Monday, November 28, 2016

Threatened and Endangered Species Team Workshop on ESA Section 7(a)(1) Conservation Planning in the South Pacific Division

Threatened and Endangered Species Team Workshop on ESA Section 7(a)(1) Conservation Planning in the South Pacific Division

Dates:  6-7 December 2016

Location:  Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, CA

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Threatened and Endangered Species Team (TEST) initiative recently began to accelerate the development of solutions to priority threatened, endangered, and at-risk species currently, or having high likelihood in the future to, affect mission sustainability (see below for more details on the TEST).

The USACE Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC), Environmental Laboratory will host a workshop in southern California 6-7 December to seek opportunities for implementing Endangered Species Act (ESA) Section 7(a)(1) conservation planning for federally listed species. This is an opportunity for USACE, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Military Services, and other federal agencies to come together to explore partnerships that could lead to win-win scenarios for agency missions, streamlining ESA Section 7(a)(2) consultation processes, and improving outcomes for listed species. The workshop format will include focused presentations by national and regional experts on ESA and listed species conservation, followed by facilitated discussions that focus on opportunities.  American Bird Conservancy has been working closely with ERDC for the past decade on listed species recovery and will assist with logistics, presentations, and facilitated discussions.

We are looking for your input on specific opportunities to use ESA Section 7(a)(1) planning as a means to reduce costs, improve mission flexibility, improve ESA Section 7(a)(2) outcomes, and of course, work toward species recovery.  If you would like to attend this workshop, or have any ideas that fall within the scope of this effort, please contact Rich Fischer by 15 November 2016 at Richard.A.Fischer@usace.army.mil.  There is NO COST to attend.

Other Information:  A detailed agenda will be forthcoming soon.  Closest accommodations to meeting location are in Carlsbad and Oceanside, CA.  

More Detail:  The TEST uses strategic collaborations internally (Headquarters, Division, District, and ERDC programs and field staff and scientists), and externally (other agencies and stakeholders) to identify issues and develop and implement cost-effective and efficient approaches and solutions for federally listed species. The TEST team currently is developing strategies to assess threatened, endangered, and at-risk species on a national scale, determine how to prioritize focus on these species, and then develop solutions that will improve operational flexibility, reduce future costs, reduce adverse impacts on missions, and improve species conservation (including in some cases, recovery). The TEST is the platform for initiating and coordinating ESA Section 7(a)(1) efforts, particularly the development of Conservation Plans, which was recently elevated as a USACE and USFWS priority by Major General Peabody and the USFWS Deputy Director, respectively. We are looking to apply ESA Section 7(a)(1) more broadly and within agency missions and authorities, since it allows for the agencies to have greater control over species/management interactions (and possibly lower costs) than outcomes that typically result solely from ESA Section 7(a)(2) consultations.