Chapter 1: Introduction of the conservation assessment concept

Abstract

The goal of this document is to describe the current status, ecology, habitat, and threats of the southwestern willow flycatcher (Empidonax traillii extimus); to offer guidance for managing and protecting this Neotropical migrant and its habitats; and to identify gaps in our knowledge of the bird and its requirements. Goals, processes, and target species for U.S. Forest Service (USFS) conservation assessments of southwestern organisms were first outlined at a meeting held by the USFS Southwestern Region on May 11-12, 1994. At that time, the Forest Service had identified the southwestern willow flycatcher in a general category called "riparian birds" whose conservation assessments would be drafted in 1999. Yet, by July 23, 1993, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service had proposed to list E. t. extimus based on findings of a petition submitted in 1992 (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 1993). When the southwestern willow flycatcher was federally listed as endangered in March 1995 (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 1995), the need for developing management guidance became a higher priority, and the date for completing the assessment was accelerated. In 1997, the USFS Southwestern Region asked the Rocky Mountain Research Station’s Albuquerque office to prepare an assessment of the flycatcher that would provide guidance for conserving its populations on national forests.

Parent Publication

• Status, ecology, and conservation of the southwestern willow flycatcher

Citation

Finch, Deborah M. 2000. Chapter 1: Introduction of the conservation assessment concept. In: Finch, Deborah M.; Stoleson, Scott H., eds. Status, ecology, and conservation of the Southwestern Willow Flycatcher. Gen. Tech. Rep. RMRS-GTR-60. Ogden, UT: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. p. 1-2.