78th Annual Conference

Special Symposia Overviews

Here are the 7 special symposia that will be included in the concurrent technical program. Each symposia will comprise a number of integrated presentations that address aspects of a single topic or theme. Read their overviews and learn more here.

S-01. Revitalizing Conservation: R3 Strategies for the Southeast

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 11 | 1:20PM - 5:00PM

Contact: Audrey Hawk, Education & Outreach Coordinator GA/FL, R3 Coordinator GA/FL, Quail Forever, ahawk@quailforever.org

Co-Organizers: Breanna Bashford- Georgia Wildlife Federation, R3 Coordinator

Overview:  This symposium will discuss the crucial aspects of the Recruitment, Retention, and Reactivation (R3) initiative in the Southeastern United States. While participation in shooting sports and angling is steadily increasing, hunting is still facing declining rates of involvement. Session will explore innovative strategies to diversify and broaden participation. We will consider methods of scaling our efforts of connecting participants with these essential activities. Additionally, this symposium aims to provide case studies on innovative efforts to build community; employ marketing techniques; and expand access to essential equipment, resources, and education. By sharing our learned experiences, we strive to secure the future of conservation.

S-02. SECAS Symposium: Building the Southeast Landscape of the Future Together

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 11 | 1:20PM - 5:00PM

Contact: Amanda Sesser, Fish and Wildlife Administrator, USFWS, amanda_sesser@fws.gov

Co-Organizers: Amanda Sesser, SECAS Coordinator and US Fish and Wildlife Service, New Orleans, LA; Daniel McInnis, US Forest Service, Atlanta, GA; Mallory Martin, Conservation Consultant, Linville, NC; Todd Jones-Farrand, US Fish and Wildlife Service, Columbia, MO; Deborah McGlothlin, US Forest Service, Flagstaff, AZ; Stephanie Laseter, US Forest Service, Asheville, NC; Shannon Westlake, US Forest Service, Lexington, KY; Katherine Smith, USGS Climate Adaptation Science Center, Asheville, NC

Overview:  The Southeast Landscape of the Future Summit was held February 27-29, 2024, under the theme of “Building the Southeast Landscape of the Future.” The Summit was an opportunity for state, federal, Tribal, and other leaders in natural resource conservation to come together to define a shared vision for the Southeast landscape of the future. The Summit was designed to deepen relationships with new and existing peer leadership communities, gain perspectives on critical conservation issues facing the Southeast, and discover where participant priorities intersect across boundaries. Understanding that today’s actions will contribute to the landscape one hundred years from now, attendees were asked to contemplate a strategic approach emphasizing broader and deeper collaboration to achieve the desired future. Concluding discussions focused on immediate and long-term actions needed to continue the collaboration and shape the future landscape.

The SECAS Symposium will build on the recommendations from the Summit: collaboration is essential, action over planning, commitment to adaptability, and the importance of a backbone organization, and equity and inclusion matter. The following activities will take place during the half-day symposium: 

• Kickoff presentation of SECAS 2024 accomplishments, Summit overview 
• Panel discussion comprised of SEAFWA Directors, State Foresters, Tribes, and federal agencies will discuss their recommendations for moving forward together. 
• AFWA Joint Task Force on Landscape Conservation will follow with their recommendations. 
• Presentation with the results from both the SECAS and Keeping Forests Social Network Analyses will be shared along with recommendations on how to build stronger networks. 
• Symposium participants in the symposium will break out to discuss the increased need for collaboration and communication across jurisdictions to address complex conservation challenges effectively. Participants will discuss how to build the necessary networks and engage with Indigenous Communities and how to apply adaptive management and continuous learning to navigate uncertainty and evolving landscapes at various scales.

S-03. Managing and Restoring Coastal Wetlands for Fish and Wildlife in the Southeastern United States

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 12 | 8:00AM - 5:00PM

Contact: John Andrew Nyman, Professor, School of Renewable Natural Resources, Louisiana State University, jnyman@lsu.edu

Co-Organizers: Jim Anderson, Clemson University, Georgetown, South Carolina; Jena Moon, USFWS, Winnie, Texas; Mark Woodrey, Mississippi State University, Biloxi, Mississippi

Overview:  Our symposium addresses topics that range across scales from seasonal management of individual impoundments to decadal planning for state-wide land acquisition.  Presentations address a variety of habitat management techniques such as water management, prescribed fire, marsh creation, living shorelines, control of invasive species, oyster reef restoration, etc.  Presentations also include the natural history information of focal wildlife and fish species that managers use when managing communities ranging from temperate tidal freshwater swamps to tropical mangroves. 

We believe that SEAFWA is an ideal venue for this symposium because, excluding Alaska, the 15 states and two territories that make up SEAFWA contain ~ 83% of U.S. coastal wetlands.  Furthermore, wildlife biologists began determining which plant species provided food and cover for ducks and geese and then how to manage coastal wetlands to promote those plants over 100 years ago.  Within decades, that knowledge was the basis for managing water levels, water salinity, fire, and land acquisition on the Atlantic, Gulf, and Pacific coasts. By the end of the 1900s, that knowledge was also being used to improve habitat for wading birds, shore birds and other species, and in efforts to combat coastal wetland loss.  Today, wildlife biologists are facing new challenges as they begin to determine which plant species are best at offsetting subsidence and sea level rise, and how to manage coastal wetlands to improve elevation while also improving wildlife habitat with dredged material. 

S-04. Conservation of Aquatic Species of Greatest Conservation Need (SGCN) in the Southeastern U.S.

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 12 | 8:00AM - 5:00PM

Contact: Brett Albanese, Assistant Chief, Wildlife Conservation, Georgia Dept. of Natural Resources, brett.albanese@dnr.ga.gov

Co-Organizers: Peter Hazelton, Ph.D, Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, University of Georgia; Paula Marcinek, Director of Freshwater, The Nature Conservancy, Georgia; Shawna Fix, Aquatic Connectivity Teams Facilitator, Southeast Aquatic Resources Partnership (SARP), shawna@southeastaquatics.net; Scott Robinson, Georgia DNR

Overview:  The southeastern United States is a globally significant hotspot for aquatic biodiversity and imperilment.  Since the early 2000s, development and implementation of State Wildlife Action Plans (SWAPs) has provided an opportunity to broaden conservation efforts from a small number of federally listed species to literally hundreds of fishes, mussels, crayfishes, and aquatic insects identified in individual SWAPs as Species of Greatest Conservation Need (SGCN).  Recognition as SGCN enables use of State Wildlife Grant funding to meet conservation and research needs for these species and also raises their profile for competitive grants and unique partnerships.  The purpose of this symposium is to share results from conservation and research projects that have addressed southeastern aquatic SGCN.  Presentations focusing on surveys, monitoring, habitat management, aquatic connectivity projects, species introductions, conservation partnerships and the SWAP revision process are all appropriate for the symposium.

S-05. Understanding Current Threats to Wildlife Health in the Southeast United States

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 13 | 8:00AM - 12:00PM

Contact: Ellen Haynes, SEAFWA Regional Wildlife Health Coordinator, UGA-SCWDS, ellen.haynes@uga.edu

Co-Organizers: Mark Ruder, Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study, University of Georgia

Overview:  Wildlife health is a critical component of One Health, which includes human health, animal health, and environmental health. Wildlife health can be measured in multiple ways, including population resilience to challenges and the presence or absence of various pathogens and diseases. There are numerous threats to wildlife health in the Southeast United States that have varying impacts on wildlife populations. These include diseases caused by viruses (e.g., highly pathogenic avian influenza, canine distemper virus, turtle fraservirus), bacteria, fungi (e.g., ophidiomycosis/snake fungal disease, white-nose syndrome), parasites (e.g., mange), and toxicants (e.g., anticoagulant rodenticides). Further, such diseases impact species of greatest conservation need, which are already impacted by factors such as climate change, habitat destruction/fragmentation, and invasive species. This symposium will address the concept of wildlife health and include talks that describe the nature and scope of current threats to wildlife health with the goal of giving wildlife biologists and managers a better understanding of these threats and their potential impacts on wildlife populations.

S-06. Adapting to Climate Change: What’s Been Tried and What Works for Wildlife Management

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 13 | 8:00AM - 12:00PM

Contact: Hailey Shanovich, Postdoctoral Fellow, Southeast Climate Adaptation Science Center, hshanovich@usgs.gov

Co-Organizers: Dolly Ya-Nemeh, South Central Climate Adaptation Science Center; Paul Armsworth, University of Tennessee - Knoxville; Codie Winn, South Central Climate Adaptation Science Center; Katherine Smith, Southeast Climate Adaptation Science Center

Overview:  State agencies account and plan for potential climate impacts on species and ecosystems in their State Wildlife Action Plans (SWAP) revisions and other wildlife management planning in different ways. The next step after planning is moving to action. Considering potential climate change impacts can bring new management questions. It is one thing to say that a species or ecosystem may be impacted by climate change and quite another for a manager to know how that information should change or inform management actions. Our goals for this symposium are to provide examples of what works for climate adaptation and discuss approaches and frameworks. We will highlight real-life examples of adaptation actions by SEAFWA members and demonstrate how adaptation actions can be evaluated for effectiveness. We will have tangible outcomes for participants in the form of real-world examples to takeaway, facilitated discussions, and opportunities for further training and community as they navigate climate adaptation actions for their own agencies.

S-07. Emerging Issues and Novel Approaches in American Alligator Management and Research

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 13 | 8:00AM - 12:00PM

Contact: Jon Warner, Alligator Program Leader, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, jonathan.warner@tpwd.texas.gov

Co-Organizers: Thomas Rainwater, PhD (Clemson University); Benjamin Parrott, PhD (University of Georgia)

Overview:  This symposium would focus broadly on American alligator management and research across range states, highlighting emerging research trends and addressing commonalities and differences in how state wildlife agencies manage alligators for hunting, nuisance control, and commercial egg ranching and farming. Multiple universities and research programs in the southeastern U.S. are currently focused on novel and important research questions relevant to alligator conservation and management; this symposium would ideally bring various research and management stakeholders together for a day of sharing information and collaboration. With recent formal sanctioning of the SEAFWA Alligator Working Group, most state alligator program leaders will be at the conference in October for the annual AWG meeting, but a dedicated alligator symposium would be beneficial for all attendees involved with alligator work, and hopefully attractive especially to researchers that may not normally consider attending a SEAFWA conference.