Important Bird Area Information

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Nevada Important Bird Areas Program

The Lahontan Audubon Society (LAS) initiated the Nevada Important Bird Areas (NV IBA) Program beginning in June of 2001. The NV IBA Program was conceived as at least a three-year effort involving the coordination of federal and state agencies, non-government organizations (NGO's), and individuals throughout Nevada. The Nevada Director of Bird Conservation, Don McIvor, was hired in August 2001. Robin Powell is now the director.

The NV IBA Program has identified a portfolio of high conservation priority sites - these are the Important Bird Areas. A Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) oversaw the nomination and selection process. Although the nomination process has largely concluded, we always welcome the possibility of finding a new qualified site through a new nomination. Anyone interested in the program is welcome to submit a nomination.

For a list of all the Nevada IBAs and detailed descriptions, please visit the Nevada Important Bird Areas page on the National Audubon Society's webpage.

History of IBA Program

While operating independently within the State, the NV IBA Program is actually contributing to an international IBA effort initiated in 1985 by Birdlife International. The program reached the North American continent in 1995, where the National Audubon Society (NAS) is now the partner-designate in the US. Under the auspices of NAS, state-based programs are identifying critical landscapes for bird conservation. To date, more than 2,000 IBAs have been identified in the US, encompassing more than 200 million acres. Worldwide, over 8,000 sites in 178 countries have been identified as Important Bird Areas, with many national and regional IBA inventories published in 19 languages. Hundreds of these sites and millions of acres have received better protection as a result of the IBA Program.

Program Objectives

The over-arching goal of the NV IBA Program is to recognize and promote enhanced management of IBA sites. The program will contribute to the preservation, maintenance, and recovery of bird populations in Nevada in collaboration with private landowners, federal and state agencies, and NGO's responsible for the well being of birds and other wildlife and their habitats.

Specific project objectives include:

Solicit nominations for potential IBA's from across the state.
Complete the review of all nominated sites and finalize the list of NV IBA sites
Identify threats to IBA's, prioritize conservation efforts, and begin working with landowners to develop stewardship plans
Identify gaps in the database for each IBA site and collect information necessary to complete site descriptions
Compile and publish Important Bird Areas of Nevada
Identify priority sites for conservation easements or land purchases with willing landowners and facilitate these arrangements
Identify sites where habitat restoration work is required and work with landowners and volunteers to implement restoration efforts
Continue the on-going public outreach and education program built on the IBA Program and focusing on bird conservation
On-site recognition of IBA's through placement of signs (with landowner permission).
Enhance communications among state and federal agencies, NGO's and citizens concerned with avian conservation and habitat restoration
Coordination of avian monitoring needs with agencies and NGO's in Nevada

Program Approach

The Nevada Director of Bird Conservation is charged with the statewide implementation of the program. Agency and NGO biologists, land managers, researchers, and knowledgeable members of the conservation community nominate potential IBA's. Nominations are evaluated against a rigorous set of criteria that were drafted by the state IBA director and approved by the IBA Technical Advisory Committee (TAC). If sites meet the criteria and are accepted by the TAC, they then become a (Regionally) Important Bird Area. Criteria distinguishing Globally and Continentally Important Bird Areas have also been established by an IBA National Advisory Committee. This group, working under the National Audubon Society will determine whether Nevada's IBAs qualify for this higher level of recognition.

A book formalizing the site recognition process has been published (Important Bird Areas of Nevada), and the book serves as a guide to the IBA's and the essential resources they are designed to protect. Monitoring of each site is also a long-term concern, with a need for citizen-scientists to establish a database of avian use of the IBA's and identify population trends, as well as to track site conditions. The database will provide a valuable conservation tool to inform land management decisions. Finally, the IBA Program is developing stewardship plans for IBA's that will accommodate landowner needs while preserving the habitat resources that make the IBA's exemplary. Public outreach in the form of articles to media outlets, presentations to school groups, and birding, conservation, and professional organizations, and field trips to IBA sites are an on-going component of the project.

NV IBA Site Nomination Process

The NV IBA Program is based upon a four-step process involving the identification, recognition, monitoring, and stewardship of areas offering habitat that is critical to migrating, breeding, or wintering birds. The process of IBA site selection is based upon rigorous scientific criteria tailored to the unique Nevada environment, but following the model established by other state-based IBA programs.

The NV IBA Program Technical Advisory Committee reviews each nomination in which at least one of the nomination criteria were met. Additional nominations are welcomed, and anyone interested may wish to explore the online Nomination Criteria, Nomination Forms, and a Guide to working with Land Owners.

IBA Fact Sheets

The following are links to Fact Sheets that give more information on specific IBA's in Nevada. Addtional sheets will be added soon.