Wednesday Plenary Session
"Salmon and Bison as Indicators of Ecosystem Restoration Success (or not?)"
Wednesday, April 15
8:30am–10:00am
Capitol Ballroom 2, 3, and 4
Moderator
Matt Grabau
Adaptive Management Group Manager, Bureau of Reclamation, Lower Colorado River, Multi-Species Conservation
Tucson, AZ
Description
This Plenary Session will feature an engaging discussion centered on key species serving as indicators of large-scale ecosystem restoration. The Plenary Session will open with an introduction from Dr. Matt Grabau, Adaptive Management Group Manager and Acting Program Manager for the Lower Colorado River Multi-Species Conservation Program. Dr. Grabau will then moderate presentations from and a discussion by Dr. Chris Jordan of NOAA Fisheries' Northwest Fisheries Science Center and Mr. Jason Baldes, Executive Officer, Board President, & Eastern Shoshone Tribe Buffalo Manager. Dr. Jordan will focus his presentation on the state and progress of salmon restoration across the West and Pacific Northwest of the United States. Mr. Baldes will focus his presentation on bison restoration in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem with a focus on buffalo conservation for Wyoming's Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho Tribes in Wind River. Please join Dr. Grabau, Dr. Jordan, and Mr. Baldes in engaging in conversation about these critical species, their prospects as tied to large-scale restoration, and what the future might hold.
Session Schedule
8:30am–8:35am
Moderator Introduction & Overview
8:35am–9:10am
Chris Jordan
Mathematical Biology and Systems Monitoring Program Manager
Northwest Fisheries Science Center
Mathematical Biology and Systems Monitoring Program
NOAA Fisheries
Seattle, WA
Dr. Chris Jordan is a Research Fish Biologist with NOAA’s Northwest Fisheries Science Center and Program Manager for the Mathematical Biology and Systems Monitoring Program. Chris has worked on a wide range of biological topics, all with an emphasis on the development or application of quantitative methods to support natural resource management decision-making. Over the last two decades, his work has focused on the design and implementation of large-scale restoration and monitoring programs to assess freshwater habitat and population status as well as the watershed-scale effect of management actions for anadromous salmonids. Some current projects include the development of novel riverscape restoration methods, life-cycle simulation models to integrate knowledge on physical and biological processes into a management decision support framework, and the development of performance metrics for riverscape restoration focusing on beaver and process-based thinking.
9:10am–9:45am
Jason Baldes
Board President
Eastern Shoshone Tribe Buffalo Manager
National Wildlife Federation’s Tribal Partnerships Program
Kinnear, WY
Jason Baldes received his undergraduate and graduate degrees in Land Resources & Environmental Sciences from Montana State University, where he focused on Tribal Bison Restoration. As Tribal Buffalo Program Manager for the National Wildlife Federation’s Tribal Partnerships Program, he has established resolution-based agreements and helped restore more than 100 conservation Buffalo to the Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho Tribes in Wind River since 2016.
