The American Bird Conservancy, the Piedmont Environmental Council, and
the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries have recently made
available an excellent, detailed, 28-page guide entitled _Managing Land
in the Piedmont of Virginia for the Benefit of Birds and Other
Wildlife_. This second edition now covers the entire piedmont of
Virginia and provides specific habitat recommendations for
implementation in agricultural, grassland, shrubland, forest, savanna
and wetland habitats, as well as in developed urban and suburban areas.
The guide is available for free download at
http://www.acjv.org/documents/VAPiedguide8_08.pdf
I would urge landowners, land managers, and proponents of conservation
(whether as members of organized entities or as individual citizens) to
read it and carefully consider its application to land use planning and
decisions in which they may have either a local or regional interest.
While derived from authoritative references, the guide is written in a
manner to make it engaging and easily accessible to the lay public. Its
publication is a valuable public service performed by the individuals
and organizations involved.
Best,
Bob Reilly
Kiptopeke Station Master
Coastal Virginia Wildlife Observatory
Professor in the Center for Environmental Studies
Virginia Commonwealth University
