Congress conversations are growing.  I'm leaving soon for Internatioanl Union of Game Biologists meetings in Belgium to promote the Congress and to encourage European participation with thoughts, presentations, leadership, funding, and attendance.  Did the same with Colorado Parks and Wildlife earlier in the week and with Central Mountains and Plains Section and Wyoming Chapter of The Wildlfie Society in Utah last week.  Plans are underway for reaching out to North American's Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies annual conference next month in Portland and The Wildlife Society annual meeting in Wisconsin this October.  Help out.

Add your ideas to the blog.  If you don't participate, you won't have your ideas known.

Save the date and help to lead conversations to improve nature conservation and livelihoods on private and communal lands around the world!

8^th International Congress for Wildlife and Livelihoods on Private and Communal Lands: Livestock, Tourism, and Spirit

September 7-12, 2014; YMCA of the Rockies, Colorado, USA

 

Why should you help to lead the conversations and solutions?

We benefit most often from food, wildlife and recreation produced on private and communal lands

Landowners have wildlife on their lands, but may not have incentives for management to benefit society

Without the ecological contributions and spirit derived from nature, humans would perish

Without human thoughts and actions nature will perish

We need private and communal support

 

Previous Congresses were held in Africa 3 times, Canada twice, France, and the first in New Mexico, USA entitled:  ”International Wildlife Ranching Symposium” reflecting how wildlife and recreation contributes to agricultural management, conservation, economies, and healthy societies.

Our Congress emphasizes practical knowledge, skills and attitudes with action outcomes to assist private and communal sectors internationally, in North America, and in Colorado before, during and after the event.  Sessions are planned with invited speakers of quality and substance, related papers from around the world, field trips to Blue Valley Ranch, McGregor Ranch and Rocky Mountain National Park; workshop on wildlife management and animal capture; and small aircraft flights over conservation problems and solutions. 

Over 40 topics are being considered, including titles such as:

• Collaborations across landscapes and jurisdictions by governments, businesses, and peoples
• Helping rural and urban persons to want wildlife and nature as part of their spirit and livelihoods
• Conservation legislation and policy to encourage wildlife management, nature conservation, endangered species protection, tourism, enterprises, and other human and landscape needs
• Energy development, climate change, and mitigations that promote wildlife and livelihoods
• Organizing, administering, and using Land Trusts or other payments for environmental services
• Urban, X-Urban, and Rural land and wildlife planning, development, and mitigations
• Forming and managing local to  international private and communal Wildlife Associations
• Ethics of hunting and wildlife management techniques under different systems
• Role of NGOs to promote, and to evaluate conservation interests locally and internationally
• The role of institutions to educate future leaders and managers for private and communal sectors
• Preventing and mitigating diseases and conflicts between humans and  wildlife
• The business of wildlife and nature conservation for state and national economies and workforces

Actions are our desired outcomes, not mere studies of problems. We encourage sessions, titles, outcomes, and words that support: critical thinking, solutions, entrepreneurism, guidelines, Best Management Practices, innovations, results, applications, models, tools, impacts, future progress, recommendations, provocative debates, mitigations, examples, outcomes, successes, case studies, actions, behavioral change, etc.

Save the date and get involved

Planning moves rapidly.  Outcomes will depend on human and financial capital that is leveraged into strategic actions.  Priorities are finding key thinkers, topics, sponsors, cooperators, facilitators, speakers, and participants. Your ideas and support are welcomed!  See venues and audiences on the next page.

Our locations:

 

·         Congress Web Site: http://events.warnercnr.colostate.edu/iwmc-2014/

·         YMCA of the Rockies conference and destination facilities:  http://www.ymcarockies.org/

·         Rocky Mountain National Park is at our door: http://www.nps.gov/romo/index.htm

·         Learn more about tourism in Colorado: http://www.colorado.com/

·         Know Colorado’s Wildlife: http://wildlife.state.co.us/WildlifeSpecies/Pages/WildlifeSpecies.aspx

·         Start now to get management ideas in the many related links from Sections of LandHelp including the 8^th Congress Section at:  www.LandHelp.info.

Our Projected Audiences include:

At least the following will be in conversations, promotion, and participation with private and communal land management leading up to and including the Congress:

400         Agency, organization, and private professionals from around the world, will help to guide the process, make presentations, and will attend the Congress

300         Landowners and on-the-ground private and communal land managers who will help to guide the process and who will attend the Congress

 60          State/provincial fish and wildlife commissions and agencies in North America will be part of the support processes, will promote the Congress to their constituents, and many will participate in the Congress

 30          Key leaders from around the world will mold the Congress for all to benefit

   7           Federal agencies with their departments, bureaus, and offices in the US will be part of the support processes, will promote the Congress to their constituents, and will participate in the Congress

  6            Continents will have informed professionals, agencies, organizations, landowners, and land managers who will be asked to be part of the discussions and actions

  1            Bureau of Indian Affairs in the US will have a unique role.  You are the one who can help to make a difference

Countless persons will have access to web sites and other communications that promote management of land, animals, and people on private and communal lands before, during, and after the Congress

For More Information Contact:

Dr. Delwin E. Benson, Professor and Extension Wildlife Specialist, Colorado State University who serves as your organizer and host focusing on actions, celebrations, and improvements for management of animals, land, and people:  Delwin.Benson@colostate.edu; 970-491-6411

 

Join us in spirit and in participation to present the most thoughtful and effective outcomes of record

Influence and participate in the 8^th International Congress for Wildlife and Livelihoods on Private and Communal Lands: Livestock, Tourism, and Spirit to be held September 7-12, 2014, YMCA of the Rockies, Estes Park Colorado.  Help us to focus on actions, celebrations, and improvements for management of animals, land, and people on private and communal lands that represent 2/3rds of Colorado and the US. Join us in spirit and in participation to present the most thoughtful and effective outcomes of record.  Since human time, interacting with wildlife and landscapes has posed benefits and problems.  The Congress will feature the world if you help us with North American systems focused for you as our guests.

Previous Congresses were held in Africa 3 times, Canada twice, France, and the first in New Mexico. Our Congress emphasizes practical knowledge, skills and attitudes with action outcomes to assist private and communal sectors internationally, in North America, and in Colorado before, during and after the event.  Sessions and workshops are planned with invited speakers of quality and substance, related papers from around the world, and field trips to Blue Valley Ranch and Rocky Mountain National Park. 

Over 40 topics are being considered including titles such as:

·         Collaborations across landscapes, borders, and jurisdictions

·         Integrating agriculture and livestock into nature conservation

·         Conservation legislation and policy to encourage wildlife management, nature conservation, endangered species protection, tourism, and other human and landscape needs

·         Energy uses, development ,and mitigations that promote wildlife and livelihoods

·         Organizing, administering, and using Land Trusts or other payments for environmental services

·         Urban and X-Urban communal land planning, development, and mitigations

·         Ethics of hunting and management under different systems

·         Role of NGOs to promote, and to evaluate conservation interests locally and internationally

·         The role of universities and professionals to educate and nurture future leaders and managers about working with private and communal sectors

·         Protecting against diseases and conflicts between humans and  wildlife

·         Forming and managing local, state/provincial, national, and international Wildlife Associations

·         Helping persons to want wildlife and nature as part of their spirit and livelihoods

Actions are our desired outcomes not mere studies of problems.   Words to consider as we plan include: critical thinking, solutions, guidelines, Best Management Practices, innovations, results, applications, models, tools, impacts, future progress, management recommendations, provocative debates, mitigations, examples, outcomes, successes, case studies, actions, etc.

5 ideas to learn the land

1. Take a hike and follow a track to see how animals use environments
2. Put out 3 bird feeders: fill one with white proso millet; one with black oil sunflower seeds; and one with meal worms or animal fat; see what comes in, where they feed and what they eat
3. Buy binoculars and watch wildlife close up
4. Get field guides or use the internet to learn what animals need and what the land provides
5. Record and reflect on what you learn using words, drawings and pictures

New information about getting youth into nature

Check out "Next Child in the Woods" Section in LandHelp for new and useful content.

A Better Mouse Trap? Solve a Problem!

We can all view LandHelp or surf the Internet to find commercial products for removing unwanted mice from the house. Blog your technique with a few words and a picture. Let's see if we can create a better mouse trap together.

Use the Hexagon to Solve Problems

Multi-dimensional parameters exist from which one’s world view is formed and within which learning and teaching must relate. For people to change, to adapt, to practice good behaviors, their multiple world-context must be addressed. The decision-making hexagon provides an illustration of multi-disciplinary parameters that should be addressed in an interdisciplinary manner. These parameters are at the foundation of all decisions. The context includes:
1. The earth’s physical and biological systems without which nothing functions properly;
2. Economics (money and trade) regulates the exchange of goods and services;
3. One’s personal psychology, personality, wants, needs, and “investment” in the issue;
4. The norms of the group, society and cultures which enable or restrict the actions of individuals and the group as a whole;
5. Power structures through laws and political systems that protect or suppress the rights of individuals and society; and
6. Implementation opportunities or barriers with appropriate technologies, skills and administrative authorities to perform desired tasks are encouraged, discouraged, or nonexistent.

More about the Hexagon
Students of the land need to keep all contextual considerations in mind. Learners should understand each parameter and to make decisions based on an integrated process.
The earth and biosphere have physical and biological attributes and limitations that function as one living organism. Each part of the earth is impacted by bio/physical processes in an interrelated web of life and death that is complex and dynamic. From the standpoint of our biosphere, there is no right and wrong, only change. We should develop a sense of ecological place among society by lessening our disconnect from nature and teach pertinent facts and information from various disciplines. Perhaps ecology is the discipline which can most adequately, but not entirely, influence long-term thinking since it includes many other pertinent disciplines that can encourage environmental consciousness.
Society uses economics (money and trade) to exchange goods and services. Individual and group needs depend upon exchanging natural resources directly or on the products derived from bio/physical resources and human ingenuity. Decisions about money are often at the forefront of decision-making and must be considered in environmental education.
Because humans are part of the earth’s living system, they are both personally impacted by and cause impacts to the system. Humans have needs for survival, security, personal expression and personal worth. They desire legitimate use of the world’s resources and in so doing make limited and lasting impacts. Individuals may be optimistic or pessimistic, conservative or liberal, conservation-minded or exploiters. Their personalities are formed by many processes, but humans can accept or reject environmental actions simply because they want to.
Individuals form into groups and societies with unique norms and cultures. Race, religion, ethnicity, gender, skills, professions, politics, and education are some of the linkages which help to expand or limit thinking and behavior. Groups can encourage or suppress individual thought and action. Actions by groups can help or hinder environments.
Society functions through legal and political systems where heads of families, local chieftains and national leaders rise to power and reflect norms or help to establish
new norms. Persons in political power protect, suppress or lead what individuals and societies can do for the environment.
Within all physical and biological systems there are limitations to what can be known or expected from the environment. Likewise, in human systems, there are barriers caused by the level of individual skills, how opportunities are administered by leaders and whether appropriate technologies are developed and available. The land cannot get help if one lacks appropriate skills, if one’s supervisor does not allow action, or if there is no known solution at the time.