Photo By Staff Sgt. Wheeler Brunschmid | Michael Jungen and Melissa Thompson, who serve as U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service...... read more read more
Subscribe
Fort Bliss spans 1.12 million acres, stretching from El Paso, Texas across the state line into New Mexico’s Organ Mountains.
Within that large space, Fort Bliss bolsters a lot of wildlife and serves as a crucial habitat for many endangered species. Additionally, the vast desert is home to several understudied species who either migrate or permanently reside on Fort Bliss land.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service plays a critical role to ensure proper accountability and protection of these various species. This is where U.S. Fish and Wildlife biologists stationed at Fort Bliss, Texas, conduct multi-faceted wildlife data collection to inform installation leaders about the importance of wildlife across Fort Bliss in line with the in efforts to support the Sikes Act.
According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services official website: “The Sikes Act directs the Secretary of Defense, in cooperation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and state fish and wildlife agencies, to carry out a program for the conservation and rehabilitation of natural resources on military installations."
In addition to the Sikes Act, the Army Natural Resource Partnership highlights the important work and mutual relationship between the U.S. Army, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to find new ways and approaches to increase the conservation of sensitive species and habitats while ensuring the sustainability of the military mission for military training and readiness in defense of the nation.
"A lot of these projects, our team on Fort Bliss works to address under-surveyed species that could help with future decision-making for military training on Fort Bliss," said Michael Jungen, a U.S. Fish and Wildlife biologist.
Home of the 1st Armored Division, the large tract of land on Fort Bliss provides “America's Tank Division” with training grounds for long-range capabilities for gunnery, artillery and missile fires as well as vehicle training, ground infantry, combined live-fire training and armored advanced maneuvers.
Safety is always the top priority when conducting survey studies. U.S. Fish and Wildlife biologists reserve a training area after coordinating with Range Control to gather data for their critical work.
Fort Bliss Range Control verifies to see if any unit is training in the desired area; if no one else has reserved the training area, the biologists may occupy the area and conduct surveys. This process eliminates any potential threats of entering training areas that includes live-fire training.
"The data we collect benefits the Army because we can have the inside track into the potential regulations that might be coming from species listings or endangered species act petitions," said Jungen.
Many birds in the North American continent can call the Chihuahuan desert grasslands home during the winter migration months including the Chestnut-collared longspur and the Sprague’s pipit.
One of the more large-scale projects the teams have been working on is collecting data on migratory birds that flock to the Otero Mesa grasslands during the winter months. The Otero Mesa is in the New Mexico portion of Fort Bliss grounds, which the biologists frequently monitor and see these larger bird populations.
"Baird’s sparrow, Sprague’s pipit and Chestnut-collared longspurs are three big species that we see in decent numbers, and all three of those species are birds of concern nationally," said Patrick Cline, a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologist.
Much of the historical grasslands of the Otero Mesa is protected on Fort Bliss grounds, and they have minimal military impact on training allowing birds that migrate to the Mesa to be protected and flourish in the biodiverse grasslands.
This is partly due to the implementation of the Sikes Act in congruence with the Migratory Birds Treaty Act, and the Department of Defense Partners in Flight.
Bird surveying occurs during the winter months when birds from colder climates take the Central and Western Pacific Flyway and spend the entire winter months at Fort Bliss and the surrounding region.
Biologists work to collect data on many types of wildlife throughout the year. In the spring and summer months, the biologists collect data on quails, prairie dogs, burrowing owls, golden eagles, and bat acoustics monitoring. In additional, they conduct surveys on Sneed pincushion cactus, Hueco Rockydaisy, and Bumblebees.
"One thing we have noticed is our prairie dog habitats has declined since we have been here just over two years," said Breon Cree, a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services Wildlife Technician.
According to the National Park Service, the Black-Tailed Prairie Dog has dramatically declined due to several factors.
Diseases like the sylvatic plague and habitat loss contribute to their decline. Each prairie dog colony is checked for fresh droppings, which indicates an active borough. Some have soft pellet droppings from prairie dogs that also leave scratch marks and freshly tilled-up dirt in the front of their holes.
If a prairie dog, with all its curiosity, pokes its head up out of the hole or is caught diving into the hole from land, the biologists also note sightings. These findings are all mapped using a handheld phone with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service GPS mapping software.
These are indicators that the den is active and sign biologists use to gather insights about wildlife in the region.
Burrowing owl surveys are linked with prairie dog surveys. Burrowing owls make vacant prairie dog boroughs their new homes. However, these skittish owls do not stick around for the biologists to witness very long. Fresh plumage around the hole or owl scat can confirm an active burrowing owl hole.
"It is essential to collect datasets," said Keri Skelly, a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Wildlife Technician. "Bats and bumblebees data sets are lacking information, especially in this region, and getting that information to share with the world will improve future management decisions.”
Biologists stationed at Fort Bliss also liaise between customers and access to outdoor recreational activities like birding, biking, hunting, and camping. By registering with the Fort Bliss iSportsman website, it gives sportsman access to recreational camping and hunting access on Fort Bliss land, and it allows biologists to connect with visitors through phone calls about recreation and helping them check in through the app.
This tight-knit team of biologists nears its third year stationed at Fort Bliss, and they look forward to what the data will unveil. The biologists here have a litany of responsibilities but primarily focus on data collection.
During a Fort Bliss visit by the Southwest Regional Director Amy Leuders, she was pleased to see the efforts the biologists are undertaking and amazed at the diverse landscapes.
The feeling in mutual as all of the biologists agree that the diverse wildlife and habit on Fort Bliss is what makes their work most enjoyable and purposeful to protect this vast landscape while supporting the work of the men and women in uniform in serve to the nation.
For more information about the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service mission, and the importance of the Sikes Act please visit: https://www.fws.gov/law/sikes-act
ABOUT FORT BLISS iSportsman Website:
Species like the Oryx and Aoudad offer unique hunting opportunities that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologists manage through the iSportsman website. Oryx and Audad hunt lottery applications occur two times a year. The New Mexico Department of Game and Fish manages hunt lotteries on the New Mexico side of Fort Bliss. To apply or for more information about the Fort Bliss iSportsman please visit: https://ftbliss.isportsman.net/
| Date Taken: | 12.12.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 12.29.2024 17:12 |
| Story ID: | 487336 |
| Location: | FORT BLISS, TEXAS, US |
| Web Views: | 80 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologists help protect Fort Bliss wildlife, maintain enivornmental standards, by SSG Wheeler Brunschmid, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
