Mother Lode Property Owners Asked To Monitor Bats And Birds
Sonora, CA – Property owners in the Mother Lode are being asked to participate in a program to monitor bats and birds by putting up nesting boxes.
The California Wildlife Conservation Board (WCB), through the California Association of Resource Conservation District’s (CARCD) “Climate Resilience Through Habitat Restoration on California Lands” sub-grant, has awarded the funds. The money will be used to purchase, distribute, and monitor 140 bat boxes, bird nest boxes, and raptor perches on private properties in Tuolumne, Calaveras and Amador counties. The project, led by Amador Resource Conservation Districts RCD, will involve installing and monitoring these structures. District staff will implement the program using a Point Blue Conservation Science biologist and by landowner outreach seeking placement volunteers.
Species selection for wildlife structures will involve site visits to assess habitat suitability and adjacent habitats. Large parcels of land with variable habitat types may be eligible for additional structures. The boxes will be on existing trees or outbuildings, and certain raptor perches require high, open-air spaces for ideal habitat.
Assessments of properties will begin in late spring/early summer 2025, and structure installations will occur in early winter. Participants must install, clean, maintain, and monitor these structures throughout the project, which is expected to last over 10 years. All structures will become the landowners, unless they want the boxes removed at the end of the grant term in March 2027.
An information session is scheduled for Wednesday, March 12, from 5 to 7:30 p.m. at the Calaveras County Fairgrounds meeting room. Attendees can ask questions of program coordinators and wildlife specialists, and there will be live bats as well.
