Bringing people together to plan for a future for wildlife

Quicklink: Register on-line (deadline for registration is August 29th)

Wild Links is our annual wildlife briefing to bring together scientists, nonprofits, funders, and interested citizens to share ideas and better coordinate efforts underway to keep the Northwest's wildlife and wildlife habitat wild and connected on a timely topic.

This year's 2008 Wild Links topic is "Planning for a Future with Working Landscapes and Wildlife Linkages from the North Cascades to Northeast Washington." The event is scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday, September 9-10, 2008, at the Chewelah Peak Learning Center in northeastern Washington.

Click here to view the working agenda for the conference.  This agenda is currently being finalized and will be updated as details are added.

Day One

8 am to 4:30 pm

Breakfast and lunch provided. The day includes presentations and panels on wildlife science, land conservation, and innovative efforts and policies relevant to this landscape. The day will be facilitated Conservation Northwest executive director Mitch Friedman, and speakers include Harriet Allen (WDFW), Dana Base (WDFW), Peter Dykstra (Trust for Public Land), Jon Keehner (Large Carnivore Research Lab, WSU), Lloyd McGee (Vaagen Bros.), Robert Naney (Wenatchee-Okanogan NF), Okanogan Valley Land Council, Peter Singleton (PNW Research Station), Chris DeForest (Inland NW Land Trust), Dave Bostick (Colville National Forest), Bill Gaines (Wenatchee-Ok National Forest), and an update on the regional guidance for wildlife corridors from the Western Governors Association.

5:30 pm and on

Dinner followed by a social hour with beverages sponsored by Northern Lights Brewing Co.

Day Two

8 am to 1 pm

Breakfast and lunch provided. The day will be led by Kelly McAllister, habitat connectivity specialist with the Department of Transportation, and we will concentrate on a review of ongoing projects from the newly formed Washington Habitat Connectivity Working Group. The effort is co-led by Washington Department of Transportation and Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife to analyze wildlife connectivity for our state using statewide modeling based on a set of focal species. The presentation will be followed by discussion and feedback from the group. The presentation will be the first public dialog on the state working group, the products expected to come from the group, and a time line. We hope to use the local and technical expertise in the room to think not only about the statewide scale needs for habitat connectivity, but also about next steps and the considerations necessary for future smaller scale analysis for specific regions of the state such as the Okanogan and Canadian Rockies Ecoregions.  We hope dialog will also show how this effort will connect with ongoing efforts from the regional scale like the Western Governors Association to those in our own state like the WA Biodiversity Project.  Graphics to include maps from many existing efforts related to species and habitat conditions.

Registration

Registration is open, click here to register.  Registration fees are $15 for Day One; $25 for Day One and Day Two without overnight accommodations, $55 for Day One and Day Two plus accommodations for one night on Sept. 9th; and $75 for Day 1 and Day 2, plus two nights accommodations for Sept. 8th and 9th. Meals are included in all registrations as well. The rooms are dorm-style in the Chewelah Environmental Learning Center. If you are in need of more privacy you may seek rooms in the nearby town of Chewelah, WA.

The agenda for both days is being finalized but a draft version is available,  please contact Jen Watkins with any questions.

We appreciate the support of our event sponsor Washington Foundation for the Environment. If you are interested in becoming a sponsor please contact us.

Here's a summary of presentations, resources, and people involved with last year's Wild Links briefing focused on Washington's North Cascades.