Panel Session Summaries

l Tuesday, April 24, 2007, 9:50am-12:00pm Mississippi River Basin Panel: The Pros and Cons of Scaling-up Stream Restoration in the Mississippi River Basin l Tuesday, April 24, 2007, 9:50am-10:40am Adaptive Management I Panel: Evolution and Success of the Glen Canyon Adaptive Management Program l Tuesday, April 24, 2007, 1:00pm-3:30pm Economic and Environmental Quality Panel: Achieving Balance Between Economic Development and Environmental Quality l Wednesday April 25, 2007, 10:00am-12:00pm Restoration Planning Panel: A Framework for Success in Designing and Implementing Ecosystem Restoration Efforts l Thursday, April 26, 2007, 9:50am-12:00pm Ecosystem Restoration in Silicon Valley Panel: Adaptive Management and the South San Francisco Bay Salt Ponds

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Tuesday, April 24, 2007, 9:50am-12:00pm
Mississippi River Basin Panel: The Pros and Cons of Scaling-up Stream Restoration in the Mississippi River Basin

Moderator: K. S. Lubinski, U. S. Geological Survey and The Nature Conservancy

Facilitator: Brian Stenquist, Meeting Challenges, Minneapolis, MN

Listening Panel Members:

Larry Beran, Agriculture Coalition on Environment, Stephenville, TX

Craig Cox, Soil and Water Conservation Society, Ankeny, IA

David L. Galat, U. S. Geological Survey, Cooperative Research Units, University of Missouri, Columbia

The Mississippi River basin, like most large river systems, exemplifies many issues that need to be resolved to achieve integrated ecosystem restoration objectives across scales. Many watershed projects exist but few are linked to main stem river programs or the rest of the system. Responsibilities for restoration are spread across numerous government agencies and non-profit organizations.

This session will explore the concept of integration within and among watersheds. Participants will discuss the value of integration, the constraints they face in achieving integration, and ideas for future collaboration.

A listening panel will provide expert responses to the audience’s ideas. Highlights of the discussion will be recorded in a communication to high level decision and policy makers.

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Tuesday, April 24, 2007, 9:50am-10:40am
Adaptive Management I Panel: Evolution and Success of the Glen Canyon Adaptive Management Program

Moderator: Barbara Stinson, Meridian Institute, Dillon, CO

Panel Members:

Dennis Kubly, Bureau of Reclamation, Phoenix, AZ

Theodore S. Melis, U.S. Geological Survey, Flagstaff, AZ

This panel session will explore the evolution of the Glen Canyon Dam AM Program including discussion of the successes already achieved by this mature AM program and the challenges yet to be overcome. The objective of this panel session is to inform conference attendees that AM is successfully being implemented at the Glen Canyon Dam; but just like any dynamic and evolving natural resource management program, the program is encountering obstacles that must be addressed in a collaborative manner to ensure success. Two different perspectives of the Glen Canyon Dam AM Program will be explored (i.e., the managerial and the scientific) as an independent moderator facilitates the discussion and asks the panelists questions about how this AM Program has evolved and will be further implemented in the future.

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Tuesday, April 24, 2007, 1:00pm-3:30pm
Economic and Environmental Quality Panel: Achieving Balance Between Economic Development and Environmental Quality

Moderator: Bill Dawson, Brown and Caldwell, Raleigh, NC

Panel Members: 

Fred Caver, Caver and Associates, Austin, TX

Jim Tripp, Environmental Defense Fund, New York, NY

Denise Reed, University of New Orleans, New Orleans, LA

Tom Kornegay, Port of Houston, Houston, TX

Larry Gerry, South Florida Water Management District, West Palm Beach, FL

Economic development interests tend to minimize environmental quality considerations. Voluntary consideration of the environment is often limited to legal compliance with NEPA requirements so that development can occur. Environmental interests tend to overstate mitigation requirements to maximize environmental quality outputs. This contrast in approach frequently leads to a focus on the conflicts between economic development and environmental quality, and a lack of attention to the potential synergies that can be realized through well framed ecosystem restoration.

Restoration can provide opportunities for economic development interests, and vice versa. These opportunities will be considered in the context of efforts that include consideration of both environmental and economic outputs. Panelists will identify common ground from their experiences, and identify ways to move from compliance and mitigation to a balanced approach, where both environmental quality and economic development can be sustainable. Potential examples include the Florida Everglades, the Upper Mississippi Basin, and Coastal Louisiana efforts.

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Wednesday April 25, 2007, 10:00am-12:00pm
Restoration Planning Panel: A Framework for Success in Designing and Implementing Ecosystem Restoration Efforts

Moderator: Gail Bingham, RESOLVE, Washington, DC

Panel Members:

Marci Dupraw, RESOLVE, Washington, DC

Denise Reed, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New Orleans, New Orleans, LA

Reggie Parrish, Chesapeake Bay Program, Annapolis, MD

Ben Wigley, National Council for Air and Stream Improvement, Inc. (NCASI), Clemson, SC

Patty Dornbusch, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Portland, OR

Drawing on over 30 years of experience in helping diverse groups reach consensus on landscape-scale restoration challenges in a range of geographic areas, including the Lower American River (DuPraw), the Gulf of Mexico (Reed), Chesapeake Bay (Parrish), the Great Lakes region (Wigley), and the Columbia River Basin (Dornbusch), the panelists will discuss a framework for planning collaborative processes. This framework consists of ten key ingredients that should be considered in process design, including approaches for keeping the group focused and engaged, as well as for ensuring that the process is both transparent and effective. Illustrating with examples from their experience, each panelist will briefly address the successes and challenges of putting these principles into practice, followed by a facilitated, lively discussion of how they can help overcome obstacles in ecosystem restoration planning.

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Thursday, April 26, 2007, 9:50am-12:00pm
Ecosystem Restoration in Silicon Valley Panel: Adaptive Management
and the South San Francisco Bay Salt Ponds

Moderator: Steve Ritchie, Executive Project Manager, South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project, California Coastal Conservancy, Oakland, CA

Panel Members:

Lynne Trulio, South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Department of Environmental Studies, San Jose State University, San Jose, CA

Michelle Orr, Philip Williams & Associates, San Francisco, CA

Bryan Plude, Brown and Caldwell, Davis, CA

The panel will present the work that shaped the restoration planned for the South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project, a 15,000-acre ecosystem restoration project in the heart of California’s Silicon Valley. The Project is poised to begin implementing a 30-year program that will be based on adaptively managing the system. The large-scale, long-term nature of the project and its location in a highly urbanized setting, presents significant challenges for implementation. Each panel member will present an aspect of project planning that is essential in preparing the project to meet its objectives.

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