Regional Updates

Midwest PARC Annual Meeting 2007:
6-8 September, Indiana Dunes Environmental Learning Center, Chesterton, IN

Registration: It is not too late to register and we have prices for those who can only attend 1 or 2 days. All meals are included. To register you can either mail the registration form with a check or you can register at the door.
Download Draft Agenda

Presenters: Please bring your presentation on a memory stick/flash drive/thumb drive (why can't they have one name for this thing?). We will have both Mac & Windows capability.

Posters: Anyone planning to present a poster needs to confirm this by today (Aug 30) with Bruce Kingsbury. He just needs a title, author(s) and affiliation(s).

Silent Auction: Please remember to bring items (with or without herp themes) for the MW PARC silent auction. Examples include books, posters, photos, art, frog call cds, t-shirts, items donated from your organization (free publicity), herp toys, models & knick-knacks, etc. Proceeds go back to MW PARC towards next year's meeting.

Travel: Directions to the Learning Center are provided here . There is also a train station just a few miles from the meeting at Dunes Park on the South Shore Line that runs from Chicago to South Bend. If you plan to take the train, then e-mail Bob Brodman so that we can arrange to pick you up.

Advisory Board: An ad-hoc steering committee has been formed since our last meeting. Bruce Kingsbury, Steve Mullin, Rich King, Kristen Stanford, Mike Lanno, Mike Lodato, and Gary Casper are our current members. We want to add representation especially from State & Federal Agencies, NGOs and folk from west of the Mississippi. Please consider joining our team.

From the Midwest Archives:

To learn the latest about the Southeast Regional Working Group, visit their website at http://www.separc.org .

On 31 May - 2 June 2007, the Southwest PARC Regional Working Group successfully held its first annual meeting since the revitalization effort began in late 2005. Former Sr. Co-Chair Matt Goode was succeeded by former Jr. Co-chair Craig Ivanyi (civanyi@desertmuseum.org) and a new Jr. Co-chair was elected by the membership, Randy Gray (randygray1@msn.com). Please visit the SW PARC website for updates from the 2007 Southwest PARC annual meeting, and for information about the 2008 meeting as it becomes available.

To learn the latest about the Northeast Regional Working Group, visit their website at http://www.pwrc.usgs.gov/neparc/ .

The Northwest Regional Working Group of Partners in Amphibian and Reptile
Conservation was launched in Missoula, MT!

NW PARC Co-chairs:
Elke Wind, E. Wind Consulting, Nanaimo, BC.; ewind@telus.net
Dede Olson, US Forest Service, PNW Research Station, Corvallis, OR;
dedeolson@fs.fed.us

The first annual meeting of the Northwest Regional Working Group of PARC was held in Missoula, Montana, on 25-26 February 2008.

There were 48 participants representing 10 U.S. States and Canadian Provinces or Territories: Northern CA, OR, WA, BC, YK, AK, AB, ID, MT, WY. Presentations were made by State/Province representatives and invited speakers on key issues, programs, projects, priorities and partnerships. Four task teams were convened to address the most important topics selected by the entire group: 1) funding, 2) development of a NW PARC website and compilation of regional projects, 3) training needs, and 4) inventory. Each team developed approaches to address their topics over the next year. Co-Chairs, Steering Committee, and several other posts were selected. The 2009 meeting will be held in the spring in conjunction with the Society for Northwestern Vertebrate Biology in the lower Columbia region near Portland, OR. NW PARC also plans to have a presence at the Joint Meeting of Herpetologists and Ichthyologists in Portland, OR, 22-27 July 2009. After the NW PARC meeting, two additional events of note occurred. Kris Kendell (Alberta Conservation Association) organized an evening session to address Ranid Reintroductions in Alberta, British Columbia, and several northwest US States, and 27 persons attended either in person or via conference call. The joint annual meetings of the Society for Northwestern Vertebrate Biology and the Montana Chapter of The Wildlife Society began. Five reptile and 18 amphibian talks were presented on aspects of the biology and management of northwestern species.

Click here for detailed meeting notes, including highlights from the four new regional task teams’ breakout sessions.

If you would like to be involved in NW PARC (including helping to organize the 2009 meeting), please contact either Dede or Elke.