Fire Management Strategy for Cape Sable Seaside Sparrow Habitat

Everglades Nation Park Fire & Aviation Management

A outline of the strategies agreed upon at the symposium on managing fire and its effects on Cape Sable Seaside Sparrow habitat. On November 13-15, 2001 Everglades National Park (ENP) Fire & Aviation Management hosted a symposium on managing fire and its effects on Cape Sable Seaside Sparrow (CSSS) habitat. The FY 2001 Farm Bill funded this symposium. The purpose of the symposium was to develop a five year strategy for managing fire within and adjacent to CSSS habitat. The main participants were personnel from ENP Fire & Aviation Management, ENP research, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), cooperative Cape Sable Seaside Sparrow (CSSS) researchers. Also participating were representatives of Big Cypress National Preserve Fire and Aviation Management, the Seminole Agency Fire Management (BIA), the Florida Division of Forestry, Big Cypress National Preserve Biological Research Division (USGS), and Louisiana State University fire research. The outcome of the meeting was a strategy that addresses how fire will be managed in each CSSS sub-populations and the research needs to support a continuing adaptive management strategy. Meeting participants agreed that it is essential that this strategy be able to reflect changes in understanding of CSSS, of fire in the Everglades ecosystem, and of fire's effect on the Cape Sable Seaside Sparrow. To achieve this goal of having an adaptive management strategy, the participants resolved to meet yearly (in Fall) as a working group to review the CSSS fire management strategy. This meeting would integrate current knowledge, current fire events, current ecosystem and management needs and increased scientific information to specific fire management activities and associated research actions for each succeeding year.