A new tool for understanding healthy habitat

June 25, 2026, Okanogan, Wash. — Okanogan Land Trust has received a $10,000 Capacity and Partnership Grant from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s Land Trust Bird Conservation Initiative.

The project, “What’s Good for the Bird Is Good for the Herd,” will use birds as indicators of riparian habitat quality. Starting this fall and continuing in spring 2027, trainings will help landowners and community members learn to identify focal species that depend on high-quality riparian habitat and participate in ongoing monitoring.

Birds as indicators of riparian health

Riparian areas are among the most important habitats for wildlife, agriculture, and local communities in the Okanogan Highlands of North Central Washington. These green corridors along rivers, streams, wetlands, and other waterways support wildlife, water quality, working lands, and local communities.

The project will identify and monitor a suite of riparian bird species whose presence can reveal important information about habitat quality and structure. Different species depend on different conditions, from dense willow thickets to mature cottonwood forests.

Volunteers and participating landowners will conduct bird surveys using eBird alongside simple habitat assessments. The information gathered will help document where focal species occur and how different land uses influence riparian habitat across the Okanogan Highlands.

“Deepening our partnerships with fellow conservation groups and community members—and birds!—will help build the collective capacity and knowledge needed to manage and restore sensitive landscapes throughout our region.”

Building regional conservation capacity

Through partnerships with the Okanogan Conservation District, Okanogan Highlands Alliance, and North Central Washington Audubon Society, Okanogan Land Trust will train landowners and community members to identify focal bird species, collect monitoring data, and better understand the connection between birds and healthy riparian ecosystems.

• Okanogan Conservation District
• Okanogan Highlands Alliance
• North Central Washington Audubon Society

Bonaparte Meadows will serve as the first demonstration site for the project, providing an opportunity to begin testing the approach across its wetland, riparian areas, meadows, and surrounding working landscapes.

What we learn there will help OLT and its partners better understand the connections among birdlife, healthy waterways, habitat structure, and land stewardship, while developing a model that can eventually be used with landowners and conservation projects across the region.

The information gathered will also help guide future restoration and stewardship efforts, connect landowners with conservation resources, and support long-term planning to protect and restore riparian habitat for birds, wildlife, and people throughout Okanogan County.

“This grant comes at an exciting and auspicious time for OLT, as we work to strengthen our support for landowners wishing to improve habitat on their lands as well as becoming a land-owning organization ourselves.”

Bird conservation that supports working lands

The project’s name reflects a central idea: habitat that supports birds can also support healthy waterways, productive working lands, wildlife, and resilient communities.

By working alongside landowners, the project will help build shared knowledge about how riparian landscapes function, how land use influences habitat, and how these important areas can be cared for over time.

Okanogan Land Trust partners with private landowners to conserve working lands, wildlife habitats, and water resources and to connect land and community across North Central Washington. Since 2002, OLT has helped protect more than 18,800 acres.