Conserving Nongame Wildlife: 2010

A Year of Conservation

From monitoring sea turtle nests on barrier islands to finding rare fishes in the Coosawattee River, the Georgia DNR Nongame Conservation Section worked hard in 2010 to fulfill our mission and namesake – conserving nongame wildlife statewide.

Details of that work for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2010, are available in the sections listed on the right-hand side of this page: Conservation Efforts [1], Education & Outreach [2], Land Acquisition & Conservation Planning [3], and Funding & Administration [4].

Among other highlights recorded there, you'll learn that Nongame Conservation staff, often working with partner groups and volunteers:

• Completed habitat maps in an 11-county coastal habitat assessment aimed at balancing the region’s growth with conservation of natural communities and rare species.
• Discovered rare amber and freckled darters in the Coosawattee, part of a long-term initiative to document species and develop conservation plans for Georgia’s declining aquatic fauna.
• Conducted the first coast-wide beach and shell rake survey of American oystercatchers and Wilson’s plovers in 10 years.
• Continued rare plant inventories that turned up many priority species in places not documented before, including new sites for Tennessee yellow-eyed grass in Bartow and Floyd counties.
• Staffed prescribed burns on 25,660 acres, and led other habitat restoration such as planting longleaf pines at Chickasawhatchee WMA and native grasses at Panola Mountain State Park.
• Captured, sampled and released 21 bog turtles, nearly 40 percent of all known Georgia bog turtles in the wild, as part of research to help preserve mountain bogs and their unique species.
• Acquired key conservation tracts, such as 7,180 acres on Townsend Wildlife Management Area that feature old-growth cypress forest and riverine sandhills along the Altamaha River.
• Surveyed WMAs and other public lands for bats, creating plans to monitor key habitats as the threat of white-nose syndrome grows.
• Reached about 48,000 students with hands-on conservation education at six regional education centers.

All of our efforts are guided by the State Wildlife Action Plan, a comprehensive strategy for conserving Georgia’s biological diversity. Nongame Conservation’s focus is nongame wildlife – animals not legally hunted, fished for or trapped – as well as rare plants and natural habitats.

For these, the need is great. More than 1,000 Georgia plant and animal species are species of conservation concern; 318 are listed as rare, unusual, threatened or endangered, and protected by law.

Your support in conserving priority species and habitats is crucial. The Nongame Conservation Section receives no state general funds. We depend on your contributions, made through buying an eagle or hummingbird license plate, contributing to the Give Wildlife a Chance state income tax checkoff or making a direct donation.

I hope you find this overview of conservation accomplishments and challenges informative.

You can also download Nongame Conservation Section reports for 2008-2009 [5] and 2004-2007 [6].

Please contact us if you have questions or comments. And thank you for supporting Georgia’s nongame wildlife.

Mike Harris, Chief
Nongame Conservation Section

Our offices

Nongame Conservation Section
2070 U.S. Highway 278 S.E.
Social Circle, GA 30025
(770) 761-3035

Also at:

116 Rum Creek Drive
Forsyth, GA 31029
(478) 994-1438

2065 U.S. Highway 278 S.E.
Social Circle, GA 30025
(770) 918-6411

One Conservation Way
Suite 310
Brunswick, GA 31520
(912) 264-7218