The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Federal Highway Administration hosted a Training Conference at the National Conservation Training Center at Shepherdstown, West Virginia, on August 29 and 30, 2006. The Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service and U.S. Forest Service were cooperating agencies for the conference. Over 200 people participated in the conference as presenters, moderators and attendees. The participants represented a full spectrum of interests and agencies ranging from federal land management, environmental and transportation agencies, to state fish and wildlife and transportation department, to local governments and the private sector created the opportunities for a wide range of discussion and new partnerships.
The conference described some of the various transportation programs and how these programs can benefit wildlife, public lands and their neighboring communities. The conference consisted of three plenary sessions and five breakout sessions, each offered twice.
At the first plenary session senior officials, including Assistant Secretary of the Interior, Lynn Scarlett, and the acting Chief of the National Wildlife Refuge System, Geoff Haskett, welcomed the participants and put transportation issues in a national context. The second plenary session featuring experts from federal and local agencies focused, on the importance of integrated transportation planning. The closing plenary session, featuring Senate Environment and Public Works staff, and Derrick Crandall from the American Recreation Coalition talked about the future of the transportation programs and challenges we face in the coming years.
View the full agendas of the plenary sessions, with the speakers and their affiliations.
These sessions were video taped, and edited versions of them will be available on this Web site early next year.
Breakout sessions on 13 different topics were presented relating to
planning, transportation programs, resource issues, and public use.
Each of the panel presentations at the breakout sessions was presented
by speakers providing national, state and local perspectives. Each breakout
session will had 20 to 30 minutes for questions and answers on the topic
of discussion. Each session was also video taped, and edited versions
will be available on this Web site.
A complete listing of the breakout sessions, descriptions, and speakers,
with links to the PowerPoint presentations can be accessed from this
link.
As more video and photographic material becomes available, it, or links to it, will be posted here.
For more information on the conference or to inquire about information you were not able to find on this site please call or e-mail Sean Furniss, the FWS National Transportation Coordinator, at (703) 358-2376, sean_furniss@fws.gov, or Nathan Caldwell, the FWS Trails, Scenic Byways, Transportation Enhancements, and Alternative Transportation Coordinator at (703) 385-2205, nathan_caldwell@fws.gov.
