Sharon Audubon prepares to launch a new forest conservation program

SHARON — In the next few months, Sharon Audubon will launch a forest conservation campaign and program in the Northwest Corner.

Scott Heth, director of Sharon Audubon, said the organization received grants from the Overhill Foundation, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Audubon Connecticut totaling $28,500.

Over the past 15 years, Sharon Audubon has conducted numerous studies that show a high number of neotropical birds nest and use forests in the Northwest Corner as part of their migratory paths.

Neotropical birds, including the cerulean warbler and the wood thrush, are birds that spend part of the year in the American tropics.

More than 50 different neotropical bird species are on national or state priority conservation lists of declining species, Heth said.

“We’ll be using the funding to provide forest management workshops to landowners by professional foresters and biologists,� Heth said. “We want to show landowners how forest management can be compatible with bird conservation.�

Heth said the forests in northwest Connecticut provide a critical link between large forests for the neotropical birds to the north and south.

“There are approximately 140,000 acres of unfragmented forests in northwestern Connecticut,� he said. “Seventy-five percent of the landscape in the Northwest Corner is trees. Here we are in a state that is highly developed yet we have a good amount of forests. We are lucky in this part of Connecticut to have this. And our big push for this initiative is education so people will respect the forests.�

Heth said the biggest threat facing the forests of the Northwest Corner is fragmentation.

“These kinds of birds need large expanses of forest to breed in,� he said. “Fragmentation, including knocking down trees to construct major roads and developments, can be a big threat. Also, invasive species including Asiatic bittersweet and honeysuckle, are a big threat because those kinds of plants take over native plants that are important to the ecosystem of the forest as a whole.�

Heth said that Sharon Audubon is still developing the program, but will be holding workshops and classes for area landowners in the near future.

“We are developing a suite of practices for landowners so they can use them,� he said. “A good portion of this program will be education, making people aware of the important pieces of nature we have here.�