The Bureau of Land Management Casper Office recently installed two artificial nesting structures along the North Platte River between Casper and Alcova, Wyo. 

The artificial nesting structures will provide much-needed nesting habitat for both the bald eagle and osprey. Conservation projects like this have assisted in the recovery of the bald eagle, which the Interior Department has recently removed from the Endangered Species List.

BLM installed these nesting structures in cooperation with the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, Western Area Power Administration and the Davis/Boston Limited Partnership.

"The installation of artificial nesting structures along the North Platte River is a great example of partners working together for the benefit of wildlife," noted BLM wildlife biologist Jim Wright.

BLM has plans for other wildlife projects along the North Platte River, including installing several bat-roosting boxes, planting poles of cottonwood and developing interpretive wildlife-viewing opportunities.

In addition to the nesting structures along the North Platte River, BLM maintains 16 additional artificial nesting structures in Natrona County. These structures provide nesting habitat for the ferruginous hawk, a Wyoming BLM-listed sensitive species.

Artificial nesting structures in the county help mitigate the effects on natural nesting habitat from oil and gas development in the Waltman area. According to 2007 nest-productivity monitoring, ferruginous hawks occupied approximately 75 percent of these structures during the field season. Nesting pairs utilizing these structures were successful in raising 31 fledglings.