The Program Committee for the 2016 North American Wildlife and Natural Resources Conference has announced the event's line-up of four concurrent Special Sessions scheduled to follow the Plenary Session on Wednesday, March 16.

In coordination with the Program Committee, Special Session co-chairs have drafted brief descriptions of the session topics as can be seen below. Persons interested in presenting at one of these Special Sessions are welcome to contact the appropriate co-chairs, and should do so as soon as possible.

The 81st North American will be held March 13-18, 2016, at Wyndham Grand in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

2020 Vision: Federal Forest Management into the Next Decade
Co-chairs:
Dan Dessecker, Ruffed Grouse Society
Tom Franklin, National Bobwhite Conservation Initiative

After more than a century of aggressive fire suppression coupled with decades of reduced tree harvest, livestock overgrazing and drought, millions of acres of forest lands have been left in overstocked, unhealthy conditions. As a result, many of our public forests present poor wildlife habitat, increase risk of severe, uncharacteristic wildfires, and threaten watersheds that provide drinking water to millions of Americans. Unfortunately, the current level of active management on federal forest lands is insufficient to address the scope and scale of forest health issues and fuel reduction.

There is clear scientific evidence indicating that the ecological integrity of our nation's public forest lands and the social fabric of nearby rural communities are imperiled. Managers must move beyond the traditional rhetoric ("mandated timber harvest targets," "benign neglect," "stripping environmental regulation", "analysis paralysis," "unnecessary litigation," etc.) and address this reality. Balanced, common sense legislation and administrative processes that allow for science-based active management of our public forestlands to conserve wildlife, enhance forest health, and protect water quality while meeting society's needs and interests is a lofty but achievable goal.

In this session, speakers will address,

• A lack of current and improbable future social consensus concerning desired outcomes for public forestlands;
• The need for significant financial investment in forest ecosystem restoration;
• A lack of integrated planning and decision tools;
• A disconnect between the existing planning process, congressional appropriations, and complex management and restoration problems.

In addition, this session will explore the past and current situation regarding forest management on public lands and address needed administrative and legislative reforms to policy to improve active forest management and better address multiple objectives on public forest lands.

Effects of Climate Change on Inland Fish and Fisheries: Looking Back and Moving Forward
Co-chairs:
Abigail Lynch, USGS National Climate Change and Wildlife Science Center
Craig Paukert, USGS Missouri Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit

Climate change has, and will continue to impact inland fishes throughout the world. Although studies of projected effects of climate change on fisheries have been completed, there has been limited synthesis of the actual, documented effects of climate change on fish species, the response by humans to those changes, and how management agencies might cope with these changes.

This session will present the results of a workshop of 30 experts that examined the effects of global climate change on inland fish and fisheries in the United States and Canada. The aim of the session is to summarize the current state of knowledge, identify data gaps, and suggest future research directions around four major themes dealing with climate-related impacts on fish and fisheries: individual-level responses (e.g., physiology; growth), population and community level changes (e.g., range shifts; biotic interactions), human dimensions (e.g., recreational fishing), and management and adaptation to climate change (e.g., what agencies can do to adapt). Speakers will present findings and management recommendations that can assist biologists, researchers, and administrators to make better informed decisions that will help conserve and enhance fisheries, and adapt their management to a changing climate.   

Science-Based Management Strategies for Fish and Wildlife Diseases
Co-chairs:
M. Camille Harris, Office of Ecosystems, US Geological Survey
John R. Fischer, Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study

Threats to fish and wildlife from endemic and emerging diseases are a growing concern for natural resource managers. Despite decades of active management, new and existing pathogens in both domestic animals and wildlife species have placed an ever increasing burden on state and federal wildlife management agencies. Human activities, such as ecosystems alterations and the movement of pathogens, hosts or vectors, often enhance the emergence and resurgence of diseases at the interface of wildlife, domestic animals, and humans. The intentional or accidental introduction of these diseases can significantly affect fish, wildlife, domestic animals or human populations and necessitate a coordinated, multi-agency response.

This session will provide an update on the science and intervention strategies for Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza, Chronic Wasting Disease, Hemorrhagic Disease, infectious fish diseases and will conclude with a discussion on the National Fish and Wildlife Health Initiative. Speakers will address discuss current gaps in our knowledge, future management tactics, directions for needed research, and strategies for effective inter-agency communication and governance structure to ensure rapid, effective, and coordinated responses to emerging disease threats.

Wildlife Governance Principles ? Guidance for More Effective Wildlife Management
Co-chairs:
Dan Decker, Cornell University
Ann Forstchen, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission
Chris Smith, Wildlife Management Institute

Wildlife conservation is losing ground. Despite saving several endangered species from extinction and restoring several high profile species to abundance following decimation in the late 1800s, over 685 animal species are now listed as "threatened" or "endangered" under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. Hundreds of other species are candidates for listing. Habitat is being converted to developed land faster than agencies and NGOs can conserve it and the American public is increasingly disconnected from nature. The wildlife conservation institution (i.e., the entirety of customs, practices, organizations and agencies, policies and laws with respect to wildlife) must shift from operating under a framework focused primarily on harvested or imperiled species and a limited set of interests to a new management system that addresses all species and embraces and engages the interests and participation of a broader public. While some steps have been taken to promote this shift (e.g. State Wildlife Grants; Landscape Conservation Cooperatives), progress has been hindered by the lack of an overarching set of guiding principles adequate to promote conservation of all species for all citizens.

This session will present a set of ten wildlife governance principles generated from a combination of public trust thinking and good governance norms that can guide evolution of a more effective paradigm for wildlife conservation. These principles will offer a framework for the wildlife conservation institution with respect to behaviors, processes and decision-making that will result in a more focused, cohesive and informed institution that can elevate the importance of wildlife conservation to all public trust beneficiaries. Speakers will provide background and describe the generation of the wildlife governance principles. They will explain how applications of these principles help government agencies fulfill their public trust obligations. Speakers will also provide practical considerations for successful application of the wildlife governance principles by a state agency and its partners, as well as share ideas about how limitations to application of the principles might be overcome.