The National Wildlife Federation (NWF) and National Council for Science and the Environment (NCSE) are preparing to host a ground-breaking workshop on June 23-24, 2011, in Washington, D.C., focused on one of the most significant challenges facing the natural resource conservation community: conserving natural systems within the context of a rapidly changing climate. The sponsors of the workshop are NCSE, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS).

The purpose of the workshop will be to (1) review what is known about the impacts of rapid climate change on large landscape and ecosystem conservation in the U.S., (2) review efforts by conservation practitioners to address those impacts through adaptation responses, (3) provide useful information and advice to those developing the national fish and wildlife climate adaptation strategy, and (4) determine what other adaptation policy, planning and funding actions will be needed to achieve desired conservation outcomes. The workshop will bring together 60 to 80 leading conservation practitioners and experts from federal, state and tribal agencies, academia, NGOs, and the private sector. The product of these discussions will be educational materials and briefings identifying needed adaptation policy, planning and funding measures for federal and state policy makers, and a strengthened network of practitioners in the rapidly emerging field of ecosystem-based adaptation.

Prior to the workshop, NWF staff will prepare a literature review on ecosystem-based adaptation, and carry out a survey of natural resource professionals, to determine what adaptation initiatives are underway, what are the objectives of these initiatives, where is important progress being made, and what criteria and guidelines would be useful to accelerate this progress. This literature review and survey will build upon research and analysis performed in connection with a similar conference held in February 2009. NWF also will organize a series of meetings of a small group of experts to collaboratively develop a “straw” list of criteria and guidelines for consideration at the workshop.

The workshop will be highly interactive. At the opening plenary, speakers will summarize the work underway to safeguard natural systems from climate change impacts and will discuss the straw proposal on criteria and guidelines. The workshop will then use plenary speakers and breakout sessions to perform case studies of large landscape / ecosystem restoration programs focused on different ecosystem types (terrestrial, coastal/estuarine, and freshwater) in three regions of the United States. Workshop participants will consider which conservation measures at the landscape and site scale, and what accompanying policy, planning and funding measures, will be necessary in these regions to address the following urgent challenges:

Ensuring viability of targeted species, habitats and ecological processes in the face of current and anticipated climatic changes in the region (“natural resources adaptation”);
Protecting people and property, including public infrastructure and agriculture, from climate change impacts in an environmentally sustainable way (“human systems adaptation”); and
Maximizing biological storage and sequestration of carbon to mitigate climate change.

In the final sessions of the workshop, participants will determine what is the most important progress from these regions that can be replicated in other regions, and what criteria and guidelines can be adopted at the national, state and regional levels to help accelerate this progress.

Workshop Products and Outcomes

Literature review and a summary of the survey of natural resource professionals.
Summaries of the presentations.
Lessons learned and recommendations from the workshop distilled into a white paper and a series of factsheets that will be widely disseminated at meetings and workshops and through listserves and the hosts’ websites.
NWF, NCSE and partner organizations will deliver key recommendations from the workshop at a briefing for policy makers, managers and planners. These recommendations will inform the national adaptation strategy for fish, wildlife, plants and ecosystems being developed by FWS, NOAA and partners, and the National Climate Assessment being developed by the U.S. Global Change Research Program.
The growing network of experts on natural resources adaptation practice and policy will be strengthened, leading to increased collaborations and improved conservation outcomes.

Staffing and Oversight of Project

Staffing for the project will be provided by NWF and NCSE. A steering committee will meet at least quarterly and provide oversight of the workshop invitation list, agenda and overall strategic direction. The steering committee members are:

John Kostyack, NWF
Chris Bernabo, NCSE
Rocky Beach, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife
Peter Stein, Lyme Timber Company
Roger Pulwarty, NOAA
Roger Griffis, NOAA
Mark Shaffer, FWS
Dave Cleaves, USFS
Arpita Choudhury, AFWA
Tom Fry, TNC

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2009

Wildlife Action Plan Coordinators and the Partnerships to Implement State Wildlife Action Plans

This conference was led by Program Committee Member, Dennis Figg and was conducted by NCSE with cooperation by the Association of State Wildlife Agencies (AFWA). This timely meeting took place in Boulder, Colorado on July 27-30, 2009. Approximately 95 participants including speakers, organizers, and state agency representatives were present at the meeting that took place at the Boulderado Hotel.

This conference created a forum for fish and wildlife agency coordinators and conservation partners to discuss the obstacles and challenges for implementing State Wildlife Action Plans (SWAPs). Participants identified ways to further develop the conservation partnerships that are needed for successful SWAP implementation. The meeting was designed to brainstorm and set into motion the actions that will more fully implement the state wildlife action plans. Results of selected WHPRP projects were presented to inform the participants about the new tools and findings that WHPRP developed that are relevant to action plan implementation.

A full summary report of the meeting can be downloaded here: Conference Summary Report

All presentations from the SWAP Implementation Meeting are in .pdf format below (right click to download):

State Wildlife Action Plans - Saving the world one piece at a time - Mark Humpert, Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies

The Importance of State Wildlife Action Plans - Mark Shaffer, Doris Duke Charitable Foundation

WCS Wildlife Action Opportunities Fund: Implementing State Wildlife Action Plans - Darren Long, Wildlife Conservation Society

Creative Spending: Think Beyond State Wildlife Action Grants - Amy Buechler, Conservation Federation of Missouri

State Wildlife Action Plans: Can the Fish and Wildlife Service help? - John Organ, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

USDA Farm Bill: A resource for State Wildlife Action Plans or dollars on the table? - Ray Evans, Eco-Associates, Inc.

Building a Conservation Partnership Ecosystem - Bill Uihlein, US Fish and Wildlife Service

Wildlife Action Plans: Costs, Benefits, Expenditures, and Policy Alternatives - Frank Casey, Defenders of Wildlife

Land Conservation Spending in the US: Resources for SWAP Implementation? - Jeff Lerner, Doris Duke Charitable Foundation

The Next Generation of Mitigation: Linking Current and Future Mitigation Programs with State Wildlife Action Plans - Jessica Wilkinson, Environmental Law Institute

Accelerating Habitat Conservation - Mark Shaffer, Doris Duke Charitable Foundation

The Conservation Registry - Sara Vickerman and Sara O'Brien, Defenders of Wildlife

State Wildlife Action Plans: Observations on the Virtual Collaboration - Dave Case, DJ Case and Associates

Wildlife Action Plans and Climate Change Opportunities - Thomas Eason, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission

Action Plan Revision: What you need to know - Laura Richards and Eric Gardner, AFWA Climate Change Working Group

Vulnerability Assessment Chapter Subcommittee Report - John O'Leary, AFWA Climate Change Working Group

Implications for Wildlife Management - Molly Cross and David Whitehurst, AFWA Climate Change Working Group

Research Subcommittee - Thomas Eason, AFWA Climate Change Working Group

A major outcome from the SWAP Implementation Meeting was the document resulting from collaboration between Association of Fish and Widlife Agencies' Climate Change and Teaming With Wildlife Committees. The final voluntary guidance report can be found here:

Voluntary Guidance for States to Incorporate Climate Change into State Wildlife Action Plans & Other Management Plans

2006

WHPRP Research Options Workshop and Survey Summary Report

Provides a summary of the WHPRP Research Options Workshop and the WHPRP Users' Needs Survey. Both the survey and the workshop were major components of the WHPRP research agenda development process.

Science Solutions

WHPRP Conferences

2011

WHPRP National Dialogue - "Building an Intelligent U.S. Habitat System in a Changing World"

Adaptation 2011: Conserving Natural Systems in a Rapidly Changing Climate

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2009

Wildlife Action Plan Coordinators and the Partnerships to Implement State Wildlife Action Plans

WHPRP Research Options Workshop and Survey Summary Report