Mobirders,
Here is a follow-up regarding the Arkansas Tower Project.

Edge Wade
Columbia, MO
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Begin forwarded message:

> From: "Erin.Macchia" <[log in to unmask]>
> Date: April 20, 2006 10:33:31 AM CDT
> To: "Edge" <[log in to unmask]>
> Subject: RE: Arkansas Tower Project needs YOU!
>
> Hi, Edge!
>
>
>
> Thanks for forwarding my message to support the project! Finding
> technicians for such a brief study season and a relatively small
> time commitment each morning has been more difficult than I imagined.
>
>
>
> Our project is funded jointly by the Arkansas Game and Fish
> Commission, our state wildlife agency, and Arkansas State
> University. Avian fatalities associated with communication towers
> have been documented for more than 50 years, but there are very few
> studies that compare more than one tower at a time and even fewer
> studies that examine this phenomenon at a landscape scale. The
> primary goal of our project is to compare differences (if any) in
> the number of migratory birds affected by towers with different
> characteristics. We are comparing four tower attributes: 1)
> Physiographic region, 2) Tower height, 3) Tower lighting system,
> and 4) presence/absence of guy wires. We have two field seasons
> each year (20 days in the spring and 20 days in the fall) and we
> hope to continue this project through 2008, pending additional
> funding.
>
>
>
> For this immediate field season, we would like to begin tower
> searches at those sites without technicians as soon as possible.
> The last day of searches for this season is Wednesday, May 17th.
> Hopefully there are interested parties in Missouri that may also
> serve as technicians! One of the challenges in a project of this
> scale is to find searchers near tower locations.
>
>
>
> I visited the archives of MO-birds and see that there may be
> interest in having a similar study in your state? This is an area
> that is both a “hot” conservation topic and a sensitive subject for
> the communications industry. Although there is a lot of “talk” on
> both sides of the debate, there is a dearth of rigorous, scientific
> information about the numbers and types of birds affected, if these
> numbers are different between spring and fall migration seasons,
> and if these numbers vary across North America. Ideally, the best
> way to examine this topic is to have several towers in each state,
> each representing various combinations of tower height, lighting
> system, and with-/without guy wires, searched at the same time each
> morning during “peak migration” season for that area. Of course,
> in the real world there are few organizations with appropriate
> funding measures and connections to tower operators, private land
> owners, and available tower searchers. We hope our study will add
> some valuable information upon completion, but the results in
> Arkansas are probably just a small snapshot of a much larger picture.
>
>
>
> Please let me know if there is any additional information I can
> provide, and thanks for helping to spread the word about our study.
>
>
>
> Cheers,
>
> Erin
>
>
>
> From: Edge [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
> Sent: Thursday, April 20, 2006 10:10 AM
> To: Erin.Macchia
> Subject: Re: Arkansas Tower Project needs YOU!
>
>
>
> Erin,
>
>
>
> I forwarded your post to the Missouri listserve. It generated some
> interest and questions.
>
>
>
> Would you please provide a brief description of the project,
> including funding source(s), cooperating entities, timeframe for
> the study, etc.
>
>
>
> Edge Wade
>
> Columbia, MO
>
> [log in to unmask]
>
>


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