By: Max Malmquist and Marina Castellino
Nestled at the base of the Sierra Nevada Mountains and overlooking Mono Lake sits the quaint town of Lee Vining, California, home to the annual event—“The Mono Basin Bird Chautauqua.” Every June, a vibrant community of scientists, conservationists, birders, and bird enthusiasts assemble here for the four-day-long gathering. In recent years, the Chautauqua, organized by the Mono Lake Committee, has evolved into not only a bird festival, but also a convergence of minds passionate about understanding and preserving the delicate ecosystems of saline lakes, the bird populations and the surrounding communities that rely on them.
From Great Salt Lake in Utah, to Mono Lake in California, to Laguna Mar Chiquita in Argentina, representatives from saline lakes across the hemisphere gathered this past June at the Chautauqua to discuss various aspects of saline lake ecosystems—how they function, how they are impacted by human activities, and what can be done to protect them.
Since 2017, Audubon’s Saline Lakes Program has been working on the conservation of saline lakes throughout the Intermountain West. As the Engagement Manager of the Saline Lakes program, Max Malmquist was honored to join this year’s Chautauqua as a speaker and panelist.
Takeaways from the Chautauqua
In addition to field trips, workshops, and birding activities, this year’s festival featured talks by scientists and conservationists working at the forefront of saline lake conservation efforts.
Topics ranged from the hydrology of saline lakes and the impacts of water diversion on bird populations to the latest conservation strategies being employed to protect migratory species. The discussions gleaned some key takeaways:
A lot has been accomplished with saline lake conservation, but we have a long way to go.
The desiccation of saline lakes across the world has led to insurmountable costs, from entire ecosystems collapsing to loss of livelihoods and economic crises. To date, there is not a single example of a saline lake being restored to healthy levels, but many efforts are well underway to reverse these long-term declines at saline lakes in the western hemisphere.
At these terminal lake systems, water flows in but only exits through evaporation. Increasingly, the water flows entering these water bodies have dropped due to diversions and our warming climate. While these saline lakes are part of one hemispheric network of specialized habitats that support millions of waterbirds, each saline lake presents unique circumstances in the specialized ecosystems it supports, and the complexity of the challenges each faces and the long-term implications of its decline. Differences range from the size of the lake ecosystem, size of nearby populations, scale and impact of consequences (e.g., dust), number of inflow tributaries, and local governance and management.
Given the uniqueness of each ecosystem, different conservation strategies are underway at saline lakes across the West to ensure they can continue to thrive. Some key strategies include wetland restoration and monitoring projects, invasive species removal, and creative water delivery solutions, among many others.
There are key needs to ensure saline lakes provide for future generations of birds and people.
Some of these key needs discussed at the Chautauqua include:
- Funding – while significant funding has been dedicated to saline lakes, to ensure long-term impact, investments need to be significant and consistent. From public to private dollars, finding and leveraging funding opportunities will be key to conservation efforts moving forward.
- Collaboration and Communication – saline lakes are all facing similar threats. No matter what stage of efforts individual lakes are at, we can all learn from each other. While much of the work at saline lakes has been done in North America, migratory birds like the Wilson’s Phalarope rely on saline lakes habitats across the entire Western Hemisphere throughout their annual cycle. Hemispheric conservation is necessary to protect this species (and others). Much of what we have learned in North America needs to be shared with our community and government counterparts in the Southern Hemisphere.
- Education and Future Generations – changing our water use habits and teaching the next generation and communities about the importance of saline lake ecosystems will be vital to our success. We also need to create more opportunities for future generations of Saline Lake experts and champions.
Future Champions of Saline Lakes
Another panelist at this year’s event was Marina Castellino. Spearheading education efforts and pathways for the next generation of champions for saline lakes and birds that rely on them is a special focus for Marina, who is the Youth Engagement and Education Specialist for the Executive Office of the Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network (WHSRN) housed within Manomet Conservation Sciences. Marina is based in Miramar de Ansenuza, a small tourist destination town near Laguna Mar Chiquita in Argentina, where she started in 2021 Experience Ambientalia, an educational program that connects students and teachers from Mar Chiquita with communities and partners from other saline lakes, like Mono Lake and Great Salt Lake.
Based in Laguna Mar Chiquita, this program engages around 200 students and 45 teachers every year, who learn about their home ecosystem and saline lakes across the hemisphere. Additionally, teams of students called “flocks” design and implement conservation projects over the course of eight months. The program expanded to Mono Lake in 2023 and students from both sites have been engaging in simultaneous coastal cleanups, birdwatching activities, online scientific coffees and in-person exchanges.
“Programs like Experiencia Ambientalia and community celebrations such as the inspiring Mono Basin Bird Chautauqua serve as powerful catalysts for collaboration, fostering meaningful partnerships and advancing impactful conservation efforts. I’m proud to be part of the growing network of organizations working together to protect saline lakes,” said Marina.
Four Experience Ambientalia exchange students, two of whom just completed their exchanges and two who were preparing for their exchanges, spoke about the program and their experiences.
“It was very moving to hear how the program had changed and influenced their lives, and how it would impact their futures. One of the exchange students had just begun working for the Mono Lake Committee, a direct result of being part of the program and finding his passion for Saline Lakes,” Marina said.
Today, the program is expanding its efforts to other saline lakes like Lake Abert, Walker Lake, and coming back to Great Salt Lake, which had previously participated in some activities, but will now become a key partner moving forward in this adventure.
Read more about the hemispheric link between these saline lakes and the birds that depend on them.
. . .
While it’s clear there is still much to be done when it comes to the conservation and restoration of saline lakes, gatherings like the Mono Basin Bird Chautauqua are a reminder of the importance of community, collaboration, and taking the time to celebrate saline lake ecosystems for the incredibly remarkable places they are. Saline lake conservation is a marathon, and events like the Chautauqua are pit stops along the journey. For those working to preserve these lakes, it’s an opportunity to rest, refuel, and revitalize hope, much like the way that birds rely on this network of habitats each and every year during their migration journeys.
