Human-made reservoirs typically are managed for a multitude of uses, many of which conflict with fish production. However, they are important to society, especially where natural lakes are few and far between. Next March, during the 74th North American Wildlife and Natural Resources Conference, reservoirs will be the focus of a half-day workshop for registered attendees.

Reservoirs not only support a majority of the nation's freshwater fishing, they also provide water supplies and flood control, and they help confine nonnative fish that block the movement of native species. They affect household-location decisions and, in other ways, contribute to quality of life.

Reservoir Fisheries: Angling for New Opportunities ? to be held 1:30 to 5:30 p.m., March 16, 2009, at the Crystal Gateway Marriott in Arlington, Virginia ? will address the significant, often vital roles served by reservoirs and will review reservoir benefits, problems and possibilities, both locally and nationally. Reservoir health issues will be examined, from infrastructure to climate change. New sources of management funding and new collaborative partnerships will be discussed. The workshop will specifically call for a national reservoir fisheries partnership through the National Fish Habitat Initiative and seek to renew the Environmental Protection Agency's Section 314, Clean Lakes Program.

The workshop's preliminary agenda is:

• introductory comments by workshop chair Don Gabelhouse, Fisheries Division Administrator, Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, and President of the Fisheries Administration Section of the American Fisheries Society
• the roles and social values of reservoirs
• the economic value of recreational fishing in reservoirs
• balancing the native fish versus nonnative recreational fish species conundrum
• status of the health and well-being of U.S. reservoirs
• how global climate change may impact reservoirs
• establishing a national reservoir fisheries partnership
• reservoir protection and improvement, Section 314 of the Clean Water Act: A model that works
• expected benefits of investing more in reservoir fishery management: State perspectives
• closing comments, next steps and discussion.

The workshop cochair will be Chris Horton, Conservation Director, ESPN/BASS.

Additional information about this workshop and other events and meetings at the 74th North American Wildlife and Natural Resources Conference will be posted here in the months ahead.