Great Plains/Rocky Mountains CESU Joint Managers Meeting

WILDLIFE DISEASE

Presentations:
Frank Galey, Dean of Agriculture and former head of the Dept of Veterinary Sciences, University of Wyoming. Presentation “Wildlife Diseases in Wyoming”

Margaret Wild, Wildlife Veterinarian, National Park Service, Biological Resource Management Division. Presentation “Wildlife Disease: NPS Managers’ Needs”

Jerry Vaske, Professor, Natural Resource Recreation and Tourism, Colorado State University. Presentation "Hunters’ Knowledge, Information Sources, and Beliefs about Chronic Wasting Disease"

Highlights:
Needs:
• Better tools (diagnostics)
• Help to determine the best primary action (no action, monitoring, prevention, containment, eradication)
• Better education

Hot topics:
• Zoonotic diseases
• Diseases shared between wildlife& domestic animals
• New disease agents
• Diseases that impact Threatened & Endangered species
• Novel management options/technology
• Non-disease issues: fertility control, animal welfare

Project Idea: The outcome of this breakout session was a consensus to develop an education project on wildlife disease. The idea is to have course or a series of courses that is/are readily available and convenient for agency mangers; it could be an on-line course or short course. The ultimate endpoint might be an actual degree program. A university/agency steering committee will develop a curriculum.

TOURISM

Presentations & Highlights

John Keck, NPS-IMR Tourism Coordinator
Notes:
Need to protect the resource while ensuring its longevity for future generations. The trick is to encourage visitation while managing to lessen the effects of visitation on the resource.
• How to deal with changing values in society today? There is a conflict of values; children are not experiencing the outdoors as they travel. Instead they are watching DVDs, playing games, listening to music, etc.
• Address concerns/values of different cultures. This is difficult since a variety of cultures are not represented within the workforce of managing agencies.
• Don’t have research/data on how to establish management policies & manage people at the same time
• Can use CESUs to help answer these questions

Mark Williams, University of Colorado-Boulder. Presentation “Hot times, climate change,and saving our snow,Aspen Colorado”

Patrick Long, University of Colorado-Boulder. Presentation “The Economic and Social Impacts of Second Homes in Resort and Gateway Communities”

Allen Bright, Natural Resource Recreation and Tourism Department, Colorado State University & Ken Smith, Resort & Restaurant Management Program, Colorado State University. Presentation "Tourism Program at Colorado State University"

Project Ideas:
There have been changes in the tourism industry such as: what are the desired activities, desired expectations of what visitors want to do, tourism patterns. There is not a strong handle on how these changes will affect land managers and how they manage their resources. Need to do research on these changes to determine their effects.

Specific project ideas:
1) There is a need for a literature search to synthesize the knowledge
2) Work collaboratively between agencies/partners to ID weaknesses and determine how to fill in the gaps
3) Dynamic web site for land units: where do visitors come from, etc

Tourism Notes from Christine Whitacre, NPS RM-CESU

DROUGHT/DROUGHT MITIGATION

Presentations
Mike Hayes, National Drought Mitigation Center, School of Natural Resources, University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Presentation: "Drought/Drought Mitigation: Overview"

John Gross, Ecologist, Inventory & Monitoring Program, National Park Service.
Presentation: “Drought/Drought Mitigation and the NPS”

Mike Hayes, National Drought Mitigation Center, School of Natural Resources, University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Presentation: “Developing Decision Support Tools to Better Cope with Drought”

Highlights
Drought is a common occurrence, and there is a need to change our current approach to predict and respond to drought. Successful drought mitigation plans need:
• Monitoring, early warning and prediction
• Risk and impact assessment
• Mitigation & response

Agencies don’t necessarily really know a lot about drought & drought planning. How might the NPS use drought information? Fire program & herbivore management.

Points of Interest (agency perspective)
• Reporting relative to the historical record – what is “index” period?
• Forage/range
• Increase interpretation with fire program
• Interpretation , park-specific product
• Using I&M Network as a conduit to parks
• -routine reports & briefings
• Fish, water, campgrounds

Opportunities (items National Drought Mitigation Center could help with)
Regional assessments: monitoring data, impact of drought, vegetation conditions
Tools: mitigation
Mitigation strategies
Risk analysis
Drought planning

Project Ideas

1) Drought Planning: crosses agencies boundaries. Select a location with multiple agency lands nearby and develop a drought plan that would assist each agency. Possible location: Black Hills, South Dakota.
• Consequences of drought
• Determine what to monitor
• Triggers of drought
• Actions to take

2) Economic Impacts of Drought: USBR is very interested in determining the economic impacts of drought on recreation, fishing, boating, concessions, etc. BLM could also use information on the economic impacts on their lands (grazing, restaurants, railways, etc.)

3) Vegetation Evaluation: individual agencies can be involved in providing information to the National Drought Mitigation Center to expand their Drought Impact Reporter index (droughtreporter.unl.edu). This is a database collection that summarizes the impacts to land, economy, etc that is a result of a drought. Examples of potential impacts for parks: visitation numbers down, park closed due to fire, no burnings, campgrounds closed.

For more information, or to participate in the further development of any of the project ideas please contact:

Lisa Gerloff, Rocky Mountains CESU
406-243-5346
lgerloff@forestry.umt.edu

Christine Lockert, Great Plains CESU
402-472-5853
clockert2@unl.edu

Drought:
Gary Willson, Great Plains CESU
NPS Research Coordinator
402-472-5047
gary_willson@nps.gov

Mike Hayes, National Drought Mitigation Center
University of Nebraska
402-472-4271
mhayes2@unl.edu

Wildlife Disease:
Rollin Abernethy, University of Wyoming
307-766-4286
rollin@uwyo.edu

Tourism:
Christine Whitacre, Rocky Mountains CESU
NPS Cultural Research Specialist
406-243-2260
christine_whitacre@nps.gov

Great Plains/Rocky Mountains CESU Joint Managers Meeting Colorado State University, Fort Collins April 18th, 2006 Meeting Notes
The joint managers meeting of Great Plains and Rocky Mountain CESU managers and representatives focused on the idea of bringing together participants to discuss current issues facing land managers, and to generate ideas for potential future projects within these issues. The three themes identified were Wildlife Disease; Tourism; and Drought/Drought Mitigation. The morning session consisted of overview presentations on the themes followed by breakout sessions in the afternoon. Below is a summary of the presentations, highlights, and project ideas generated for each topic.
Agenda	Participant List
WILDLIFE DISEASE Presentations: Frank Galey, Dean of Agriculture and former head of the Dept of Veterinary Sciences, University of Wyoming. Presentation “Wildlife Diseases in Wyoming” Margaret Wild, Wildlife Veterinarian, National Park Service, Biological Resource Management Division. Presentation “Wildlife Disease: NPS Managers’ Needs” Jerry Vaske, Professor, Natural Resource Recreation and Tourism, Colorado State University. Presentation "Hunters’ Knowledge, Information Sources, and Beliefs about Chronic Wasting Disease" Highlights: Needs: • Better tools (diagnostics) • Help to determine the best primary action (no action, monitoring, prevention, containment, eradication) • Better education Hot topics: • Zoonotic diseases • Diseases shared between wildlife& domestic animals • New disease agents • Diseases that impact Threatened & Endangered species • Novel management options/technology • Non-disease issues: fertility control, animal welfare Project Idea: The outcome of this breakout session was a consensus to develop an education project on wildlife disease. The idea is to have course or a series of courses that is/are readily available and convenient for agency mangers; it could be an on-line course or short course. The ultimate endpoint might be an actual degree program. A university/agency steering committee will develop a curriculum. TOURISM Presentations & Highlights John Keck, NPS-IMR Tourism Coordinator Notes: Need to protect the resource while ensuring its longevity for future generations. The trick is to encourage visitation while managing to lessen the effects of visitation on the resource. • How to deal with changing values in society today? There is a conflict of values; children are not experiencing the outdoors as they travel. Instead they are watching DVDs, playing games, listening to music, etc. • Address concerns/values of different cultures. This is difficult since a variety of cultures are not represented within the workforce of managing agencies. • Don’t have research/data on how to establish management policies & manage people at the same time • Can use CESUs to help answer these questions Mark Williams, University of Colorado-Boulder. Presentation “Hot times, climate change,and saving our snow,Aspen Colorado” Patrick Long, University of Colorado-Boulder. Presentation “The Economic and Social Impacts of Second Homes in Resort and Gateway Communities” Allen Bright, Natural Resource Recreation and Tourism Department, Colorado State University & Ken Smith, Resort & Restaurant Management Program, Colorado State University. Presentation "Tourism Program at Colorado State University" Project Ideas: There have been changes in the tourism industry such as: what are the desired activities, desired expectations of what visitors want to do, tourism patterns. There is not a strong handle on how these changes will affect land managers and how they manage their resources. Need to do research on these changes to determine their effects. Specific project ideas: 1) There is a need for a literature search to synthesize the knowledge 2) Work collaboratively between agencies/partners to ID weaknesses and determine how to fill in the gaps 3) Dynamic web site for land units: where do visitors come from, etc Tourism Notes from Christine Whitacre, NPS RM-CESU DROUGHT/DROUGHT MITIGATION Presentations Mike Hayes, National Drought Mitigation Center, School of Natural Resources, University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Presentation: "Drought/Drought Mitigation: Overview" John Gross, Ecologist, Inventory & Monitoring Program, National Park Service. Presentation: “Drought/Drought Mitigation and the NPS” Mike Hayes, National Drought Mitigation Center, School of Natural Resources, University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Presentation: “Developing Decision Support Tools to Better Cope with Drought” Highlights Drought is a common occurrence, and there is a need to change our current approach to predict and respond to drought. Successful drought mitigation plans need: • Monitoring, early warning and prediction • Risk and impact assessment • Mitigation & response Agencies don’t necessarily really know a lot about drought & drought planning. How might the NPS use drought information? Fire program & herbivore management. Points of Interest (agency perspective) • Reporting relative to the historical record – what is “index” period? • Forage/range • Increase interpretation with fire program • Interpretation , park-specific product • Using I&M Network as a conduit to parks • -routine reports & briefings • Fish, water, campgrounds Opportunities (items National Drought Mitigation Center could help with) Regional assessments: monitoring data, impact of drought, vegetation conditions Tools: mitigation Mitigation strategies Risk analysis Drought planning Project Ideas 1) Drought Planning: crosses agencies boundaries. Select a location with multiple agency lands nearby and develop a drought plan that would assist each agency. Possible location: Black Hills, South Dakota. • Consequences of drought • Determine what to monitor • Triggers of drought • Actions to take 2) Economic Impacts of Drought: USBR is very interested in determining the economic impacts of drought on recreation, fishing, boating, concessions, etc. BLM could also use information on the economic impacts on their lands (grazing, restaurants, railways, etc.) 3) Vegetation Evaluation: individual agencies can be involved in providing information to the National Drought Mitigation Center to expand their Drought Impact Reporter index (droughtreporter.unl.edu). This is a database collection that summarizes the impacts to land, economy, etc that is a result of a drought. Examples of potential impacts for parks: visitation numbers down, park closed due to fire, no burnings, campgrounds closed. For more information, or to participate in the further development of any of the project ideas please contact: Lisa Gerloff, Rocky Mountains CESU 406-243-5346 lgerloff@forestry.umt.edu Christine Lockert, Great Plains CESU 402-472-5853 clockert2@unl.edu Drought: Gary Willson, Great Plains CESU NPS Research Coordinator 402-472-5047 gary_willson@nps.gov Mike Hayes, National Drought Mitigation Center University of Nebraska 402-472-4271 mhayes2@unl.edu Wildlife Disease: Rollin Abernethy, University of Wyoming 307-766-4286 rollin@uwyo.edu Tourism: Christine Whitacre, Rocky Mountains CESU NPS Cultural Research Specialist 406-243-2260 christine_whitacre@nps.gov