UPDATE 4/1/22: Missed this event? View the recording and download related materials here.
Join the Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) to learn about Building a Durable National Framework for Large Landscape Conservation at 10:30 am ET on Tuesday, March 29. This briefing focuses on policy and funding opportunities for conservation efforts that span county, state, tribal, and national borders. Decision-makers, practitioners, and anyone interested in supporting landscape-scale conservation are encouraged to attend.
There’s a growing awareness of the effectiveness of a collaborative and inclusive, large-landscape approach to managing natural and cultural resources. Working with diverse stakeholders to protect healthy networks of habitat, working lands, and open space increases climate resilience for both communities and ecosystems, while also contributing valuable ecosystem services, such as the water quality benefits riparian corridors provide. Additionally, reconnecting landscapes and seascapes also facilitates wildlife migration, which is critical for the survival of many species and reduces human-wildlife conflict, including devastating wildlife-vehicle collisions.
During this briefing, a panel of experts will explore the benefits of coordinating landscape-scale conservation efforts and showcase opportunities to advance an inclusive and durable framework for supporting collaborative partnerships across the nation. This is the final event in EESI’s “Agencies in Action” briefing series on federal programs that currently deliver a host of climate, environmental, economic, and social benefits nationwide.
One of the briefing panelists is the Center for Large Landscape Conservation’s own Anna Wearn, who will discuss federal policies and funding necessary to support large landscape conservation. Wearn co-authored a 2021 report published by the Center and the Alaska Conservation Foundation—and informed by 20 experts—that highlights the need to connect regional conservation partnerships through a nationwide network. The report, entitled “Build Back a Better National Landscape Conservation Framework,” provides a roadmap for developing and implementing a new national strategy for coordinating landscape conservation.
The additional panelists, listed below, will highlight the role and efforts of federal, state, and tribal agencies, as well as private funders, in advancing collaborative conservation across boundaries.
Briefing speakers include:
- Lynn Scarlett, Former Deputy Secretary of the Interior; Coordinating Committee member, Network for Landscape Conservation
- Dr. Deborah Rocque, Assistant Director for Science Applications, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
- Dr. Julie Thorstenson, Executive Director, Native American Fish and Wildlife Society
- Dr. Sacha Spector, Program Director for the Environment, Doris Duke Charitable Foundation
- Anna Wearn, Director of Government Affairs, Center for Large Landscape Conservation
A live webcast will be streamed at 10:30 AM EDT at www.eesi.org/livecast. The event is free, but please RSVP here.
Learn More
Read about about the history of the Department of the Interior’s Landscape Conservation Cooperative Network and the importance of reinvigorating a national commitment to advancing collaborative large landscape conservation:
The Hill – 21st century conservation: A vision of collaboration across landscapes (op-ed by Lynn Scarlett and Mamie Parker)
E&E News – Revival planned for conservation network dismantled by Trump (features an interview with the Center’s president, Gary Tabor)
EESI.org – Strength in Numbers: The Power of Collaborative Conservation in Alaska and Canada
Photo: A rainbow arcs over the Selawik River, Alaska. USFWS/Steve Hillebrand
