*The information provided in the webinar will be applicable to locations outside of park boundaries and so will benefit biologists and land managers outside of NPS as well.*
You are invited to join us for *Park Units in the **Midwestern US: Restoration and Recovery for Amphibians and Reptiles*, a webinar sponsored by the Wildlife Conservation Branch in the Biological Resources Division of the National Park Service (NPS). *Date:* Thursday, April 14 *Duration: *1 hour *Start time: *12 pm PT, 1 pm MT, 2 pm CT, 3 pm ET *Registration URL:* https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/5260607158715345410 *Webinar ID:* 115-353-395 *IMPORTANT:* 1. GoToWebinar will send you an email *AFTER* you click the above registration URL. The email will contain the link you need to click to join the webinar at the specified time and date. The email will come from James Howard because he is the account holder. 2. *DO NOT click the “Add to Calendar” feature that you are provided in that email.* Doing so will incorrectly record the time of the webinar in your calendar due to a glitch with the program. *You must manually insert the time and date into your calendar.* Apologies for the inconvenience. 3. *Telephone / dial-in information will be provided to you once you have logged into the webinar. *You must use your telephone to call in to the webinar. We cannot allow audio connection via computer because it creates malfunctions during the recording. *Overview:* Habitat loss, alteration, fragmentation, and degradation are the collective top conservation threats to amphibians and reptiles (i.e., herpetofauna). Herpetofauna are important bioindicators of pollution or ecosystem stress. They assist in control of rodent and insect populations, and serve as predator of and prey to other trophic levels. Reptiles provide other ecosystem services as seed dispersers. Salamanders play a role in carbon cycling and have biomedical value due to their ability to regenerate limbs. Further, herpetofauna have intrinsic and aesthetic value as well. Despite these and other measures of their importance, they are not afforded the conservation action, attention, and appropriations as other taxa, such as birds and large mammals. This webinar covers material provided in Partners in Amphibian and Reptile Conservation’s <http://parcplace.org/> Habitat Management Guidelines for Amphibians and Reptiles of the Midwestern US and Western Canada <http://www.mwparc.org/products/habitat/> by Bruce Kingsbury and Joanna Gibson (Eds.). The webinar will cover habitats and species in the NPS’s Midwest Region. *About the Speakers:* *Bruce Kingsbury* obtained his BA (1981) from Pomona College, MS (1987) from San Diego State University, and PhD (1991) from the University of California Riverside. He is currently a Professor of Biology at Indiana - Purdue University Fort Wayne, Associate Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, and directs the IPFW Environmental Resources Center. Bruce's research focuses on the conservation and management of wildlife. He is an expert on a variety of reptiles, including the Eastern Massasauga and Copperbelly Watersnake. Much of the research that he and his students conduct relates to habitat restoration and land management practices, with the intention of improving outcomes for nongame. *Joanna Gibson* obtained her BS (1996) from Central Queensland University and MS (2009) from Purdue University, Fort Wayne. From 2000 to 2010, Joanna worked at the Center for Reptile and Amphibian Conservation and Management, now the Environmental Resources Center, at Indiana-Purdue University, Fort Wayne, where she participated in research on amphibians and reptiles. During this period, Joanna completed her MS research on effects of prescribed fire on a population of Eastern Box Turtles. She is currently a Senior Environmental Scientist (Specialist) with California Department of Fish and Wildlife in the Inland Deserts Region, where she is responsible for environmental review and permitting; and review of mitigation banking, Habitat Conservation Planning, and Natural Community Conservation Planning documents. Much of her work focuses on ensuring that appropriate and adequate environmental minimization and mitigation strategies are developed and implemented to offset impacts associated with development. *About the Webinar Series:* The *Park Units in the Northwestern US: Restoration and Recovery for Amphibians and Reptiles* Webinar (covering the Alaska, Pacific-West, and Intermountain regions) was presented on March 10. *Please contact Jen Williams ([email protected] <[email protected]> or 970-267-2159) if you are interested in a copy of this webinar or its accompanying materials.* There will be two more webinars focusing on Habitat Management Guidelines to assist natural resource managers with amphibian and reptile conservation. The northeastern US webinar is planned for June and the southeastern US webinar is planned for October. *Stay tuned for more details!* -- Jen Williams, Ph.D. Federal Coordinator for Partners in Amphibian and Reptile Conservation (PARC) 1201 Oakridge Dr., Suite 200 Fort Collins, CO 80525 Phone: 352-568-5903 (cell) or 970-267-2159 Fax: 970-225-3585 *Let us step into the night and pursue that flighty temptress, adventure.* The mission of PARC is to conserve amphibians, reptiles and their habitats as integral parts of our ecosystem and culture through proactive and coordinated public-private partnerships. To learn more, visit parcplace.org
