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U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Winter 2016 spotlight Fish & Wildlife News Get the News online weeks ahead of print. Visit <fws.gov/home/fwn> SPOTLIGHT Strategic Habitat Conservation 14 Unfinished Story 20 Sharing the Land 26 and more... what’s inside Departments Features From the Director / 1 SPOTLIGHT News / 2 Curator’s Corner / 42 STRATEGIC Our People / 43 HABITAT CONSERVATION 14 by PAUL SOUZA The Next Generation of Wildlife Conservation | and TOM MELIUS Catching On to Border Crossing / 24 Connect the Surrogates / 18 Working together across Connecticut / 30 Preserving Oregon’s state lines to protect the A landscape conservation Willamette Valley magnificent Great Lakes design for the Connecticut River watershed takes shape Protecting the Flint Conservation for Islands of Shelter Hills / 32 Sustainability / 34 by Design / 38 Surrogates of the Programs and partners Wildlife and people benefit Vast Tallgrass Prairie stand together to ensure from forward-looking the future of Alaska’s rich landscape conservation social-ecological system vision for California’s ON THE COVER: BULL ON THE NATIONAL BISON RANGE. PHOTO: DAVE FITZPATRICK, Central Valley VOLUNTEER 2 / Fish & Wildlife News Winter 2016 from the director Seeing the Big Picture One of the best parts about being the Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is having the opportunity to travel throughout our great nation. To quote the late Johnny Cash, “I’ve been everywhere, man.” From the Artic to the Everglades, I’m continually In this issue of Fish and Wildlife News, we travel awed by the landscapes surrounding me, and to every region to provide a sense of how these wherever I go, I similarly find special people landscape-scale efforts are proceeding. These stories determined to protect our lands, not just because capture just a few of the many examples of landscape they love them, but because they want them to thrive conservation work underway in places like the Prairie and sustain fish and wildlife for future generations. Potholes, Blackfoot Challenge, Rocky Mountain Front, Flint Hills, Everglades Headwaters and the To do this, it’s time to see the big, landscape-scale remote Pacific Islands. picture. At the same time, we’re focusing on species to Implementing landscape conservation strategies isn’t conserve entire landscapes. With the greater something that’s “nice to do.” It isn’t an adjunct to our sage-grouse, our annual $8 million investment is daily efforts to conserve wildlife. It is how the day-to- driving hundreds of millions and eventually billions in day work of the agency needs to be done from now conservation dollars across nearly 200 million acres. on — if we want to be successful into the future. Our priority focus on monarch butterfly conservation promises to have a similar landscape-scale impact We must work collaboratively with our partners across North America — beyond just that single to use the best available science to set conservation iconic species. objectives — and to design, implement and evaluate landscape conservation strategies that drive toward We need your help. those objectives. Only in this way can we maximize the return on our limited conservation dollars. Many employees and partners may be uncertain about this approach. That’s why we’re creating a Only by delivering conservation at appropriate community of practice around landscape-scale scales can we ensure that our work makes a difference conservation efforts and developing new platforms for native wildlife and ecosystems. And only by and tools to help practitioners share experiences and identifying and prioritizing work that conserves intact lessons learned. Like me, I think you’ll be inspired by and functional landscapes can we ensure that these the examples in this issue and feel empowered to join vital resources are protected for generations to come. this growing effort. The most important thing that we can all do right now is simply get started, try something new and be part of the big picture. Thanks, I’ll see you out there! Winter 2016 Fish & Wildlife News / 1 news STRATEGIC HABITAT Many of the forum participants CONSERVATION believe more needs to be done to make sure practitioners feel like Creating a Community they have the tools and answers of Practice they need. The participants also concluded that project leaders for Landscape and refuge managers may need Conservation far different sets of answers than biologists and conservation n May 2015, project leaders, design experts. Irefuge managers and other Service staff working on “I’m not sure we’re ready for landscape conservation gathered prime time — meaning engaging at the Service’s National partners — until we’ve settled on Conservation Training Center for our own points of reference and the first-ever Strategic Habitat have a simple ‘Rosetta Stone’ to Conservation Practitioners Forum. USFWS consistently translate what it is we are doing in terms that can be Over three days, participants For many participants, the discus- Catherine Phillips, project leader in easily understood by our partners shared their experiences and sions represented the first steps the Panama City Field Office, at the in the landscape in which we knowledge implementing toward creating a community of Practitioners Forum: “If we’re going to operate,” says Mike Bryant, landscape-scale conservation. practice — a mutual support make progress, we have to get together refuge manager at Alligator River The forum featured sessions and system for experienced practi- and learn from each other.” National Wildlife Refuge in North discussions to gather feedback tioners to share what they know, Carolina. “Clarity is key, but it’s on the Service’s ongoing efforts and for those newer to this difficult.” to implement landscape conser- approach, to learn from what’s requires a level of rigorous vation and hear how Service been done before. Even those adaptive management that isn’t Phillips agrees, noting that staff and partners are making forum participants who have always easy to sustain. And to be effective landscape conservation it happen. been working on landscape effective, the approach requires requires the Service to engage conservation for years came cooperative goal setting and partners and find shared For Paul Souza, Assistant Director away from the event with new conservation design above and solutions, a task that’s often hard for Science Applications, the ideas and energy. beyond what most conservation for different programs and field forum was a key step forward professionals are used to seeing. stations within the Service to in efforts to institutionalize “Strategic, landscape-scale accomplish. landscape conservation as the conservation is a scientific Phillips says she hopes the Service’s focus for the future. process, and getting together to Practitioners Forum is the “All of our partners have different share information and discuss beginning of a true community missions and areas of focus. They “We’ve received comments progress is how scientists of practice. But she’s aware of also have different contributions from leaders at all levels within move the needle. That’s why this the difficulty of creating and to make, and approaches they the Service that they need forum needed to happen,” says sustaining such a community — apply to their work,” Phillips says. help applying this conservation Catherine Phillips, project leader especially given the pressures “Our challenge is to find ways approach to their daily work in the Panama City Field Office. and demands most practitioners to fit the pieces together to make and making sure their efforts “If we’re going to make progress, are under today. a bigger contribution to the contribute to larger landscape we have to get together and learn landscapes we’re working to conservation goals. It’s not easy, from each other.” “For a community of practice protect. That’s why this dialogue and we know that some people to be successful, it has to be needs to continue and expand.” feel like they’re alone in this,” Implementing a more systematic organic. It has to meet the needs he says. “Being able to get approach to setting priorities and of practitioners and be sustained Souza is on the same page. together with peers from other designing, delivering and evalu- by them,” she says. “It’s actually “I believe that the only way we programs and regions helps ating conservation actions to started happening, but not in are truly going to tackle large- break down that isolation and accomplish those priorities isn’t a formal sense. We’ve begun scale and long-term conservation shows how others are tackling an enormous departure from talking more regularly with folks challenges are to face them the very same issues.” what most biologists and land in other regions, continuing the together.” managers know and do every discussions we began at the day. But landscape conservation forum, and that’s encouraging.” 2 / Fish & Wildlife News Winter 2016 news STRATEGIC HABITAT achieve greater conservation STRATEGIC HABITAT CONSERVATION gains. We want to ensure our CONSERVATION goals are clear — this is simply Selecting Surrogate SHC’s first step. If there are other 225 Million Monarchs Species approaches that accomplish this goal more effectively in a given Finding out what works to he surrogate species concept landscape, we should use them.” strategically conserve habitats Tis one way for the Service for monarch butterflies to help set thoughtful priorities By recasting the guidance as a with state partners. In theory, reference document, the Service onsider the monarch by taking action to conserve hopes to give employees across Cbutterfly, North America’s surrogate species, the Service the agency the green light to most beloved butterfly. The not only addresses that species’ innovate and experiment. This species has specific habitat needs but also creates cascading TOM KOERNER/USFWS is, after all, the way scientific requirements throughout its benefits for other species on the The brewer’s sparrow and numerous advances are made.