PARENT SESSION
Poster Session #16: Landscape Ecology I.
Monday, August 5. Presentation from 5:00 PM to 6:30 PM. Exhibit Hall B & C, TCC

Understanding the landscape: A giant step towards sustaining ecological processes on non-federal lands .

STALEY, KATHRYN^*,1, Gilgert, Wendell², ¹ NRCS Wildlife Habitat Management Institute, Corvallis, OR² NRCS Wildlife Habitat Management Institute, Ft. Collins, CO

ABSTRACT- The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, in partnership with Oregon State University and Colorado State University, announces a video training course called Understanding the Landscape. This course is designed to help resource planners, conservationists and land managers understand the connectivity of ecological processes in order to apply resource management principles on non-federal lands in a more holistic and sustainable manner. The course will provide NRCS field personnel the basic knowledge and skills needed to incorporate landscape considerations into conservation planning and to effectively communicate to land owners and managers how physical, biological and social components of landscapes interact and function under different management regimes at more local scales. Through a series of 11 lectures and 5 case studies, students will be introduced to key ecological and social components of landscapes. Course content includes key elements of ecological processes (for example energy flow, hydrologic processes, disturbance, soil processes), elements of society and culture, and new technologies that are critical to sound conservation planning and practice. Case studies from diverse landscapes across the continental United States integrate principles highlighted in the lectures. Finally, a workbook of published references, glossary, and interactive classroom exercises is provided to reinforce student insights and knowledge gained from lectures. Study materials are designed to help the student synthesize complex themes to solve hypothetical land management challenges. The course is designed to teach students who have diverse worldviews and levels of academic scholarship. These skills are needed by virtue of NRCS' broad mission in natural resource management and its emphasis on partnerships, private lands and diverse clientele. Through delivery of this training, NRCS supports and encourages participants to fully implement its concepts, build proficiency and share what they have learned. Therefore, this course is an opportunity to extend a basic knowledge of landscape ecology to a broad spectrum of land stewards.

KEY WORDS: Conservation, Planning, Restoration, Education