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Presentation: Core Area Prioritization and Network Design: UMass presentation on Core Area Prioritization and Network Design

Excel sheet: IUCN and Wildlife TRACS threats categories: For aiding in species weighting decisions.

August 28, 2014 Terrestrial/Wetlands Technical Subteam Meeting: Meeting notes and materials.

Surrogate Species Frequently Asked Questions: A collection of frequently asked questions that touch on landscape-scle conservation planning and the various intricacies around surrogate species.

SHC Framework & Basic Elements: This slide details biological planning, conservation design, conservation delivery, and monitoring elements of SHC.

Peer Review of Technical Guidance on Selecting Species for Landscape Scale Conservation: In 2012, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (Service) committed to using Strategic Habitat Conservation (SHC) as an approach to address the challenges of the 21st century. As part of implementing that commitment, the Service distributed a version of the draft Technical Guidance on Selecting Species for Design of Landscape Scale Conservation (Technical Guidance) as a practical step in the biological planning component of the SHC approach. Five external peer reviewers have completed a formal, independent, external scientific peer review of the latest draft Technical Guidance. The panel was tasked specifically to review the scientific information in the Technical Guidance and its practical application to conservation management.

Fish and Wildlife News SHC Issue: In this special edition of Fish & Wildlife News, read how the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is putting Strategic Habitat Conservation (SHC) into practice. To ensure a bright future for fish and wildlife in the face of such widespread threats as drought, climate change and large-scale habitat fragmentation, the Service first endorsed SHC as the Service’s conservation approach in 2006. SHC relies on an adaptive management framework to inform decisions about where and how to deliver conservation efficiently with partners to achieve predicted biological outcomes.

Crosswalk of AppLCC Work Plan with Conservation Planning Frameworks: Crosswalk Presentation of the Appalachian LCC 5-Year Work Plan aligned with other Nationally Recognized Conservation Planning Frameworks. The tasks outlined in the 5-Year Work Plan align with both the FWS Strategic Habitat Conservation framework and the Northeast Regional Conservation framework.

Achieving Our Conservation Vision Using Strategic Habitat Conservation: The challenges facing conservation requires us to think about and do conservation differently. Unless we adopt a strategic approach to conservation, species and the habitats on which they depend will continue to be lost, regardless of the hard work and good intentions of dedicated professionals. Recognizing this fact, the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) leadership adopted Strategic Habitat Conservation – a landscape-scale, collaboratively oriented framework –a decade ago.

Strategic Habitat Conservation - Final Report of the National Ecological Assessment Team: \We envision the FWS working collaboratively with partners to develop and implement a landscape approach to habitat conservation, leading to what we term strategic habitat conservation. Success will depend on how quickly and effectively our organizational approach evolves, including steps to better communicate with and work alongside our partners.

Conservation in Transition: Leading Change in the 21st Century: In the following pages, we present a future vision that is mindful of the past. We examine the forces and trends that even now are shaping 21st century conservation in ways very different from that of the previous century. We continue with a broad analysis of the implications to the future Service and the growing realization that the change before us is, in many respects, change without precedent. We conclude with an assessment of the transformational change that will be needed by the Service — change already underway — to go beyond the successes of our past to new vistas of opportunity that lie ahead.

Strategic Habitat Conservation Handbook: A Guide to Implementing the Technical Elements of Strategic Habitat Conservation. Although the urgency is real, building capacity for SHC will be an organizational evolution, not an overnight change. Institutionalizing the SHC framework is a marathon and this document is intended to chart the course and set a purposeful and competitive pace.

Interior Highland Shortleaf Pine Initiative: The Interior Highlands region of Arkansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma once supported vast expanses of shortleaf pine-bluestem woodlands, as well as mixed stands of pine-oak and oak-pine which were maintained by frequent fires. Over the past century 53% of these open pine stands have been significantly altered due to forest structural changes caused by eliminating fire from the ecosystem and conversion to other agricultural uses. This caused a significant decline in several priority bird species including the Brown-headed Nuthatch, Bachman’s Sparrow, Northern Bobwhite, Prairie Warbler, Whip-poor-will and federally endangered Red-Cockaded Woodpecker which all rely on open pine forest stands with a diverse grass and forb understory.

Restoring Coal-Mined Lands to Create Habitat for Imperiled Birds: AMJV and the Appalachian Regional Reforestation Initiative are partnering up to re-establish habitat on previously mined land to create greater breeding grounds for declining bird species in the Appalachian Region. Using ARRI’s Forestry Reclamation Approach, this collaboration is replanting trees on disturbed sites in heavily populated bird areas to restore the function and form of habitats that existed prior to mining.

Assessment and Restoration of Southern Appalachian Brook Trout: This project will complete an assessment of brook trout in-stream habitat, water quality, and fish distribution information in all Jocassee Gorges streams during the first two years of the project.

Stream Classification: River classification information is needed to develop and implement instream flow standards and management recommendations so that environmental flows can become integral to all water management decisions from the onset. This project will develop a hierarchical classification for stream and river systems and a GIS map for aquatic ecosystems within the Appalachian LCC. The classification will identify and consistently map ecologically similar types of rivers and streams using a hierarchical set of geomorphic and hydrologic variables deemed appropriate by independent peer reviews and relevant to the spatial scale of management.

Document: Notes from August 18 Terrestrial Team Meeting: Please read if you were unable to make this call.

Land managers to gain tools to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions: Trees take in and store a lot of carbon dioxide, or CO2, a greenhouse gas. Being able to measure forestry and agricultural intake and emissions of CO2 is critical to developing a strategy for addressing climate change by reducing greenhouse gases.

Connecticut River Pilot Core Team Meeting 08-28-2014: Agenda, materials, and notes from the August Core Team meeting