/pdf/ORDA2004.pdf. For more information, contact Chris Rimmer at 802-457-1053 ext. 120 or crimmer@vinsweb.org. |   | ||||||||||||||
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