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Global Wilderness Seminar for Government Agencies
28-29 September 2005, Anchorage, Alaska
OVERVIEW
click here for latest draft agenda, Sept. 22, 2005 (doc)
click here for field trip information (doc)
The Government Wilderness Seminar for Government Agencies is hosted by the Wilderness Policy Council of the U.S. Federal land management agencies (Forest Service, National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management, and Fish and Wildlife Service), as an associated program that immediately proceeds the 8th World Wilderness Congress (Alaska, 30 September to 6 October 2005). This is a seminar in which government officials at the national level of government or other jurisdiction having some type of wilderness legislation or policy will share their experiences in designating and managing wilderness areas and receive feedback from their peers. It is also an opportunity for agencies interested in new policies and procedures to learn from experienced program managers.
The seminar is open to employees of government agencies at any level and from any formal jurisdiction: national, state, provincial, county, tribal, or other. Participants must be registered delegates to the 8th WWC, and need to indicate their intent to participate in this seminar by checking the appropriate box on the 8th WWC registration form.
BACKGROUND
For 27 years, the WWC has encouraged the designation and best management of wilderness areas by governmental agencies. The experience and perspectives of such agencies and policies have always been featured in the WWC program, and relevant training programs offered. However, the idea of a special seminar for government agencies originated at the first meeting of the Wilderness Task Force of the World Conservation Union (IUCN), co-chaired by The WILD Foundation and KZN Ezemvelo Wildlife, South Africa, at the World Parks Congress in Durban in 2003. In a discussion that included representatives from the USDA Forest Service and National Park Service, colleagues from India and elsewhere saw the value developing a wilderness system to complement national parks and game reserves, and suggested the creation of a peer-network to explore how best to do this. This network was also seen as a good mechanism for enhancing or otherwise evolving existing wilderness programs.
GOALS AND OBJECTIVES
The goal of this seminar is to enhance wilderness stewardship globally by giving government managers an opportunity to meet in person to address their specific issues and challenges. The general outcome of this seminar will be an operating network of government professionals in natural resource management, committed to fostering best management and practices in wilderness, and to working effectively with non-governmental organizations also interested and engaged in protecting and sustaining wilderness. Targeted outcomes include:- A peer-to-peer network of natural resource professionals, working within government agencies to establish, improve and when possible expand their programs to designate, manage and in all ways sustain wilderness areas under their responsibility.
- Long-lasting professional relationships that provide mutual assistance, expertise, and coaching in the governmental sector.
- Avenues of communication that reach out with shared concern and information on laws, policies, and management strategies to the associated, non-governmental community.
- The identification of common challenges and issues for which managers seek solutions (for example: training and technology transfer; strategies to address invasive species; outreach to interested and affected parties; effective relations with the natural resource extraction sector; educating increasingly urbanized populations about the benefits of wilderness conservation; creating benefits for local, often poor, communities; and other challenges and issues).
- The selection of one or two of these challenges and issues as targets for improvement during for the coming year.
- A roster of available expertise to be shared and utilized by both current and new participants.
- The stimulation of participation in the IUCN’s Wilderness Task Force, and use of its collaboration portal on the web to implement the objectives of this network.
FORMAT
Details of the program are being developed, and when available, will be sent to all those who register. Participants must arrive in Anchorage no later than the evening of 27 September 2005. The first day, 28 September, will be held in the field, viewing actual Alaska wilderness management issues as presented by practitioners – managers, rangers, and scientists. Day two, 29 September, will be held in a seminar-style format at the 8th WWC headquarters hotel, the Captain Cook, in Anchorage.
COST
The only charge supplementing the 8th WWC registration fee is for lunches on two days. Please select the seminar as an additional item during registration. The seminar is otherwise hosted by the Wilderness Policy Council.
NEXT STEPS: FOLLOW-UP, MONITORING AND EVALUATION
By the end of the seminar, participants will be polled on the objectives and discuss implementation and follow up. Participants will clarify the objectives of the network, select responsible parties to implement and monitor results, and establish a timeline for reporting. Participants will then submit a resolution drafted for adoption by the 8th WWC that announces this progress towards global stewardship of wilderness and wildlands.
[click here to proceed to 8th WWC registration]
This session is now full for US delegates, for waiting list information contact nancy_roeper@fws.gov.
Non US delegates please contact Krista@logisticsllc.com if you would like register. | |
