NEWS FROM ABOUT by J. Dan McAskill 
     
    
   
   
    
     A reintroduction programme for the Thick-billed Parrot, begun with the 
     
     1986 release of 29 birds to the Chiricahua Mountains in Arizona, is continuing 
     
     even though the initial success was poor. A 1989 drought destroyed the pine 
     
     seed crop on which this species depends and a forest fire struck the release 
     
     area in 1990. Despite these setbacks, 2 young were fledged. The 1991 release 
     
     of 18 more birds also struggled with poor seed crops, predation, and weather 
     
     and a revaluation of the programme resulted in the 16 birds of the December 
     
     1992 release being kept together for one month to become a flock. Nine of 
     
     these birds survived to the spring. The Thick-billed Parrot is one of only 
     
     two parrots native to the United States. 
     
     Spring 1993 issue). 
     
    

    
     While the success of the 
     
     Thick-billed Parrot has yet to be 
     
     determined, the 0.5. Fish and Wildlife 
     
     Service efforts that began in 1967 with 
     
     the Aleutian Canada Geese have helped 
     
     increase numbers from fewer than 800 to 
     
     approximately 8,000. Recently 10 pairs 
     
     were placed on permanent loan to Russia in 
     
     an attempt to start a successful captive 
     
     breeding program to re—establish the 
     
     migrating population to Japan. (adapted 
     
     from "Birding Briefs" in Birder's World, 
     
     April 1993). .  . . 
     
    

    
     For those interested in expanding both their birding and travel horizons 
     
     (and possibly their resume), they might consider working as a volunteer on a 
     
     variety of projects. The American Birding Association’s winging It lists a 
     
     wide variety of opportunities across the United States. There is usually no 
     
     salary but out of pocket field expenses at the site are covered in certain 
     
     projects. The last listing was December 1992. (adapted from winging It Vol.4, 
     
     No. 12) 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     Nick Hill, an Associate Professor at 
     
     Mount Saint Vincent University while 
     
     studying Long’s Bulrush growth in Queen's 
     
     County bogs in Nova Scotia, found clumps 
     
     of the rush five to six meters in diameter 
     
     to be approximately 100 years old. Their 
     
     age can be estimated by using the yearly 
     
     bulges along the plant’s underground stem. 
     
     He related their survival to a fire which 
     
     swept the bog a hundred years ago allowing 
     
     //fl‘ifl§fl§f-7“§M the plant to set seed and for the seed to 
     
     germinate in the rich ash layer of the 
     
     burned bog. (adapted from Federation of 
     
     Nova Scotia Naturalists NEWS Vol.2#4) 
     
     After almost a decade of campaigns by the Canadian Nature Federation, 
     
     the Western Canada Wilderness Committee, World Wildlife Fund, and other 
     
     groups, 8.0. Premier Michael Harcourt announced the designation of the one 
     
     million hectare Tatshenshini River Wilderness Area as a Class "A" Provincial 
     
     Park. (adapted from Working for Wildlife Fall, 1993)