GoldenCheekedWarbler_LeaveItBe_Ladd_Cliff_AustinTX_15December2022_Reel4138.mp3

Clif Ladd [00:00:00] What do you do to manage habitat to be good for the warbler?

Clif Ladd [00:00:04] And the main thing to do is to find a piece of habitat, protect it, and leave it alone. Okay?

Clif Ladd [00:00:15] What we want is old-growth habitat. We want big, old, mature trees. And for that, you just kind of got to wait, or you've got to keep it and make sure that you always have it. So permanent protection is important.

Clif Ladd [00:00:34] Now, the things that could impact that habitat are wildfire, oak wilt, small nicks and cuts - you know, a transmission line here, you know, take a little bit of this strip of habitat, you know, here for a roadway expansion or, you know, open it up to a whole lot of heavy use that maybe affects habitat, or creates a lot of disturbance during the nesting season. And you know, that could be mountain biking in a preserve area or something like that.

Clif Ladd [00:01:11] So, you know, we're, we're always trying to protect against those things.

Clif Ladd [00:01:16] Oak wilt, you know, if that get started in an area of golden-cheeked habitat that by itself could do it.

Clif Ladd [00:01:25] And you think, "Oh, you know, not a big deal."

Clif Ladd [00:01:27] Well, it is, because golden-cheeked warblers, they need mature woodland. And so, I don't mean just mature cedar trees, I mean mature cedar trees and mature oaks. And, and much of golden-cheeked warbler habitat, the dominant oak tree is plateau live oak. And, it's very susceptible to oak wilt.

Clif Ladd [00:01:51] It's happened a lot. It's happened here in my neighborhood, where somebody prunes an oak tree, and it creates a center of oak wilt infection, which is, it's, oak wilt, is caused by a fungus that can be spread from tree to tree, and it can spread through the root system of live oaks that are growing in an area, and they're all connected via the root system. So, it can kill the trees pretty quickly.

Clif Ladd [00:02:24] If you drive out, say, between Fredericksburg and Harper, you'll see this a lot. And, you can go in parts of Kerr County where you're just driving down the road and see lots of dead oak trees. That's oak wilt.

Clif Ladd [00:02:38] And, you know, it can really destroy habitat.

Clif Ladd [00:02:44] So, that's one of the things we try to protect against.

Clif Ladd [00:02:48] Wildfire is another one. So, you know, one of the big concerns here in Travis County is protection of fire in what's called the Wildland/Urban Interface, W-U-I, or "wooie".

Clif Ladd [00:03:06] And, you know, so, we've got programs put in place by the City of Austin and Travis County to try to help homeowners protect against wildfire.

Clif Ladd [00:03:20] But also, we're trying to protect the habitat from wildfire that could be caused in the development adjacent to it.

Clif Ladd [00:03:30] About 98% of the wildfires are caused by human carelessness, or in some cases, deliberate action.

Clif Ladd [00:03:38] There was a big wildfire in the Chisos Mountains a couple of years ago, and that was evidently started by somebody who was up backpacking, and they just started a fire up, you know, while they were camping. And, you know, it burned a lot of land.

Clif Ladd [00:03:51] So, you know, that's the kind of thing that happens. It could be chains dragging on a trailer, or it could be somebody throwing a cigarette out the window, or, you know, whatever.

Clif Ladd [00:04:01] Wildfires are, more often than not, caused by human beings. And if it happens next to a preserve, that could be devastating. It could create a big fire that's not only harmful to habitat, but then that could spread to other, other subdivisions.

Clif Ladd [00:04:15] And so, we're trying to find ways of protecting against that.

Clif Ladd [00:04:20] Those are the kinds of things, the management challenges, of maintaining good warbler habitat.