U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Landscape Conservation Cooperatives

1. U.S. Fish and Wildlife ServiceLandscape Conservation Cooperatives Atlantic Coast Joint Venture Management Board December 3, 2009 Marvin Moriarty and Cindy Dohner Regional Directors, Northeast and Southeast Regions

2. Information on LCCs • How they came to be • How they will function • Funding information • Relationship to Joint Ventures

3. Landscape Conservation Basic Definitions • Science-based approach to conservation focused on providing landscapes capable of sustaining populations of priority species • Approach is founded on an adaptive, iterative process of biological planning, conservation design, conservation delivery, monitoring and research. • = “Adaptive Management” approach

4. Adaptive Management • An adaptive approach to science-based landscape conservationfollows these steps: • Planning; • Conservation Design • Conservation Delivery; • Monitoring and Research Adaptive Resource Management

5. USFWS Climate Change Strategic Plan http://www.fws.gov/home/climatechange/comment period ended November 30

6. USFWS Climate Change Strategic Plan • “Establish Landscape Conservation Cooperatives that enable members of the conservation community to plan, design and deliver conservation in ways that integrate local, State, Tribal, regional, national and international efforts and resources….” • = LCC’s

7. USFWS Climate Change Strategic PlanFY 2010 Budget Request $20M “overtarget” for Climate Change: $10M Science Capacity $10M Science products

8. Climate Change – DOI Secretarial OrderNo. 3289 • Issued September 14, 2009 includes the following: “A network of Landscape Conservation Cooperatives will engage DOI and federal agencies, states, tribal and local governments and the public to craft practical, landscape-level strategies for managing climate change impacts…” = LCC’s

9. Funding (FY 10) for Climate Change and Landscape Conservation Cooperatives • USFWS • $10 M nationwide for LCCs (capacity) • $10 M nationwide for LCC’s (science) • Expectation: 8 LCCs will be developed in FY 2010 • USGS • DOI Regional Climate Change Response Centers • Support for USFWS CC Activities ($5 M)

10. Funding (FY 10) for Climate Change and Landscape Conservation Cooperatives • USFWS – stand up eight LCC’s (of 22) • Each Region gets: • $1.2M – planning and staffing • $875k – science • 150k – administration • Washington Office gets: • $97k – staffing • $97k – science • $6k – administration • $2M for cross LCC science project competition

11. Additional USFWS (FY 10) funding for Climate Change • USFWS Program Funding for Climate Change • National Wildlife Refuges ($12M) • For Inventory and Monitoring • Partners for Fish and Wildlife ($6M) • Conservation Delivery in Support of Climate Change • Fisheries ($2M) • Support for Fish Habitat Partnerships • State Wildlife Grants • Increased funding in FY 2010 ($15M) • State Wildlife Action Plans will be updated to incorporate climate change

12. Guidance on Incorporating Climate Change into State Wildlife Action Plans LCCs offer opportunity for states and partners to develop regional adaptation strategies that can be included in state plans.

13. Landscape Conservation Cooperatives • A seamless network of conservation science partnerships that provide science and technical support including • Biological planning • Conservation Design • Monitoring and Research to conservation delivery programs and partnerships to meet common goals for sustaining fish, wildlife and plants • Initial focus on climate change adaptation planning

14. Landscape Conservation Cooperatives • Conservation science partnerships • National Geographic Framework -seamless network

15. Form and Function of Landscape Conservation Cooperatives • Self-directed partnerships between federal and state agencies, tribes, NGOs, universities and others • Build on existing partnerships • Guided by a steering committee with representatives of partner organizations • Provide management direction and priorities • Shared capacity (including staff) for coordination, technology and science including population and habitat modeling, GIS, decision analysis, monitoring and evaluation, data management, etc.

16. Overlay of ACJV with LCC Boundaries Caribbean

17. Atlantic Coast Joint Venture and the LCCs Some alternatives to consider: • ACJV does not actively collaborate with LCCs • ACJV leads establishment of LCCs within the ACJV area • ACJV and Fish Habitat Partnerships lead establishment of LCCs within the ACJV area • ACJV splits into separate JVs aligned with LCC boundaries • ACJV helps lead establishment of LCC and actively collaborates in their development and science activities

18. Questions?? Discussion?? Thank You

19. Relationship of LCCs to Existing JVs and other Partnerships LCCs will build on existing partnerships LCCs partly modeled after joint ventures National geographic framework generally follows Bird Conservation Region/joint venture boundaries Discussions underway in all joint ventures about role in LCCs Each JV needs to evaluate appropriate level of involvement LCCs need to support all taxonomic groups and all relevant programs and partnerships

20. (plus Hawaii and Northern Alaska)