76th Annual Conference

Contact: Tabbi Kinion, Education Division Chief, Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, tabbi.kinion@agfc.ar.gov

Co-Organizers: Stephanie Hussey, Recreational Boating and Fishing Foundation State R3 Programs Director; Spencer Griffith, AGFC Deputy Director Ben Batten, AGFC Deputy Director: Jenifer Wisniewski, Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency Director of Marketing and Special Projects; Darby Unruh, Attentive; BeBe Dalton Harrison, South Carolina Wildlife Federation, & JJ Gladden, AGFC Assistant Chief of Education; Jessica Feltz, AGFC Social Scientist; Chris Willard, Sovereign Sportsman Solutions (S3)

Overview: States across the southeast are becoming increasingly effective at targeting, training, and retaining anglers through integrated recruitment, retention, and reactivation (R3) programs. Join us for a day of conversation and presentions from state agencies, national organizations, and businesses that can help agency effectiveness. By the end of the day, you will increase your own understanding of these topics and take useful contacts and ideas back to your state that can be immediately integrated into your own work.

This session is best suited for leadership and practitioners of education, marketing, outreach, licensing, social science, and any fisheries staff that work with the public.

Contact: Darren Miller, VP, Forestry Programs, NCASI, dmiller@ncasi.org

Co-Organizers: Jimmy Bullock, Resource Management Services, LLC; Lauren Ward, Conservation without Conflict; Cindy Dohner, National Alliance of Forest Owners; John Tirpak, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Overview: Nearly 90% of forests in the southeastern U.S. are privately owned making these forests critical for conservation.   Although research has documented the value of private, working forests for conservation of biological diversity, including declining and at-risk species, more work is needed to understand conservation value of these forests to support implementation of appropriate conservation measures and to support science-based policy decisions around at-risk species.  Further, elucidating the role of private, working forests for conserving at-risk species within broader landscapes, including as part of regional conservation planning, is also important.  Achieving positive conservation outcomes on private forests requires collaborative conservation among state and federal agencies and private landowners.  Recent initiatives, including Conservation without Conflict and the Wildlife Conservation Initiative are emerging as effective strategies for conserving at-risk species on private lands.  However, for this approach to be successful, perspectives and needs of agencies and landowners must be understood and aligned.  Data on use of private forests by at-risk species are also critical to inform policy decisions and guide conservation efforts.  This symposium will explore perspectives on collaborative conservation on private, working forests and provide a venue to strengthen existing partnerships.  We will also present results from current collaborative conservation efforts.

The first half of the Symposium will use case studies to demonstrate mechanisms for collaborative conservation.  The second half of the symposium will be a panel discussion, bringing together key stakeholders to discuss conservation needs and outcomes and how to increase collaborative conservation on private lands.  Each speaker will have 5 minutes for an opening statement before taking questions from the moderator/audience.

Contact: Amanda Sesser, SECAS Coordinator, US Fish & Wildlife Service, amanda_sesser@fws.gov

Co-Organizers: Rua Mordecai, Southeast Blueprint Coordinator and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Raleigh, NC

Overview: The Southeast Conservation Adaptation Strategy partnership is working toward a vision of connected lands and waters that support thriving fish and wildlife populations and improved quality of life for people.  In support of that vision, SECAS partners are leveraging both the framework and tools of the initiative to make significant conservation accomplishments in the Southeast, ranging from local to landscape scales. The symposium will focus on specific examples of how the Blueprint has been successfully applied across scales, ranging from the landscape, state, community, to local scales. Invited presenters will demonstrate the value, opportunities, and challenges of applying the Blueprint within each category. Cross-cutting themes, such as diversity and inclusion, will be addressed in all categories. Presenters will be asked to end their presentations with recommendations for other organizations who may be interested in similar conservation or resource management activities. Specific speakers are to be determined. 

Following the presentations, a panel discussion comprised of the presenters, select SECAS Steering Committee Members, and staff will discuss future directions for the SECAS partnership, focusing on how the framework and tools of SECAS can be leveraged to inform a more sustainable future. This panel discussion will set the stage for continued dialogue within the partnership to guide future strategic direction, identify opportunities for voluntary, landscape-scale collaboration, and address barriers for working across organizational boundaries.

Contact: Katie Zipfel, West Virginia Division of Natural Resources, katherine.j.zipfel@wv.gov

With the increasing number of invasive species occupying our landscape, there has been an additional increase of science and exploration to determine the most appropriate avenues for control measures. Whether that becomes an eradication, bounty, commercial harvest, etc., it is increasingly evident that successful management and conservation of our natural resources requires collaboration and strong communication with stakeholders. The goal of this symposium is to display current efforts in building fruitful collaborative research, management, and/or outreach initiatives. We welcome all presentations working to increase interactions, tackle complex issues, incorporate ecological knowledge, and breakdown barriers between stakeholders, addressing the very “human” element of both fisheries and wildlife. Whether working with state/federal agencies, recreational and/or commercial fisheries, industry partners, NGO’s, the public, or zoos/aquariums, we encourage presenters to share successes, experiences, and lessons learned.