Effective Fish Habitat Conservation: Assessment, Protection, and Rehabilitation, Part 2

Effective aquatic habitat conservation depends on identifying the best place for conservation action and the most appropriate kind of conservation action.  How does one proceed from conducting a watershed- or sub-basin scale conservation needs assessment to identifying specific fish habitat protection or restoration projects that match the needs and can be shown to be feasible, cost effective, and have highest likelihood of performing as intended?  How does one protect and restore urban shorelines in the face of increasing population pressures? The first part of this symposium will answer those questions with case studies that use assessment results and clearly explained reasoning and with examples of urban shoreline restoration practices, policy approaches to promote private stakeholder participation, and monitoring results that examine the effectiveness of various approaches from all over North America, including Washington, Florida, Wisconsin, Ohio, New England, and Canada.  When is habitat protection the best conservation option and how can restoration complement protection? The second part of the symposium will answer that question with examples from around the country of a wide range of aquatic habitat protection and restoration methods.