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Workshops
TUESDAY A.M. PRE-CONFERENCE WORKSHOP OPPORTUNITIES:
Land Management for Land Trusts Workshop – BRENTWOOD
Description: This workshop is especially intended for land trust staff interested in learning about developing and implementing effective land management strategies (as identified in Standard 12 of the Land Trust Alliance's Standards and Practices). But anyone responsible for stewardship of natural areas should also find it useful. Specific topics to be covered include communicating the importance of land management to a board of directors (or other staff), building a stewardship program from scratch, management planning, capacity building, tools of the trade, invasive species control, and more. There will also be plenty of time for discussion to address specific challenges and needs of the participants.
Facilitators: David Borneman, NAA Board Member and Natural Area Preservation Manager, City of Ann Arbor and Nate Fuller, Conservation and Stewardship Director, Southwest Michigan Land Conservancy
Weed Risk Assessment – SALON E
Description: Objective ranking of established non-native plant species according to their negative impacts on native biodiversity is a challenge faced by many land management agencies. In this workshop, participants will be introduced to NatureServe's Invasive Species Assessment Protocol, a series of 20 questions that aims to systematically evaluate and synthesize various facets of a species' impact. The protocol may be used for any relatively large geographic region, such as a state, ecoregion, or nation; many organizations have adapted NatureServe's protocol for use in their state or region. After an introduction to the protocol questions - which address Ecological Impact, Current Distribution/Abundance, Trend in Distribution/Abundance, and Management Difficulty - participants will practice applying the protocol to one or more invasive plant species. Information on which to base evaluations will be provided (focusing on species invasive in the southeast), but participants may also bring their own information resources to evaluate species of their choosing.
Facilitator: Kelly Gravuer, Botanical Research Associate, NatureServe
NatureServe’s LandScope America – FRANKLIN
Description: LandScope America - a collaborative project of NatureServe and the National Geographic Society - is a new online resource for the land-protection community and the public. Planned for release in late 2008, LandScope America will bring together maps, data, photos and stories about the land and present them in dynamic formats. Get a sneak preview of this valuable new website by viewing a live demo of its interactive mapping tools. You'll also learn how you can use the website as a resource to strategically plan and promote your conservation efforts to a wider audience, and become a partner in the effort by contributing content about your own projects.
Facilitator: Heather Rorer, Partnership and Outreach Coordinator, NatureServe
State Natural Area Programs Roundtable
– SALON ADescription: The State Natural Areas Roundtable brings together state natural area administrators who work in an array of urban, rural, and remote settings to conserve and restore biodiversity. Recognizing that each state's program is unique, roundtable participants see the benefit of sharing successes, learning to survive challenging situations, and bringing new suggestions to colleagues back home.
Each fall, during the Natural Areas Association's Annual Conference, the roundtable convenes to hold discussions relevant to state natural area programs. Every state that participates in the roundtable is given the opportunity to submit a Status Report each year. The Status Reports are presented in a "Roll Call of the States" format. The Roundtable provides an open and active forum for information exchange and updates, including guidance on general planning and management issues.
Facilitator: Karen Smith, NAA Board Member and Director, Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission
Federal Natural Area Programs Roundtable
– SALON BDescription: This session provides federal natural area program managers who are attending the conference the opportunity for discussion and networking. Potential topics include reviews of program status in various agencies, ideas for sustaining or revitalizing federal natural area programs, and strategies for funding and collaborative projects. In addition, opportunities for strengthening partnerships with the Natural Areas Association, state natural area programs, and Natural Heritage Programs may be discussed.
Facilitators: Steve Shelly, NAA Board Member and Regional Botanist/Research Natural Areas Coordinator U.S. Forest Service and Jeff Krause, Wildlife Biologist, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
WEDNESDAY CONCURRENT SESSION WORKSHOP OPPORTUNITIES:
Urban Natural Areas: Issues for Urban Natural Areas Managers - A Workshop
Description: The focus of this workshop will be on finding and sharing realistic solutions to real world problems faced by natural areas managers, particularly those that manage urban natural areas. This session will be structured around audience participation. A small panel of speakers will introduce the topics that will form the focus of the workshop. The audience will then be challenged to discuss and offer potential solutions for a number of realistic scenarios involving the chosen issues (see issues below). Audience members will work in small groups on one or more scenarios and then share their “solutions” with the entire group. The panelists and the rest of the audience will be encouraged to discuss and refine the findings.
Topics to be focused on will include the following:
1. Being an effective “lonely voice” for land management in a government agency dominated by engineers and planners
2. Dealing effectively with invasive animals. Focus will be on feral and stray dogs and cats.
3. Managing demands for public uses that might be incompatible with natural resource management, eg. ATV’s and mountain bikes.
Facilitator: Pete Colverson, NAA Board Member and Communication Specialist, Pandion Systems, Inc.
Cooperative Weed Management Areas: Using Cooperative Weed Management Areas (CWMAs) to Improve Invasive Plant Management
Description: This session will address how CWMAs are used to improve invasive plant management efforts by bringing together landowners and land managers from both public and private lands to work collaboratively on prevention, control, and outreach. An introductory talk will introduce the concept of CWMAs and the wide variety of projects that they have implemented across the country. The remainder of the session will be a panel discussion including participants from CWMAs around the country who will provide insights into how they established their CWMAs and what they have accomplished.
Facilitators: Kate Howe, Midwest Invasive Plant Network and Kelly Kearns, Invasive Plant Association of Wisconsin
Exotics Prevention – How to Build an Effective Partnership
Description: This workshop will follow several symposia that will discuss current trends in invasive risk assessments, prevention of new invasions or spread of existing invasions to natural areas through anthropogenic pathways, and examples of how the St. Louis Declaration is working around the country. The goal of the workshop is to produce a cookbook on how to encourage local horticulture businesses, government entities, or other group that intentionally introduces invasive plants, to adopt voluntary measures that remove existing invasive plants and promote non-invasive alternatives.
Facilitators: Sarah Reichard, University of Washington and Valerie Vartanian, Global Invasive Species Team, The Nature Conservancy
Forest Health – Firewood
Description: Firewood is increasingly recognized as an important vector in the establishment of new outbreaks of forest pests far from previously existing sites. While the most prominent example is the emerald ash borer, numerous other insects and pathogens can also be moved via this pathway. Firewood is a difficult vector to manage as it is moved by a wide variety of people for both commercial sale and personal use. Natural area sites open to public use, especially camping, appear to be particularly vulnerable. What can natural area managers do to protect sites under their responsibility? What approaches have national and state land-managing agencies taken? What issues entered into these decisions? How important is it that everyone’s actions be coordinated – and what is the role of “leaders”? Finally, can managers learn from or apply lessons to vectors of other types of invaders, such as use and disposal of bait; or cleaning fishing gear, boats, tires, and boots?
Facilitator: Faith Campbell, The Nature Conservancy
FIELD TRIP WORKSHOP OPPORTUNITIES:
Field Trip 24 (FT24): Invasive Pest Plant Identification Workshop: Identify the Threats to Our Native Landscape
Description: Shelby Bottoms Greenway and Nature Park is an 810-acre natural area with a greenway located on the western shore of the Cumberland River and is only 3 miles from downtown Nashville. The five miles of paved trails and five miles of primitive trails offer opportunities to experience bottomland hardwood forests, upland forests, wetland meadows, and ponds in this mostly alluvial floodplain. Although boasting lofty trees, fall flowering meadows, and birding, an experienced outdoor enthusiast will discover invasive pest plants threatening the natural integrity of the nature park. The visit to Shelby Bottoms will concentrate on invasive pest plant identification, management and techniques, results of summer treatments on various invasive plants, and of course the native splendor of the park.
Leaders: Lee Patrick, VP, Restoration Ecologist, Invasive Plant Control, Inc.,
Field Trip 25 (FT25): Native Grass ID Workshop
Description: For this workshop, we will visit two of the highest-quality grasslands in Tennessee to teach field-recognition of Tennessee’s major autumn graminoid genera and species. The first site is Flatrock Cedar Glades and Barrens State Natural Area (FCGBSNA), a 846-acre preserve located in Rutherford Co., Tennessee. This site contains exceptional examples of limestone cedar glades, xeric limestone prairies, calcareous wet meadows, and associated rocky calcareous forests and is home to many threatened and endangered plants, several of which are disjunct from the Ozarks or Great Plains. The second site is May Prairie, a 250-acre preserve located in Coffee Co., Tennessee. May Prairie is contains one of the best remaining examples of wet prairie in the state as well as some outstanding examples of acidic flatwoods. May Prairie also contains a high number of species that are significantly disjunct from the Coastal Plain as well as many species which are considered threatened or endangered in Tennessee. Participants should expect to see and become familiar with the following graminoid genera: *Agrostis, *Andropogon, *Aristida, Bouteloua, Bulbostylis, Calamagrostis, *Carex, *Chasmanthium, Cinna, *Cyperus, Danthonia, *Dichanthelium, Digitaria, Dulichium, *Echinochloa, *Eleocharis, *Elymus, *Eragrostis, Festuca, Fimbristylis, Gymnopogon, *Juncus, Kyllinga, *Leersia, Microstegium, *Muhlenbergia, *Panicum, *Paspalum, *Rhynchospora, Saccharum, Schizachyrium, Schoenoplectus, *Scirpus, Scleria, Setaria, Sorghastrum, *Sporobolus, Tridens, Typha, and *Xyris (* means that multiple species will be observed for that genus).
Leader: Dwayne Estes, Ph.D., Plant Taxonomist, Austin Peay State University, Clarksville, TN
Field Trip 26 (FT26): GPS Training w/ SE-EPPC-EDDMapS Overview Workshop
Description: A well-designed geographic information system consists of five key components: hardware, software, data, methods, and personnel. Data collection and the management of that data is one of the most important, time-consuming, and perhaps costly components of a geographic information system.
The GPS: The global positioning system is a growing trend that can be seen in a variety of areas. It is an incredibly useful tool when it comes to the collection of spatial data. Prior to the use of GPS, field technicians needed surveying equipment to determine their locations when conducting field surveys. This took a great deal of time and required a degree of knowledge in surveying methods that most technicians did not have. With this technology, field crews can conduct surveys and use the information collected by the GPS receiver to determine where they collected their samples. This information is vital to identifying any potential spatial patterns that may exist.
In this workshop, we will use the GPS to collect data and enter it into the EDDMapS. Early Detection and Distribution Mapping System, or EDDMapS, was developed to provide a more accurate picture of the distribution of invasive species. EDDMapS allows land managers, agencies and others to set priorities for early detection and rapid response (EDRR), as well as formulate overall invasive plant management action plans.
Leaders: Bill Avant and Chuck Bargeron
Field Trip 27 (FT27): Invasive Pest Plant Site Management Planning Workshop
Description: Uncover the principles involved in a site evaluation of a unique 3,000-acre municipal natural area. We will begin the day reviewing the steps involved in developing an invasive species management plan in Nashville’s Warner Parks. Riparian, prairie and hardwood forest scenarios will be toured to provide examples of the invasive species problems relevant to this park. Attendees will learn the basic steps involved in defining the scope of the project, choosing the correct IPM strategies for control and address the restoration aspects of the project with a visit to a local native plant nursery. Instructors will discuss the tools relevant for controlling invasives on this site with regards to cultural and ecological concerns.
Leaders: Steven Manning, President, Invasive Plant Control, Inc.
FRIDAY CONCURRENT SESSION WORKSHOP OPPORTUNITIES:
Early Detection and Rapid Response: Invasive Species Mapping – Trends and Data Sharing.
Description: This workshop/panel discussion will discuss the different mapping projects across the country, goals, successes and trends of projects, and possibilities of data sharing. Each project in attendance will provide a short overview of their project including the region it covers, who is entering data into the system, what data elements are being collected and what their data sharing policy is. Then there will be a guided discussion of current and future strategies for cooperation between projects. The goal of the workshop will be to develop a Memorandum of Understanding, a XML standard for sharing data and a working group that continues to be active after the conference.
Facilitator: Chuck Bargeron, Information Technology Director, Center for Invasive Species and Ecosystem Health, University of Georgia
Exotics Management and Control – Tools and Techniques
Description: This session will be a discussion of the use IPM techniques recommended for the control of the most invasive plant species in the eastern US. Steve and Lee will discuss the techniques that have evolved over the last fifteen years that are specific to invasive plant management from assessments to restoration techniques. A strong emphasis will be placed on tools and equipment that are best used for treating these prolific invaders.
Facilitators: Steve Manning, President and Lee Patrick, Vice-President, Invasive Plant Control, Inc.
National Association of Exotic Pest Plant Council Forum
Description: This session features a panel discussion on the roles and goals of state EPPCs. We will present a brief history of EPPCs, and describe the range, programs, and importance of these state and regional groiups. Representatives from several EPPCs will profile their organizations and their major initiatives. This will be followed by a panel discussion, including audience questions and comments. We will explore fundamental questions such as: “Should every state have an EPPC?” “What opportunities are there for EPPCs to work together?” “What are the big goals for EPPCs on a national level?”
Facilitator: Doug Johnson, California Invasive Plant Council