National Wilderness Workshop 2017
A Joint Venture of the National Wilderness Stewardship Alliance and the Society of Wilderness Stewardship
October 2nd – 5th
Lake Point Conference Center/Arkansas Tech University
Russellville, Arkansas
Tentative Draft Agenda
Day / Hour / Events / SpeakersMonday
October 2nd / 2:00 – 4:00 / Facility Check-in – Hickory Lodge and LaQuinta Inn
Provide Shuttle from Lake Point to La Quinta Inn @ 5:00 and 6:00 / 2 Students at Hickory Lodge
2 Students at La Quinta
2 Student Drivers for Shuttles (2 Vans)
2:00 – 6:00 / Registration – La Quinta Inn / 2 Students at La Quinta
2 Planning Committee Members
6:00 – 6:30 / Opening Remarks
LaQuinta Inn Meeting Space / Conference Co-Leads
Local Official
6:30 – 8:30 / Opening Reception/Social
La Quinta Inn Meeting Space / Cash Bar - Snacks
Icebreaker Activity
Carpool Sign-ups
Tuesday / 7:00 – 8:30 / Breakfast on own – Registration – Shuttle Service from Hotels – 4 Vans w/Drivers – Stage at La Quinta
8:30 – 9:00 / Introductions and Opening Remarks / Randy Welsh – Heather McSlarrow
Local Hosts/Official
Agency Representatives – Sue Spear
9:00 – 10:00 / General Plenary 1 – Arkansas/Ozark Wilderness – Lessons from History for uncertain times with public lands
- overview of Missouri/Ozark wilderness areas – Richard Spener
- Lessons from Illinois wilderness designations for these uncertain times – Dr. Glen Poshard
- Johnny Sain – Arkansas Wildlife Federation / Arkansas/Ozark Wilderness Expert
Public Lands Issues/History/Policy Expert
Lauren – Buffalo River NPS
10:00 – 10:30 / Break
10:30 – 12:00 / General Plenary 2 – Wilderness Happenings
- Wilderness Character Monitoring Technical Guide
- Wilderness Program Updates by Agency
- USFS Trail Strategy
- NFS Trail Stewardship Act / Elizabeth Mejicano, FS
Panel of Agency Leads – Wilderness Steering Committee (Sandy)
Jaime Schmidt – FS Trail Program Lead
12:00 – 1:30 / Lunch Buffet
- How Washington views Wilderness / Anders Reynolds – Pew Trust
Wilderness Policy Expert
1:30 – 3:00 / Concurrent Sessions 1
Track 1
Wilderness Science / Track 2
Wilderness Management Issues / Track 3
Volunteer Stewardship
Sandy Compton
Mountain Goat Education Ambassador Program – Friends of Scotchman Peaks
Cave and Karst Management in Wilderness
- Bats
- Caves
- Karst
- Water / Lauren Ray, National Park Service
Buffalo River / Ozark Wilderness Issues Panel
- Prescribed Fire
- Trail-less Areas
- Feral Hogs / Sandy Skrien, Bill Hodge, Heather MacSlarrow, Pete Duncan
Core Competencies for Traditional Tool Skills
- Saw Policy Implementation
- Core Competency Effort
- Training Models
3:00 – 3:30 / Break
3:30 – 5:00 / Concurrent Sessions 2
Track 1
Wilderness Employment / Track 2
Wilderness Management Issues / Track 3
Volunteer Stewardship
David Torok – R8 Forest Service
How to Find a Job with a Federal Agency
Recruitment and Job Opportunities / Heather McSlarrow – Lead
Wilderness Character Monitoring
- Completing Wilderness Character Baseline Assessments
- Tracking changes over time
- Approaches to ongoing Wilderness Character monitoring
- Agency databases??
- Update on training modules and guidance for WCM
- Latest Updates
Fellows Program / Chuck Bell, AIM & Dave Cantrell – Poudre Wilderness Volunteers
Stewardship Panel
Managing Stewardship Groups
- Exploring different organization models
- Case studies of different groups
- Board Management issues
5:00 – 5:30 / Free Time – Start Happy Hour – Poster Event
5:30 – 6:00 / Happy Hour
6:00 – 8:00 / Dinner Buffet – Socializing / Pictures of Arkansas Wilderness
8:00 – 9:00 / Optional Evening Entertainment – Music – Short Films
8:00 – 9:30 / Shuttle Service to Hotels and Lake Point
Wednesday / 7:00 – 8:00 / Breakfast on own
8:00 – 8:30 / Shuttle Service from Hotels – 4 Vans w/Drivers – Field Trips Leave from Hotels or Gather at Lake Point?
Secure Additional Buses or Vans for Field Trip
8:30 – 10:00 / Concurrent Session 3 - All Day Field Trips
Track 2
Wilderness Management / Wilderness Field Trip #1 / Wilderness Field Trip #2 / Wilderness
Field Trip #3 / Wilderness Field Trip #4
Katie Currier, Kelly Pearson
Trails Field Day
Practice real world trail techniques
Petite Jack State Park or National Forest trails / To be determined based on interest, see overview for list of available field trips / To be determined based on interest, see overview for list of available field trips / To be determined based on interest, see overview for list of available field trips / To be determined based on interest, see overview for list of available field trips
12:00 – 1:00 / Lunch (sack lunch option for all) - Shuttle Service for Half Day Field Trip
1:00 – 5:00 / Trail Field Day cont’d / Field Trip cont’d / Field Trip cont’d / Field Trip cont’d / Field Trip cont’d
5:00 – 5:30 / Free Time / Return from Field Trips
5:00 – 5:30 / Shuttle Service from Lake Point to Town
5:30 – 7:00 / Dinner – on own in town
7:00 – 9:00 / Free Evening
7:00 – 9:30 / Shuttle Service from Town to Hotels and Lake Point / 4 Vans w/ Drivers
Thursday / 7:00 – 8:30 / Breakfast (on own) – Shuttles from Hotels to Lake Point – 4 Vans w/Drivers
8:30 – 10:00 / Concurrent Sessions 7
Track 1
Wilderness Science / Track 2
Wilderness Management Issues / Track 3
Volunteer Stewardship
tbd / Eric Sandeo
WSP Implementation
-Model of WSP
-Progress over time
WSP Internal and External Grant Programs / Anne Baker
Best Practices on Communications
Using Social Media to Aid Fundraising
- Using Social Media
- Newsletters
- Emails
10:00 – 10:30 / Break
10:30 – 12:00 / Concurrent Sessions 8
Track 1
Wilderness Science / Track 2
Wilderness Management Issues / Track 3
Volunteer Stewardship
Jeff Marion – Virginia Tech University
Jeremy Wimpey – Applied Trail Research – Penn State University
- Recreation Impact Research and Visitor Use Management (VUM)
- Sustainable Trail and Camping Management
- Update on AT and PCT Research Findings and Implications
- Wilderness Permit Data and Visitor Use Management / Eric Sandeno
WSP Roundtable – elements completed by partners or agency staff.
- 15 minutes for element overview, discussion, and examples of deliverables and then rotate to next table.
Elements discussed:
- Air Quality Values
- Invasive Species
- Motorized Equipment/Mechanical Transport Use Authorizations,
- Natural Role of Fire
- Opportunities for Solitude
- Primitive and Unconfined Recreation
- Recreation Sites
- Trails.
Financial Mgt for Non-Profits
Building a Business Plan
- Components
- Uses
Micheal Hutchison
Fundraising Strategies
Working with Foundations
Randy Welsh
NWSA Grant Opportunities
Grant Writing Workshop
12:00 – 1:30 / Lunch with Speaker – Major Wilderness Theme - inspirational
1:30 – 3:00 / Concurrent Sessions 9
Track 1
Wilderness Science / Track 2
Wilderness Management Issues / Track 3
Volunteer Stewardship
Jeff Englin – Tom Holmes, Southern Research Station, Forest Service
- Values and Benefits of Wilderness
- Wilderness Permits / WSP Roundtable – elements completed by agency staff.
- 15 minutes for element overview, discussion, and examples of deliverables and then rotate to next table.
Elements discussed:
- Agency Management Actions
- Education
- Wilderness Character Baseline
- Workforce Capacity
Volunteer Stewardship Success Stories
- Shawnee NF and Greencorps Chicago
- Missouri Back Country Horsemen, Sherry Copeland
- tbd
3:00 – 3:30 / Break
3:30 – 5:00 / General Plenary 3 – Bringing it All Together
- The Challenge of Future Diversity in Natural Resources (Speaker tbd)
- Work to Be Done
- Future Events – WSR50, Trail50, NWW2018
- Final Inspirations
5:00 – 5:30 / Load Shuttle Buses for Lake Dardanelle State Park – Shuttle – 4 Vans w Drivers – Social Cash Bar
6:00 – 6:30 / Social Hour - Silent Auction (if desired)
6:30 – 9:00 / Dinner with Speaker - Catered - Southern Style BBQ
- Motivational or Inspirational
- Future Focused – Call to Action
8:30 – 9:30 / Shuttles Return to Hotels – 4 Vans w/ Drivers
Friday / 7:00 – 8:30 / Breakfast - Check Out – Shuttles to Airport – Leave @ 8 am
8:30 – 3:30 / Optional Field Service Day / Local Service Group – Tie Into
AIM Recruitment
3:30 – 4:00 / Return and Adjourn