59 The Big Picture of Fish Habitat – How Science Supports Conservation Under the National Fish Habitat Action Plan

Thursday, September 16, 2010: 8:00 AM-5:00 PM
402 (Convention Center)

The National Fish Habitat Action Plan was conceived to bring new resources and re-align existing resources to address the nation’s fish habitat issues.  The backbone of this effort is a science based assessment process that is designed to link habitat quality from the mountains to the shelf, summarize large amounts of existing and new information to facilitate Board and Fish Habitat Partnership decisions on how to focus efforts, and ultimately track the progress of the plan’s habitat protection and rehabilitation efforts.  The initial national assessment is due for completion at the end of 2010.  This symposium will highlight the preliminary findings of the national assessment, provide examples of how Partnerships are executing finer scale habitat assessments, and show how such assessments are focusing efforts on habitat work.  The symposium will provide a forum for AFS meeting attendees to see and provide input on the science work of the National Fish Habitat Board, to interact with key individuals working on the Board’s National Assessment and the Partnerships’ finer scale assessments, and to see how habitat assessment contributes to on-the-ground conservation projects at this time in the National Fish Habitat Action Plan’s evolution.
Moderators:
T. Douglas Beard Jr., Ph.D. and Gary Whelan
Organizers:
Gary Whelan and T. Douglas Beard Jr., Ph.D.
8:00 AM
Welcoming remarks
Gary Whelan, MI DNR Fisheries Division
8:20 AM
Pushing habitat into the future: An overview of the science basis of the national fish habitat action plan
Gary Whelan, MI DNR Fisheries Division; T. Douglas Beard Jr., Ph.D., U.S. Geological Survey
8:40 AM
A national assessment of landscape influences on riverine fishes of the conterminous United States
Peter Esselman, Ph.D., Michigan State University; Dana Infante, PhD, Michigan State University; Lizhu Wang, PhD, Institute for Fisheries Research; Arthur Cooper, BSc, Michigan State University; William W. Taylor, Ph.D., Michigan State University
9:00 AM
A multiregional assessment of estuary and coastal fish habitat of the United States
Kristan Blackhart, NMFS; Kirsten Larsen, NOAA/NMFS F/ST4; David Moe Nelson, Ph.D., NOAA/NOS Center for Coastal Monitoring and Assessment; Susan-Marie Stedman, NOAA Fisheries and National Fish Habitat Board staff; Correigh Greene, PhD, NOAA-NFMS; Thomas Noji, Ph.D., NOAA-NMFS; Allison Candelmo, NOAA/NMFS NEFSC Sandy Hook Lab; Patrick Polte, PhD, NOAA-NFMS; Kay McGraw, NOAA/NMFS F/ST4
9:20 AM
Environmental indicators in the national estuary and coastal fish habitat assessment
David Moe Nelson, Ph.D., NOAA/NOS Center for Coastal Monitoring and Assessment; Patrick Polte, PhD, NOAA-NFMS; Correigh Greene, PhD, NOAA-NFMS; Allison Candelmo, NOAA/NMFS NEFSC Sandy Hook Lab; Susan-Marie Stedman, NOAA Fisheries and National Fish Habitat Board staff; Kay McGraw, NOAA/NMFS F/ST4
9:40 AM
A coast is a coast? Similarities and differences in the drivers of fish habitat condition across three U.S. coasts
Allison Candelmo, NOAA/NMFS NEFSC Sandy Hook Lab; Thomas Noji, Ph.D., NOAA-NMFS; Patrick Polte, PhD, NOAA-NFMS; Kirsten Larsen, NOAA/NMFS F/ST4; David Moe Nelson, Ph.D., NOAA/NOS Center for Coastal Monitoring and Assessment; Correigh Greene, PhD, NOAA-NFMS; Susan-Marie Stedman, NOAA Fisheries and National Fish Habitat Board staff; Kay McGraw, NOAA/NMFS F/ST4; Steve K. Brown, PhD, NMFS
10:00 AM
Break
10:20 AM
The influence of inland habitat conditions on the status of estuary
Joe Nohner, NOAA; Patrick Polte, PhD, NOAA-NFMS; Peter Esselman, Ph.D., Michigan State University; Correigh Greene, PhD, NOAA-NFMS; Dana M. Infante, PhD, Michigan State University; Allison Candelmo, NOAA/NMFS NEFSC Sandy Hook Lab; Katherine Miller, NOAA, NMFS; David Moe Nelson, Ph.D., NOAA/NOS Center for Coastal Monitoring and Assessment; Susan-Marie Stedman, NOAA Fisheries and National Fish Habitat Board staff
10:40 AM
Preliminary assessments of landscape sources of stress to fish habitats in Alaska and Hawaii
Peter Esselman, Ph.D., Michigan State University; Dana Infante, PhD, Michigan State University; Lizhu Wang, PhD, Institute for Fisheries Research; Arthur Cooper, BSc, Michigan State University; William W. Taylor, Ph.D., Michigan State University
11:20 AM
Landscape based assessment of human disturbance for Michigan lakes
Lizhu Wang, PhD, Institute for Fisheries Research; Kevin Wehrly, Institute for Fisheries Research; James Breck, Institute for Fisheries Research; Lidia Szabo Kraft, Institute for Fisheries Research
11:40 AM
Missouri farmers and streams partnership in the Meramec Basin
Kenda Flores, Missouri Department of Conservation
12:00 PM
Lunch on your own
1:40 PM
A synopsis of the southeastern aquatic resources partnership's comprehensive effort to assess the status of southeast aquatic habitats
Adam Kaeser, Georgia Department of Natural Resources; Emily M. Watson, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
2:20 PM
Midwest Glacial Lakes Partnership: Developing a framework for regional assessment
Lyn Bergquist, Minnesota Dept. of Natural Resources; Pat Rivers, Minnesota Dept. of Natural Resources; Michael Duval, Minnesota Dept. of Natural Resources
2:40 PM
Assessment of fish habitat impairment in U.S. reservoirs – Classification of reservoirs based on physical, chemical, morphological, physiographic, hydrologic, and landscape characteristics
Rebecca M. Krogman, U.S. Geological Survey, Mississippi Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit; L.E. Miranda, Mississippi State University; W. Reed Green, U.S.G.S. Arkansas Water Science Center
3:00 PM
Break
3:20 PM
Application of the National Fish Habitat Assessment as a conservation planning tool in the Southeastern US
Timothy Birdsong, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department; Megan Bean, Texas Parks and Wildlife Dept.; Scott Robinson, Southeast Aquatic Resources Partnership
4:00 PM
When BAD is good: Using best available data to strategically arrest declines of imperilled desert fishes and their habitats
Kathryn Boyer, U.S.D.A. Natural Resources Conservation Service; Matthew Andersen, US Geological Survey; Stephanie Carman, New Mexico Dept. of Game and Fish; Daniel C. Dauwalter, PhD., Trout Unlimited; Jon Sjoberg, Nevada Department of Wildlife; Joanna Whittier, University of Missouri
4:20 PM
Concluding remarks
T. Douglas Beard Jr., Ph.D., U.S. Geological Survey; Gary Whelan, MI DNR Fisheries Division
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