Mines for birds
The American Bird Conservancy announced today that it is part of a project to re-seed abandoned coal mines with trees and shrubs that will become habitat for certain birds that have been declining in recent decades.
The project begins in Vinton County, Ohio, and it will restore the degraded mining lands to provide habitat for forest interior dwelling birds, such as the Cerulean warbler.
From the press release:
“We are working with partners to identify areas to target reforestation for Ceruleans and other priority forest-dwelling birds,” said Dr. Brian Smith, American Bird Conservancy’s Appalachian Mountains Joint Venture Coordinator. “At the same time we are also identifying reclaimed mine complexes to improve habitat conditions for viable populations of open-land priority species such as Golden-winged Warblers and American Woodcock.”American Bird Conservancy is working with partners of the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement’s “Appalachian Regional Reforestation Initiative” to reforest abandoned minelands in the coal region of the Appalachian Mountains. Large blocks of mature forest there provide important habitat for Cerulean Warblers and other declining birds, but these forested areas have been degraded due to loss and fragmentation from past and current coal mining operations. Cerulean Warblers in particular, rely on large expanses of diverse hardwood forests in the Appalachians—80% of the global population breeds in the Appalachians, especially in West Virginia, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Pennsylvania.
