Wetland Condition Assessment Workshop

“Size isn’t everything”

March 17-18, 2010

Best Western Seven Seas Hotel, 2611 Old Red Trail, Mandan, ND

AGENDA

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).

There are a variety of methods to assess wetland resource health. The International Water Institute has hosted two workshops for U.S. EPA states and tribes to explore various methods for assessing wetland health (www.internationalwaterinstitute.org/workshops1.htm). These workshops convened a geographically diverse group of wetland practitioners and scientists to assist participants in developing new or enhancing existing wetland assessment programs.

Using these workshop results as a backdrop, the International Water Institute, the NDSU Center for Natural Resource and Agroecosystem Studies (CNRAS), and the ND Department of Health are convening a North Dakota wetland assessment workshop to: 1) describe various wetland assessment tools and methods for assessing the North Dakota’s wetland resource; and
2) to investigate potential collaborative efforts whereby wetland assessment can be incorporated into existing and future wetland management programs in North Dakota.

The workshop is scheduled for March 17-18, 2010 at the Seven Seas Hotel, Mandan ND. A block of rooms has been reserved for those requiring overnight accommodations (please call 701 663-7401 by March 2, 2010 to make arrangements and ask for the wetland assessment workshop block). The workshop is free of charge and recommended for North Dakota local, state, federal, and tribal resource management officials, resource professionals, students, and researchers.

Please RSVP to Grit May, IWI Project Specialist at grit.may@ndsu.edu by February 1, 2010.

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