• Range-wide declines call for conservation wherever the opportunity exists.

• Productivity in the Champlain Valley, and perhaps in the rest of the state, can be higher than in the core of the breeding range for some species

• Of the grassland obligates that breed in Vermont, Killdeer and Savannah Sparrow are the only species that are neither listed nor so rare as to render listing irrelevant (Barn Owl and Horned Lark).

• Conservation status. SSC: Northern Harrier, American Kestrel, Vesper Sparrow, Eastern Meadowlark, and Bobolink. T: Grasshopper Sparrow E: Upland Sandpiper, Sedge Wren, Henslow’s Sparrow.

• VTDFW is preparing a grassland bird management plan.

• Hayfields provide the vast majority of habitat for grassland birds in Vermont.

• Landowners who do not rely on quality forage for income could be encouraged to delay haying, thus allowing birds to complete the nesting cycle. Farmers are more constricted by their bottom line, but can be compensated in exchange for practices that benefit grassland birds.

• The Farm Bill provides a suite of incentives programs administered by NRCS, on which the future of grassland bird populations largely hinges:
  • Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP): pays qualifying landowners that adopt haying schedules that allow Bobolinks to nest successfully. New rules now allow landowners that lease land to farmers to enroll as well.
  • Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP) establishes riparian buffers, including grasses. If adjacent to other grassland habitat, it can increase the size of contiguous grasslands.
  • Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program (WHIP) encourages the creation or maintenance of both shrublands and grasslands.

• Sutti (2009) created a GIS model to identify lands in Champlain Valley where management may be most beneficial to grassland birds in the Champlain Valley, could be customized for other parts of the state.