[BCNnet] A brief, interesting note for the quail and sparrow lovers among us...

Fri, 20 Dec 2002 09:56:13 -0600

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George Fenwick, ABC’s Executive Director, forwarded this to me and I thought
it would of interest.

Donald R. Dann
Highland Park/Lake County

----- Original Message -----
From: Clifford Shackelford <mailto:Clifford.Shackelford@tpwd.state.tx.us>
To: Robert Perez (rperez@gvec.net)
<mailto:Robert%20Perez%20(rperez@gvec.net)>  ; Brent Ortego (wk) (Brent
Ortego (wk)) <mailto:brentortego@hotmail.com>  ; Carl Frentress (Carl
Frentress) <mailto:cfrentress@aol.com>  ; Gary Waggerman (Gary Waggerman)
<mailto:gwaggerman@austin.rr.com>  ; John Burk (jburk@sfasu.edu)
<mailto:John%20Burk%20(jburk@sfasu.edu)>  ; Kevin Kraii (kevinkraai@aol.com)
<mailto:Kevin%20Kraii%20(kevinkraai@aol.com)>  ; Vernon Bevill
<mailto:Vernon.Bevill@tpwd.state.tx.us>  ; Bill Johnson
<mailto:Bill.Johnson@tpwd.state.tx.us>  ; Craig Farquhar
<mailto:Craig.Farquhar@tpwd.state.tx.us>  ; Dave Morrison
<mailto:Dave.Morrison@tpwd.state.tx.us>  ; Jay Roberson
<mailto:Jay.Roberson@tpwd.state.tx.us>  ; Jeff Raasch
<mailto:Jeff.Raasch@tpwd.state.tx.us>  ; John Herron
<mailto:John.Herron@tpwd.state.tx.us>  ; John Maresh
<mailto:John.Maresh@tpwd.state.tx.us>  ; Paul Robertson
<mailto:Paul.Robertson@tpwd.state.tx.us>  ; Steve Cordts
<mailto:Steve.Cordts@tpwd.state.tx.us>  ; Steve DeMaso
<mailto:Steve.DeMaso@tpwd.state.tx.us>
Cc: Jim Neal (Jim Neal) <mailto:Jim_Neal@fws.gov>  ; Randy Wilson (Randy
Wilson) <mailto:Randy_Wilson@fws.gov>  ; Nathan Garner
<mailto:Nathan.Garner@tpwd.state.tx.us>  ; David Pashley (David Pashley)
<mailto:dpashley@abcbirds.org>  ; Ray Telfair
<mailto:Ray.Telfair@tpwd.state.tx.us>  ; George Fenwick (George Fenwick)
<mailto:gfenwick@abcbirds.org>  ; Jason Singhurst
<mailto:Jason.Singhurst@tpwd.state.tx.us>  ; Jeff Reid (Jeff Reid)
<mailto:Jeffrey_Reid@fws.gov>  ; Ricky Maxey (Ricky Maxey)
<mailto:rmaxey@sfasu.edu>
Sent: Thursday, December 19, 2002 1:10 PM
Subject: Bobwhite and Bachman's Sparrow in East Texas

TPWD all-bird folk,
I thought this was worth sharing.
I just reviewed the galley of a paper coming out soon. The study was done
in the West Gulf Coastal Plain (WGCP) of Texas (e.g., Angelina, Jasper, and
San Augustine cos). All species of birds were surveyed in mature pine
forests on national forest land occupied by Red-cockaded Woodpeckers (RCW)
that were either: (a) managed with prescribed fire to maintain a diverse
grass-forb ground cover, or (b) fire suppressed, thus included a dense
hardwood midstory and understory (a.k.a. our "controls"). An equal number
of plots of these two habitat-types were surveyed.
Two ground-dwelling species in particular stood out in the results -- and
it's no secret which ones. You guessed it, the Northern Bobwhite and
Bachman's Sparrow. Can you now guess which habitat-type from the two
choices above they both occurred in? Yep, you got it -- the one maintained
with periodic disturbance in the form of fire (see habitat a above). These
two species were completely absent from the controls (habitat b).
I remember an article authored by David Pashley and George Fenwick awhile
back on what they called the "odd couples". The authors paired-up a game
bird and a nongame bird that both depended on the exact same habitat
somewhere in the U.S. -- syntopic species and a very neat exercise. The
article demonstrated how management for one species can benefit other
species as well. It actually appeared in print at least twice -- if memory
serves me, it was first in the American Bird Conservancy's magazine "Bird
Conservation" and then in the American Birding Association's magazine
"Birding". The authors included this quail and sparrow as one of these
so-called "odd couples". Sharing the same habitat-type is well documented
across the Southeast where these two birds occur together.
The bottom-line is that these two declining species benefit from management
of the federally endangered RCW, but ONLY if prescribed burning is employed
in these pine forests. This, again, was no mystery to most ecologists, but
it needed to be tested in the WGCP. Just a brief visit to these two forest-
types would make it abundantly clear to most bird biologists that this quail
and sparrow would not select one of the control sites as a place to call
home.
Unfortunately, there are environmental groups who continuously preach
anti-fire sentiments on public lands. As if the contemporary suppression of
fire across the country isn't enough! John Burk wrote a great article on
all this in the last issue of the TX PIF FLYWAY Newsletter found here <
http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/nature/birding/flyway_news/index.htm
<http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/nature/birding/flyway_news/index.htm> >. Click
on Volume 9 and scroll down to page 13 -- it's worth reading, if you haven't
done so already. Sorry, John, Wild Turkeys were not found in the WGCP bird
study. If they had been, your money and my money would be on the turkeys
occurring in the burned, open habitat (seasonally, not annually).
Now some recent, pertinent East Texas data exist for the environmental
groups who might mean well, but area unknowingly assisting in the decline of
many species dependent on the effects of fire -- not to mention a whole host
of other animals and micro-communities (i.e., pitcher plant bogs) that are
declining in the face of almost complete fire elimination.
In case you're interested, the full citation of the forthcoming paper is:
Conner, R. N., C. E. Shackelford, R. R. Schaefer, D. Saenz, and D. C.
Rudolph. 2002. Avian Community Response to Southern Pine Ecosystem
Restoration for Red-cockaded Woodpeckers. Wilson Bulletin 114(3):324-332.
Watch for it to come out in a few months.
Feel free to pass this message along to others who might be interested in
the topic.
Cheers,

Cliff

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<p class=3DMsoNormal><span class=3DEmailStyle15><font size=3D4 =
color=3Dblack
face=3D"Times New Roman"><span style=3D'font-size:14.0pt'><span =
style=3D'mso-bidi-font-size:
12.0pt'>George Fenwick, ABC&#8217;s Executive Director, forwarded this =
to me and I
thought it would of interest.<o:p></o:p></span></span></font></span></p>

<p class=3DMsoNormal><span class=3DEmailStyle15><font size=3D4 =
color=3Dblack
face=3D"Times New Roman"><span style=3D'font-size:14.0pt'><![if =
!supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]></span><o:p></o:p></font></span></p>

Donald R. Dann<o:p></o:p>

<p class=3DMsoNormal><span class=3DEmailStyle15><font size=3D4 =
color=3Dblack
face=3D"Times New Roman"><span style=3D'font-size:14.0pt'><span =
style=3D'mso-bidi-font-size:
12.0pt'>Highland Park/Lake County<span style=3D"mso-spacerun: =
yes">&nbsp; </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></font></span></p>

<p class=3DMsoNormal><span class=3DEmailStyle15><font size=3D4 =
color=3Dblack
face=3D"Times New Roman"><span style=3D'font-size:14.0pt'><![if =
!supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]></span><o:p></o:p></font></span></p>

<p class=3DMsoNormal><span class=3DEmailStyle15><font size=3D4 =
color=3Dblack
face=3D"Times New Roman"><span style=3D'font-size:14.0pt'><![if =
!supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]></span><o:p></o:p></font></span></p>

<p class=3DMsoNormal><font size=3D2 color=3Dblack face=3DArial><span =
style=3D'font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black'>----- Original Message -----=20

<div style=3D'font-color:black'></span></font><font size=3D2 =
color=3Dblack
face=3DArial><span =
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black;
mso-color-alt:windowtext'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

<p class=3DMsoNormal style=3D'background:#E4E4E4'><b><font size=3D2 =
color=3Dblack
face=3DArial><span =
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black;
font-weight:bold'>From:</span></font></b><font size=3D2 color=3Dblack =
face=3DArial><span
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black'> <a
href=3D"mailto:Clifford.Shackelford@tpwd.state.tx.us"
title=3D"Clifford.Shackelford@tpwd.state.tx.us"><span =
style=3D'mso-bidi-font-family:
"Times New Roman"'>Clifford Shackelford</span></a> </span></font><font =
size=3D2
color=3Dblack face=3DArial><span =
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;
color:black;mso-color-alt:windowtext'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

</div>

<p class=3DMsoNormal><b><font size=3D2 color=3Dblack face=3DArial><span
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black;font-weight:bold'=
>To:</span></font></b><font
size=3D2 color=3Dblack face=3DArial><span =
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;
color:black'> <a href=3D"mailto:Robert%20Perez%20(rperez@gvec.net)"
title=3D"rperez@gvec.net"><span style=3D'mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New =
Roman"'>Robert
Perez (rperez@gvec.net)</span></a> ; <a =
href=3D"mailto:brentortego@hotmail.com"
title=3D"brentortego@hotmail.com"><span =
style=3D'mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"'>Brent
Ortego (wk) (Brent Ortego (wk))</span></a> ; <a =
href=3D"mailto:cfrentress@aol.com"
title=3D"cfrentress@aol.com"><span style=3D'mso-bidi-font-family:"Times =
New Roman"'>Carl
Frentress (Carl Frentress)</span></a> ; <a
href=3D"mailto:gwaggerman@austin.rr.com" =
title=3D"gwaggerman@austin.rr.com"><span
style=3D'mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"'>Gary Waggerman (Gary =
Waggerman)</span></a>
; <a href=3D"mailto:John%20Burk%20(jburk@sfasu.edu)" =
title=3D"jburk@sfasu.edu"><span
style=3D'mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"'>John Burk =
(jburk@sfasu.edu)</span></a>
; <a href=3D"mailto:Kevin%20Kraii%20(kevinkraai@aol.com)"
title=3D"kevinkraai@aol.com"><span style=3D'mso-bidi-font-family:"Times =
New Roman"'>Kevin
Kraii (kevinkraai@aol.com)</span></a> ; <a
href=3D"mailto:Vernon.Bevill@tpwd.state.tx.us"
title=3D"Vernon.Bevill@tpwd.state.tx.us"><span =
style=3D'mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"'>Vernon
Bevill</span></a> ; <a href=3D"mailto:Bill.Johnson@tpwd.state.tx.us"
title=3D"Bill.Johnson@tpwd.state.tx.us"><span =
style=3D'mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"'>Bill
Johnson</span></a> ; <a href=3D"mailto:Craig.Farquhar@tpwd.state.tx.us"
title=3D"Craig.Farquhar@tpwd.state.tx.us"><span =
style=3D'mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"'>Craig
Farquhar</span></a> ; <a href=3D"mailto:Dave.Morrison@tpwd.state.tx.us"
title=3D"Dave.Morrison@tpwd.state.tx.us"><span =
style=3D'mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"'>Dave
Morrison</span></a> ; <a href=3D"mailto:Jay.Roberson@tpwd.state.tx.us"
title=3D"Jay.Roberson@tpwd.state.tx.us"><span =
style=3D'mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"'>Jay
Roberson</span></a> ; <a href=3D"mailto:Jeff.Raasch@tpwd.state.tx.us"
title=3D"Jeff.Raasch@tpwd.state.tx.us"><span =
style=3D'mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"'>Jeff
Raasch</span></a> ; <a href=3D"mailto:John.Herron@tpwd.state.tx.us"
title=3D"John.Herron@tpwd.state.tx.us"><span =
style=3D'mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"'>John
Herron</span></a> ; <a href=3D"mailto:John.Maresh@tpwd.state.tx.us"
title=3D"John.Maresh@tpwd.state.tx.us"><span =
style=3D'mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"'>John
Maresh</span></a> ; <a href=3D"mailto:Paul.Robertson@tpwd.state.tx.us"
title=3D"Paul.Robertson@tpwd.state.tx.us"><span =
style=3D'mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"'>Paul
Robertson</span></a> ; <a href=3D"mailto:Steve.Cordts@tpwd.state.tx.us"
title=3D"Steve.Cordts@tpwd.state.tx.us"><span =
style=3D'mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"'>Steve
Cordts</span></a> ; <a href=3D"mailto:Steve.DeMaso@tpwd.state.tx.us"
title=3D"Steve.DeMaso@tpwd.state.tx.us"><span =
style=3D'mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"'>Steve
DeMaso</span></a> </span></font><font size=3D2 color=3Dblack =
face=3DArial><span
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black;mso-color-alt:win=
dowtext'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

<p class=3DMsoNormal><b><font size=3D2 color=3Dblack face=3DArial><span
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black;font-weight:bold'=
>Cc:</span></font></b><font
size=3D2 color=3Dblack face=3DArial><span =
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;
color:black'> <a href=3D"mailto:Jim_Neal@fws.gov" =
title=3D"Jim_Neal@fws.gov"><span
style=3D'mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"'>Jim Neal (Jim =
Neal)</span></a> ;
<a href=3D"mailto:Randy_Wilson@fws.gov" =
title=3D"Randy_Wilson@fws.gov"><span
style=3D'mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"'>Randy Wilson (Randy =
Wilson)</span></a>
; <a href=3D"mailto:Nathan.Garner@tpwd.state.tx.us"
title=3D"Nathan.Garner@tpwd.state.tx.us"><span =
style=3D'mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"'>Nathan
Garner</span></a> ; <a href=3D"mailto:dpashley@abcbirds.org"
title=3D"dpashley@abcbirds.org"><span =
style=3D'mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"'>David
Pashley (David Pashley)</span></a> ; <a
href=3D"mailto:Ray.Telfair@tpwd.state.tx.us" =
title=3D"Ray.Telfair@tpwd.state.tx.us"><span
style=3D'mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"'>Ray Telfair</span></a> =
; <a
href=3D"mailto:gfenwick@abcbirds.org" =
title=3D"gfenwick@abcbirds.org"><span
style=3D'mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"'>George Fenwick (George =
Fenwick)</span></a>
; <a href=3D"mailto:Jason.Singhurst@tpwd.state.tx.us"
title=3D"Jason.Singhurst@tpwd.state.tx.us"><span =
style=3D'mso-bidi-font-family:
"Times New Roman"'>Jason Singhurst</span></a> ; <a
href=3D"mailto:Jeffrey_Reid@fws.gov" =
title=3D"Jeffrey_Reid@fws.gov"><span
style=3D'mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"'>Jeff Reid (Jeff =
Reid)</span></a>
; <a href=3D"mailto:rmaxey@sfasu.edu" title=3D"rmaxey@sfasu.edu"><span
style=3D'mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"'>Ricky Maxey (Ricky =
Maxey)</span></a>
</span></font><font size=3D2 color=3Dblack face=3DArial><span =
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial;color:black;mso-color-alt:windowtext'><o:p></o:p></span=
></font></p>

<p class=3DMsoNormal><b><font size=3D2 color=3Dblack face=3DArial><span
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black;font-weight:bold'=
>Sent:</span></font></b><font
size=3D2 color=3Dblack face=3DArial><span =
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;
color:black'> Thursday, December 19, 2002 1:10 PM</span></font><font =
size=3D2
color=3Dblack face=3DArial><span =
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;
color:black;mso-color-alt:windowtext'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

<p class=3DMsoNormal><b><font size=3D2 color=3Dblack face=3DArial><span
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black;font-weight:bold'=
>Subject:</span></font></b><font
size=3D2 color=3Dblack face=3DArial><span =
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;
color:black'> Bobwhite and Bachman's Sparrow in East =
Texas</span></font><font
size=3D2 color=3Dblack face=3DArial><span =
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;
color:black;mso-color-alt:windowtext'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

<p class=3DMsoNormal><font size=3D3 color=3Dblack face=3D"Times New =
Roman"><span
style=3D'font-size:12.0pt;color:black'><![if =
!supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]></span></font><font
size=3D3 color=3Dblack><span =
style=3D'font-size:12.0pt;color:black;mso-color-alt:
windowtext'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

<p><font size=3D2 color=3Dblack face=3D"Courier New"><span =
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:"Courier New";color:black'>TPWD all-bird =
folk,</span></font><font
color=3Dblack><span style=3D'color:black'> </span></font><font =
color=3Dblack><span
style=3D'color:black;mso-color-alt:windowtext'><o:p></o:p></span></font><=
/p>

<p><font size=3D2 color=3Dblack face=3D"Courier New"><span =
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:"Courier New";color:black'>I thought this was worth =
sharing.&nbsp; </span></font><font
color=3Dblack><span =
style=3D'color:black;mso-color-alt:windowtext'><o:p></o:p></span></font><=
/p>

I just reviewed the galley of a =
paper
coming out soon.&nbsp; The study was done in the West Gulf Coastal Plain =
(WGCP)
of Texas (e.g., Angelina, Jasper, and San Augustine cos).&nbsp; All =
species of
birds were surveyed in mature pine forests on national forest land =
occupied by
Red-cockaded Woodpeckers (RCW) that were either: (a) managed with =
prescribed
fire to maintain a diverse grass-forb ground cover, or (b) fire =
suppressed,
thus included a dense hardwood midstory and understory (a.k.a. our
&quot;controls&quot;).&nbsp; An equal number of plots of these two =
habitat-types
were surveyed.<o:p></o:p>

<p><font size=3D2 color=3Dblack face=3D"Courier New"><span =
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:"Courier New";color:black'>Two ground-dwelling species in
particular stood out in the results -- and it's no secret which =
ones.&nbsp; You
guessed it, the Northern Bobwhite and Bachman's Sparrow.&nbsp; Can you =
now
guess which habitat-type from the two choices above they both occurred
in?&nbsp; Yep, you got it -- the one maintained with periodic =
disturbance in
the form of fire (see habitat a above).&nbsp; These two species were =
completely
absent from the controls (habitat b).&nbsp; </span></font><font =
color=3Dblack><span
style=3D'color:black;mso-color-alt:windowtext'><o:p></o:p></span></font><=
/p>

I remember an article authored by =
David
Pashley and George Fenwick awhile back on what they called the &quot;odd
couples&quot;.&nbsp; The authors paired-up a game bird and a nongame =
bird that
both depended on the exact same habitat somewhere in the U.S. -- =
syntopic
species and a very neat exercise.&nbsp; The article demonstrated how =
management
for one species can benefit other species as well.&nbsp; It actually =
appeared
in print at least twice -- if memory serves me, it was first in the =
American
Bird Conservancy's magazine &quot;Bird Conservation&quot; and then in =
the
American Birding Association's magazine &quot;Birding&quot;.&nbsp; The =
authors
included this quail and sparrow as one of these so-called &quot;odd
couples&quot;.&nbsp; Sharing the same habitat-type is well documented =
across
the Southeast where these two birds occur together.&nbsp; =
<o:p></o:p><=
/p>

<p><font size=3D2 color=3Dblack face=3D"Courier New"><span =
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:"Courier New";color:black'>The bottom-line is that these two =
declining
species benefit from management of the federally endangered RCW, but =
ONLY if
prescribed burning is employed in these pine forests.&nbsp; This, again, =
was no
mystery to most ecologists, but it needed to be tested in the =
WGCP.&nbsp; Just
a brief visit to these two forest-types would make it abundantly clear =
to most
bird biologists that this quail and sparrow would not select one of the =
control
sites as a place to call home.&nbsp; </span></font><font =
color=3Dblack><span
style=3D'color:black;mso-color-alt:windowtext'><o:p></o:p></span></font><=
/p>

<p><font size=3D2 color=3Dblack face=3D"Courier New"><span =
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:"Courier New";color:black'>Unfortunately, there are =
environmental
groups who continuously preach anti-fire sentiments on public =
lands.&nbsp; As
if the contemporary suppression of fire across the country isn't =
enough!&nbsp;
John Burk wrote a great article on all this in the last issue of the TX =
PIF
FLYWAY Newsletter found here &lt;</span></font><font color=3Dblack><span
style=3D'color:black'><a
href=3D"http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/nature/birding/flyway_news/index.htm"=
><font
size=3D2 face=3D"Courier New"><span =
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier =
New"'>http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/nature/birding/flyway_news/index.htm</s=
pan></font></a></span></font><font
size=3D2 color=3Dblack face=3D"Courier New"><span =
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;font-family:
"Courier New";color:black'>&gt;.&nbsp; Click on Volume 9 and scroll down =
to
page 13 -- it's worth reading, if you haven't done so already.&nbsp; =
Sorry,
John, Wild Turkeys were not found in the WGCP bird study.&nbsp; If they =
had
been, your money and my money would be on the turkeys occurring in the =
burned,
open habitat (seasonally, not annually).</span></font><font =
color=3Dblack><span
style=3D'color:black;mso-color-alt:windowtext'><o:p></o:p></span></font><=
/p>

<p><font size=3D2 color=3Dblack face=3D"Courier New"><span =
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:"Courier New";color:black'>Now some recent, pertinent East =
Texas
data exist for the environmental groups who might mean well, but area =
unknowingly
assisting in the decline of many species dependent on the effects of =
fire --
not to mention a whole host of other animals and micro-communities =
(i.e.,
pitcher plant bogs) that are declining in the face of almost complete =
fire
elimination.&nbsp; </span></font><font color=3Dblack><span =
style=3D'color:black;
mso-color-alt:windowtext'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

In case you're interested, the =
full
citation of the forthcoming paper is:&nbsp; Conner, R. N., C. E. =
Shackelford,
R. R. Schaefer, D. Saenz, and D. C. Rudolph.&nbsp; 2002.&nbsp; Avian =
Community
Response to Southern Pine Ecosystem Restoration for Red-cockaded =
Woodpeckers.&nbsp;
Wilson Bulletin 114(3):324-332.&nbsp; Watch for it to come out in a few =
months.<o:p></o:p><=
/p>

<p><font size=3D2 color=3Dblack face=3D"Courier New"><span =
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:"Courier New";color:black'>Feel free to pass this message =
along to
others who might be interested in the topic.</span></font><font =
color=3Dblack><span
style=3D'color:black'> </span></font><font color=3Dblack><span =
style=3D'color:black;
mso-color-alt:windowtext'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

<p><font size=3D2 color=3Dblack face=3D"Courier New"><span =
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:"Courier New";color:black'>Cheers,<br>
<br>
Cliff</span></font><font color=3Dblack><span style=3D'color:black'> =
</span></font><font
color=3Dblack><span =
style=3D'color:black;mso-color-alt:windowtext'><o:p></o:p></span></font><=
/p>

<p class=3DMsoNormal><span class=3DEmailStyle15><font size=3D4 =
color=3Dblack
face=3D"Times New Roman"><span style=3D'font-size:14.0pt'><![if =
!supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]></span><o:p></o:p></font></span></p>

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