U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Grant for Playa Lakes Joint Venture Annual Operations

Joint ventures, the partnerships that were originally formed to implement the North American Waterfowl Management Plan, are regional, self-directed organizations involving Federal, State, and local governments, corporations, and a wide range of non-governmental conservation groups that have proven to be a successful means of developing cooperative conservation efforts to protect habitats of waterfowl and other birds. Joint ventures address multiple local, regional, and continental goals for sustaining migratory bird populations by developing scientifically based landscape conservation plans and habitat projects that benefit migratory birds and other wildlife populations. The joint ventures incorporate biological planning, conservation design, and conservation delivery with monitoring and research in an adaptive resource management framework (i.e., strategic habitat conservation) to create the biological-science and conservation-partnership base which will allow the joint venture partners to pool resources for regional projects in critical habitats for priority bird species.

First established in 1989, the Playa Lakes Joint Venture partnership is directed by a Management Board that ensures that commitment and support is maintained to achieve the goals and objectives of this migratory bird joint venture. The Management Board has approved a master plan that outlines the overall direction of the partnership; this plan identifies the following elements as essential to the management and conservation of bird species and their habitats in the Playa Lakes Joint Venture region: Conservation Delivery; Biological Planning; Communications; Conservation Policy; Geographic Information Systems (GIS); Funding; Granting; Education; Research; and Annual Review. Collectively, these functional elements provide the framework for the base capacity of the Playa Lakes Joint Venture partnership, and its success and sustainability. The master plan describes the administrative structure of the joint venture, including the core support staff needed to perform or guide the activities or functions that are necessary to conserve priority migratory bird habitats in the Playa Lakes Joint Venture region (i.e., base operations). The core support staff for the Playa Lakes Joint Venture partnership includes the following: Coordinator; Conservation Science Director; GIS Director; GIS Analyst; Conservation Policy Director; Conservation Delivery Leader; and Communications Director.