BLM Arizona Audubon River Pathways Program (PDO)
a. Background: Through an existing assistance agreement, Audubon Arizona has been a partner with BLM and the Phoenix Union School District in developing and implementing the River Pathways program. This program has two main objectives: 1. Educating and engaging youth in riparian ecology and management; and 2. Carrying out bird and riparian habitat surveys on public lands. Audubon staff in conjunction with teachers from Carl Haden High School, Metro Tech High School, Phoenix Bioscience High School and Central High School developed the River Pathways curriculum which gives students a background on riparian ecology, vegetation, wildlife and geomorphology. Since its start, River Pathways has reached over 1,800 students from 24 different schools in the Phoenix area. Students are taught the River Pathways curriculum at the various high schools then take field trips to the Nina Mason Pulliam Rio Salado Audubon Center (¿Rio Salado Audubon Center¿) located adjacent to the Rio Salado River. At the Rio Salado Audubon Center students receive more education on riparian ecology and management, and are taught riparian monitoring techniques. Students also visit riparian areas for hands-on learning. To date, 11 summer high school student interns have been hired through the River Pathways program. These interns have assisted Audubon biologists in carrying out population and habitat surveys for the yellow-billed cuckoo and have provided data entry support. The yellow-billed cuckoo was recently listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act, so data collected on this species and its habitat is critically important in conserving the species and the riparian habitat on which it depends. Audubon has also accomplished surveys for grassland species on public lands to help monitor the effectiveness of ongoing grassland restoration treatments. b. Objectives: The objectives of this new agreement with Audubon Arizona are to continue carrying out the River Pathways program as described above. This agreement will assist Audubon with their important ongoing work in engaging youth in science and natural resource management and in collecting critical data to help conserve birds and their habitat.
Office: Bureau of Land Management
ebell@blm.gov
