The response to the workshop announcement was overwhelming. After reviewing the program, the large number of registrants, and encountering a number of logistical and other factors beyond our control, the workshop sponsors feel it is necessary to postpone the event at this time.
We apologize for having to reschedule. Over the next few months, we plan to refine the desired workshop outcomes and work to develop a more inclusive workshop program to address wetland assessment needs in North Dakota.
We will announce the workshop event again later in summer 2009.
Federal legislation has been enacted to restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the Nation’s water. Wetlands are important and complex ecosystems that improve water quality, provide habitat for countless species of animal and plant life, recharge groundwater, and attenuate flood peaks and droughts impacts. To date, most measures of wetland management success have focused on the quantity (or acreage) of wetlands protected or restored, rather than on the quality or ecological health of wetlands. The accepted best indicator of aquatic ecosystem health is biological integrity, defined as “the ability to support and maintain a balanced adaptive community of organisms having species composition, diversity, and functional organization comparable to natural habitats within the region” (Karr and Dudley, 1981).
For more information, contact:
Chuck Fritz - Director, International Water Institute, charles.fritz@ndsu.edu, 701 231 9747
Mike Ell - Manager, NDDH, mell@nd.gov, 701 328 5214
Shawn DeKeyser- Assistant Professor, CNRAS, edward.dekeyser@ndsu.edu, 701 231 7868
