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Moderator: Mike Leahy, Ecologist, Missouri Department of Conservation
Description: State Natural Areas Programs (SNAP) were among the first entities to protect natural areas in North America. For over 50 years, NAA has fostered a state agency programs community where practitioners and academics could share information, techniques, methodologies, good science and even moral support. NAA knows that collaboration is essential to the preservation of natural areas, and that it is important that colleagues become resources to each other. If you work in a state natural areas or heritage program, this is the round table for you!
Moderator: Jennifer Larson, Invasive Plant Specialist, USDA Forest Service
Description: Invasive species are the number one threat to the health and viability of natural areas, next to habitat destruction. Natural areas practitioners are on the front lines of identifying, managing, monitoring and strategizing to eliminate or minimize impacts that these species have on our native flora and fauna. In the last 50 years, the natural areas management community has learned a tremendous amount about what is working and what is not. Join us for this roundtable discussion to share your lessons learned, strategic approaches and challenges that you face in protecting the conservation values of your natural areas.
Moderators: Grace Haynes and Caroline Marschner - Cornell University Extension
Description: Moving into a future with hemlock woolly adelgid (HWA) and a changing climate, how should we manage our eastern and Carolina hemlock stands to balance conservation and climate adaptation? Striking an appropriate balance in any given location may be complicated by varying abiotic and biotic factors throughout the geographic range of hemlock trees in eastern North America. Join a conversation about our beloved hemlock forests and the many approaches to hemlock conservation and climate adaptation as hemlock mortality increases.
Moderator: Justin Thomas, Science Director, NatureCITE
Description: This session will provide an opportunity to share and explore how our human experience as ecological practitioners (students of natural history) and the threats and impacts to the landscapes that inspire us are deeply interwoven. We will explore concepts of mindfulness and compassionate consciousness (similar to Robin Wall Kimmerer's 'Braiding Sweetgrass' and Richard Powers' 'The Overstory’) and can share our thoughts and experiences. If the conversation warrants, we can also explore techniques for accessing a healthful conscious awareness of these relationships. Feel free to share and participate, or just be a listener. All are welcome and participation is not a requirement.
Moderator: Matt Garrett, Johnson County Park & Recreation District
Description: Join us for a regionally specific roundtable focused on native seed in Eastern KS and Western MO for public agencies, producers, and NGOs. The event will aim to share expertise and enhance strategies for maximizing collaboration to solve local challenges and work towards increased availability of native seed for restoration.
Join the people who protect and manage our natural areas.