Biology professor Jeffery Larkin was part of a team honored with the first Presidential Migratory Bird Stewardship Award.
Larkin is a member of the Appalachian Regional Reforestation Initiative, a coalition of federal and local agencies, organizations, citizens, and companies dedicated to restoring native hardwood forests on coal-mined lands in the eastern United States.
This first award was presented to the Interior Department's Office of Surface Mining, which created the ARRI in 2004 and coordinates it with contributions from a variety of groups.
The award is designed to promote efforts and partnerships in federal agencies that lead to better migratory bird conservation.
The Council for the Conservation of Migratory Birds, led by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and composed of other federal agencies with migratory bird responsibilities, selected the winner. The award was presented at the national celebration of International Migratory Bird Day in Washington, D.C., on May 25, 2011.
ARRI, the U.S Forest Service, the Pennsylvania Bureau of Forestry, and 亚色影库 recently completed a reforestation project on 209 acres of previously reclaimed mine land in the Sproul State Forest, the center of the state's golden-winged warbler focal conservation area.
Larkin directed the project, which was funded by the U.S. Forest Service and Northern Research Station.
鈥淭he project will eventually result in a diverse mature forest within an already extensively forested landscape. In the short-term, however, it will become valuable young forest habitat for a variety of imperiled songbird species, including the golden-winged warbler,鈥 Larkin said.
For more information about Larkin's research and work with the golden-winged warbler, visit the Get My Story profile for Jeffery Larkin.