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National Wetlands Symposium – Kansas City, Oct. 19-20
Martin Kessler(913) 551-7003
kessler.martin@epa.gov
NEWS ADVISORY
October 15, 2004
National Wetlands Symposium – Kansas City, Oct. 19-20
Wetlands and Migratory Birds: Protecting and Restoring Wetlands of International
Significance
The major goal of this symposium is to build wetland/bird partnerships and provide training and technical assistance to attendees to better protect and restore wetlands of international significance. These wetlands include some of the nation’s most vulnerable wetlands including prairie potholes, playas, bogs, and coastal salt marshes.
The symposium will primarily focus on the protection and restoration of wetlands of international significance in the U.S. However, a portion of the program will be devoted to Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean.
U.S. EPA, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and Ducks Unlimited, Inc., are sponsoring this symposium, which is hosted by the Association of State Wetland Managers and the International Institute for Wetland Science and Public Policy.
What: National Wetlands Symposium
When: October 19-20, 2004
Where: Hilton Kansas City Airport, 8801 NW 112th St.
Speakers at Tuesday’s Plenary Session will include: Margarita Astralaga, Ramsar Convention Secretariat, Switzerland; John Meagher, director, Wetlands Division, Office of Wetlands, Oceans and Watersheds, EPA; James Gulliford, EPA Region 7 administrator; Steve Williams, director, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; Jeanne Christie, director, Association of State Wetland Managers; and David Pashley, American Bird Conservancy.
Other international speakers will be featured, and attendees are expected from as far away as Costa Rica and Tasmania.
The Ramsar List of Wetlands of International Importance includes 18 wetlands in the U.S. Two of those are in Kansas, the Cheyenne Bottoms Wildlife Area and the Quivira National Wildlife Refuge. (For more information on the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, visit www.ramsar.org.)
A field seminar (Wetlands and Bird Habitat in Living Landscapes) on Oct. 21-22 will follow the Kansas City symposium. Starting in Great Bend, Kan., participants will visit the Tall Grass Prairie National Preserve, Konza Prairie, Flint Hills, Quivira National Wildlife Refuge wetlands, and Cheyenne Bottoms wetlands.
Symposium presentations will include:
Regional Wetland Conservation Planning in the Kansas City Region
Tom Jacobs, Mid-America Regional Council
Steve Apfelbaum, Applied Ecological ServicesHistory and Management of Cheyenne Bottoms Wildlife Area
Karl Grover, Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks, Cheyenne Bottoms Wildlife Area
Robert Penner, The Nature ConservancyKansas Alliance for Wetland and Streams – Developing Successful Wetland, Stream and Riparian Area Partnerships Through Alliance Building
Tim Christian, Kansas Alliance for Wetlands and StreamsProtecting Wetlands of International Significance: Recommendations for Strengthening State Partnerships
Ted LaGrange, Nebraska Game and Parks CommissionWetland Monitoring, a Case for Wetland and Groundwater Protection and a Broad Appeal for Partners
Kathleen Mulder, EPA Region 7Global Climate Change Threats to Wetlands
Henry Murkin, Ducks Unlimited Canada
For more information, including an agenda, please visit:
www.aswm.org/calendar/wetlands2004/mainpage.htm
