The last decade has seen significant advancements in the nature and number of science-management partnerships that address landscape-level conservation throughout North America. Numerous federal and state agencies, as well as conservation NGO's, have joined forces through these partnerships to advance conservation that is holistic, collaborative, adaptive and grounded in science to ensure the sustainability of our lands, waters, wildlife and cultural resources. Given that landscape-level conservation challenges often overlap and frequently transcend political boundaries, there exists innumerable opportunities for the various initiatives and partnerships to inform, interact and support each other. There is a need for increased communication, coordination and collaboration to avoid redundancy and ensure that these partnerships can help inform and deliver conservation efficiently.

"Landscape Conservation in North America: Collaborating Within and Among Partnerships" is the topic of Special Session 3 at the 78^th North American Wildlife and Natural Resources Conference. Concurrent with three other special sessions, it will be held from 10:00 a.m. to 12 noon on Wednesday, March 27, 2013 at the Crystal Gateway Marriott in Arlington, Virginia. The session will explore the latest initiatives, developments and challenges in landscape conservation across North America while also highlighting specific case studies of how agencies and other partners are collaborating to address regional and national conservation issues.

Regional case studies will be presented from the northeast, southeast and western United States. In the Northeast, states and Landscape Conservation Cooperatives (LCCs) are working together to help guide and organize conservation activities and needs building on the innovative Regional Conservation Needs program developed by the Northeast Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies. As one key outcome of this collaborative effort, the North Atlantic LCC and state partners are developing a synthesis of regional conservation information including ongoing and completed work that will provide the regional context for elements in the State Wildlife Action Plan updates and for conservation actions by States and partners.

In the Southeast, the Southeastern Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies has endorsed the pursuit of a Southeast Conservation Adaptation Strategy that seeks to define a future conservation landscape capable of sustaining natural and cultural resources at levels valued by society. To develop this strategy, six LCCs and the Southeast Climate Science Center will collaborate in a conservation planning framework that assesses the current and future conservation landscape, and defines and identifies priority locations and adaptation strategies for ensuring functional ecosystem processes.

In the western United States, the Western Governors Association, in collaboration with 17 western states, is creating the Crucial Habitat Assessment Tool (CHAT) for public release at the end of 2013. Information and guidance will be presented on the appropriate use of the CHAT tool and its associated data layers, and the broad benefits to landscape scale conservation including other regional partnerships.

The emergence of numerous regional or landscape-scale partnerships has created an assortment of challenges. One issue is the need for adequate coordination among these partnerships to avoid redundancy and competition for members from conservation agencies and organizations. In addition, the ability - or lack thereof - to meaningfully roll-up these regional efforts to achieve common goals at the national or continental scale is a concern.

Session presentations will address models for integrating conservation planning efforts at multiple spatial and organizational scales through a framework similar to that used for the last 25 years in waterfowl conservation, the North American Waterfowl Management Plan, and more recently through the National Fish Habitat Action Plan. Additionally, presenters will discuss the use of regional partnerships to deliver national plans using the National Fish, Wildlife and Plants Climate Adaptation Strategy as an example. A panel discussion will close out the session and offer the opportunity for participant input and dialogue on lessons learned, as well as challenges and opportunities for improving landscape conservation collaboration in North America.

Kevin Hunting, (California Department of Fish and Game) and Andrew Milliken (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and North Atlantic Landscape Conservation Cooperative) will co-chair Special Session 3. Other presenters in the session will represent state and federal agencies, NGOs and landscape-scale partnerships from across the country.

Learn more about the 78^th North American Wildlife and Natural Resources Conference.