Wildlife Management Institute (WMI) Western Field Representative Chris Smith, Dr. Dan Decker with Cornell University, Ann Forstchen with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWCC) and Dr. Pat Lederle with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) recently completed the first Wildlife Governance Principles (WGPs) pilot workshop in Florida. The workshop, supported by a multi-state conservation grant with matching contributions from WMI, Cornell, FWCC and the Michigan DNR, was one of two sessions designed to develop ways to assess a state agency's alignment with recently-developed WGPs and identify ways to enhance states' abilities to fulfill public trust responsibilities. The workshop identified 10 important practices FWCC could adapt to increase alignment with WGPs and a number of ways future workshops could be improved.

As detailed in a paper published in the Society of Conservation Biology's journal Conservation Letters, WGPs are derived from a combination of public trust thinking and elements of good governance. Public trust thinking is an ancient philosophy that applies concepts of trusteeship to the use and management of natural resources. It also serves as the basis of the legal Public Trust Doctrine ? the source of state agencies' authority and responsibility for conserving fish and wildlife for the benefit of current and future generations. Key concepts of public trust thinking include: natural resources are an endowment that must be stewarded to sustain benefits for current and future generations; certain natural resources are not suited to exclusive private ownership; all citizens deserve fair consideration in allocation of benefits from the trust; current decisions should avoid foreclosing future options; trust administrators (agency staff and their elected/ appointed commissioners or board) must be transparent and fulfill their duty; and citizens (beneficiaries of the trust) are entitled and obligated to hold trustees accountable.

Good governance is a more modern development and reflects the expectations of citizens in Western democracies regarding the roles and relationships of government to those governed. Among the most important elements of good governance are concepts such as transparency and accountability, equity and inclusiveness, efficiency and effectiveness, responsiveness, and participation.

Under a 2016 multi-state conservation grant, a team consisting of Smith, Decker, Forstchen, Lederle, Mike Schiavone of the New York Department of Environmental Conservation, and others have developed an assessment tool that can be used to measure a state agency's alignment with WGPs. The tool evaluates the degree to which certain practices that are consistent with the WGPs are employed by the agency.

Eleven FWCC senior staff members used the assessment tool for the first time at the end of 2015. From January 5-8, 2016 grant team members met with the FWCC staff to explore the results of the assessment and identify ways to improve alignment with the WGPs. In addition, workshop participants provided valuable feedback on both the assessment tool and the workshop format the team will adapt for a second pilot workshop in Michigan in May.

Later in 2016, the team will use results from the pilot workshops in Florida and Michigan to finalize the assessment tool and workshop framework. They will also develop a one-hour webinar for the Management Assistance Team (MAT) and a continuing education component for National Conservation Leadership Institute (NCLI) graduates based on the WGPs. If an additional multi-state conservation grant or other funding is secured for 2017, the team will hold a series of training sessions to prepare state agency personnel to use the assessment tool and conduct workshops within their agency. The ultimate goal of this effort, consistent with WMI's mission of enhancing the conservation and professional management of North America's wildlife resources, is to help state agencies better fulfill their public trust duties through excellence in governance.

The WGPs will also be the focus of a special session on March 16 during the upcoming North American Wildlife and Natural Resources Conference in Pittsburgh. Details of that session were included in last month's Outdoor News Bulletin. (cas)