2007 Senior Executives Meeting
June 6-7, 2007
Leopold Legacy Center
near Baraboo, WI
2007 Meeting Minutes and Attendees list (PDF) (9pp, 100K)
Wednesday, June 6, 2007
- 12:00 - 12:30pm - catered lunch at Leopold Center
- 12:30 - 12:50pm
- Welcome by Chair, Bharat Mathur, EPA and Co-chair Robyn Thorson, FWS
- Welcome by Buddy Huffaker, Director, Leopold Legacy Center
- 12:50 - 1:20pm
- Terrestrial Invasive Species Committee: Present progress made on implementation of TISC Action Plan, Carmen Chapin, NPS
- 1:20 - 1:35pm
- Corporate Wetland Restoration Partnership/Private Sector Wetland Activities: Present progress on identifying private sector entities to protect and restore wetlands; identify what projects are moving forward. John Perrecone, EPA
- 1:35 - 1:45pm
- National Conference on Ecosystem Restoration: Report on the April conference held in KC (PDF, 13pp, 3.7MB) How was MNRG received? What did we get out of it? MNRG will have a banner and a poster board at the conference-how did it raise our visibility? David Vigh, COE
- 1:45 - 2:30pm
- Cooperative Conservation: What should federal agency executives in the Midwest know about the trends, expectations and opportunities in cooperative conservation? Guest presenter: Lynn Scarlett (invited) Deputy Secretary of the Interior and federal leader in initiatives that expand citizen-based stewardship and public-private collaboration. Robyn Thorson, FWS
- 2:30 - 3:00pm
- Field trip preparation: short video prior to field trip/field trip logistics: Buddy Huffaker of The Leopold Legacy Center and representative from Sand County Foundation will provide us with background information for the field trip.
- 3:00pm - 5:00pm
- Field Trip to Aldo Leopold "Shack"
- Tour Sand County Foundation's Caledonia Floodplain and Levee project
- 6:15pm
- Reception - Cash Wine and Cheese reception at Del Bar restaurant organized by Sand County Foundation
- 7:00pm
- Dinner at Del Bar next to the Hilton Garden Inn
Thursday, June 7, 2007
- 8:30 - 9:00am: Continental Breakfast
- 9:00 - 9:45am
- No Child Left Inside: Guest presenter Peggy Stewart from the Chicago Park District will discuss the Chicago Wilderness's "No Child Left Inside" campaign and how this coalition is aggressively addressing "nature deficit disorder." Discussion of how the federal agencies are contributing or can increase their role in this work in greater Chicago and other parts of the Midwest. Robyn Thorson, FWS
- Green Infrastructure: Peg Kohring of the Conservation Fund will discuss how this new smart growth tool is being used to address the challenges of growing communities. It is a strategically planned and managed network of natural lands, working landscapes and other open spaces that conserve ecosystem values and functions and provide associated benefits to human populations. Green Infrastructure (PDF, 33pp, 5.6MB)
- 10:15 - 10:30am
- Recognize FEMA and FAA: Our two newest members, FEMA and FAA, will discuss their environmental programs with the group and their role in MNRG. We will also provide an addendum to the Charter for their signature.
- 10:30 - 11:15am
- Question: Discussion/evaluation of MNRG (nearly a decade in operation): How is MNRG doing as an organization? Are we operating as we said we should be? If so, what has been successful? What can we improve upon? Should we do a ten year review and 10 year projection to see where we have been and where we want to go? Discussion leaders: Bharat Mathur, EPA and Robyn Thorson, FWS.
- 11:15 - 11:30am
- New Business: Transfer leadership to US FWS, Confirm November 6-8 Annual Meeting dates, identify agenda topics, and adjourn. Bharat Mathur, EPA and Robyn Thorson, FWS
- New Business: Transfer leadership to US FWS, Confirm November 6-8 Annual Meeting dates, identify agenda topics, and adjourn. Bharat Mathur, EPA and Robyn Thorson, FWS
Optional site visits (before or after the meeting):
- Necedah National Wildlife Refuge (55 miles from the Leopold Center) where you can watch young whooping cranes (an endangered species) being trained (imprinted) to follow an ultra light aircraft in preparation for their October migration to Florida.
- Horicon National Wildlife Refuge (86 miles from the Leopold Center) where you can visit wetlands of international importance.
- The International Crane Foundation (5 miles from Baraboo, WI) is a facility dedicated to the study and preservation of cranes. When you tour the exhibits you will see the world's most complete collection of cranes, including whooping cranes in a Wisconsin wetland setting.