Steering Committee
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Partners In Flight--United States NABCI Steering Committee |
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UNITED STATES NABCI STEERING COMMITTEEFirst meeting, Shepardstown, WV, 1 November 1999
Committee members:
- Jamie Clark (co-chair) - Director, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
- David Waller (co-chair) - Incoming President, International Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies; Director, Georgia Department of Natural Resources
- Gary Myers - representing Partners in Flight; Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency
- Scott Yaich - representing the North American Waterfowl Management Plan; Arkansas Game and Fish Commission
- Stan Senner - representing the US Shorebird Conservation Plan; National Audubon Society (not present at first meeting; Linda Leddy attended as his alternate)
- Jim Kushlan - representing the North American Colonial Waterbird Conservation Plan (pending a meeting of that group's Steering Committee); US Geological Survey, Biological Resources Division
- Alan Wentz - Ducks Unlimited
- Rollie Sparrowe - Wildlife Management Institute
- George Vandel - representing the National Flyway Council; South Dakota Department of Fish and Game
Also in attendance:
Jon Andrew, Dan Ashe, Roxanne Bogart, Jack Capp, Hans Herrmann, Roger Holmes, David Pashley, David Smith, Jeff Wells, Jim Woehr
Background
The background and history of NABCI were reviewed: the initial CEC Council resolution to develop a strategy and action plan for the conservation of North American birds (August 1996); the formation of the Group of 9 (May 1997) and the international meeting in Puebla (November 1998). The Interim US Steering Committee (formed March 1999) determined the composition of the permanent committee and drafted a Vision of NABCI in the US that is currently out for review.
Roles and Responsibilities - In the Interim Committee's NABCI document, there are three purposes of NABCI in US - to represent the US internationally, serve as a forum for interaction among bird initiatives, and increase resources for bird conservation. The goal of NABCI is "to deliver the full spectrum of bird conservation through regionally-based, biologically-driven, landscape-oriented partnerships." How will the US NABCI Committee work to accomplish this?
To whom does the Committee report? The Committee is fundamentally an autonomous effort with links to the bird initiatives, as well as links to the IAFWA and to CEC as a facilitator and the organizer of the international components of NABCI.
The US NABCI Committee should take on a leadership role in development of concepts and identification of objectives. Such a shared vision can be very powerful, as it reduces the fragmentation that is currently notable in the conservation community. The Committee will not set policy, but will help provide a context within which its constituents and other groups can operate. The Committee provides context, just as NAWMP or PIF have provided context for great advances in their areas of concern. To promote this role, Jamie Clark will be a liaison to other federal agencies and David Waller will be a liaison with states. It was noted that one of the most important functions of this Committee should be development of Joint Ventures in BCRs in which they do not currently exist.
It was suggested that the word "Steering" in the title of this Committee indicates more of a policy role than intended. Simply removing that word would fix that problem, and it was decided that the name hereafter will be the United States NABCI Committee. A first draft of a Charter will be prepared within the next few weeks and distributed for review.
The Committee recommends rapid resurrection of the ad hoc Funding Committee, independent of the US NABCI Committee, appointed by the IAFWA, with Rollie Sparrowe as chair and with representation broadened from its former status. This renewed group will be called the Bird Conservation Funding Committee.
International perspective
The international role of all three national committees includes participation in the Tri-National Steering Committee, which consists of three representatives from each country. The CEC works with USFWS in the US regarding all biodiversity issues B this is based on a formal agreement among the EPA, USFWS, and the CEC. The CEC Council endorsed NABCI in June of 1999, and agrees to continue support of NABCI for the three subsequent years. This means that CEC will devote some financial resources (mainly to support National Coordinators) as well as facilitation roles to NABCI for that amount of time.
Committee Composition - The PIF Subcommittee recommended two additional Committee members: one additional federal agency and one non-game NGO, and a similar recommendation came out of the recent national shorebird meeting. The Committee agreed on creation of a separate federal subcommittee, co-chaired by USFWS and one other agency. The second co-chair will rotate, and that individual will serve as a member of the US NABCI Committee (in addition to USFWS). A similar solution was suggested for the non-game community. The current NGO members of the Committee (WMI, DU) will convene the first NGO subcommittee meeting, and the chair of that subcommittee (who would also rotate) would serve on the US NABCI Committee (in addition to WMI and DU).
Staffing - US NABCI Coordinator position B David Pashley will assume this position and will continue in the employ of American Bird Conservancy. The Coordinator is accountable to the co-chairs. A Job Description is being prepared as well as a letter of agreement between the Committee co-chairs and ABC.
Mapping - The Committee endorsed the map of Bird Conservation Regions as presented by the Mapping Team. It was emphasized that this is not "final", that we are inviting comments, but will not change the map for the next three years. The Mapping Team will produce a final document, with four parts: 1) an introduction reiterating basic principles in the Proposed Framework; 2) comments on results of the review process; 3) a new map, including BCRs in Canada and Mexico (assuming resolution by the Mexican mapping team); and 4) descriptions of each BCR. This document is due for review by the US NABCI Committee at its February meeting.
The Interim Committee will persist as a Drafting subcommittee, with the responsibility of working on future drafts of the Vision document.
Representation on the Tri-National Steering Committee - The Tri-National Committee should meet in the first few months of next year. The US Committee will maintain the fed, state, and ngo balance among the 3 US International Representatives. With changes in jobs, Jon Andrew will replace Paul Schmidt. Gary Myers will continue as state representative. Given that David Pashley will have an international role as it is as National Coordinator, it was agreed that the chair of the new NGO subcommittee will be the third member of the US G-3.
Each Committee member will designate one or more individuals (themselves or others) to work with the National Coordinator as Staff to the US NABCI Committee.
The continued existence of the US Monitoring group (chaired by Marshall Howe) as a subcommittee of the US NABCI Committee was approved.
Next meeting of the US NABCI Committee? The next meeting of the US NABCI Committee will be held during the first week of February, to be specifically determined by the co-chairs and the Coordinator. The federal and the NGO subcommittees should have met and appointed their respective chairs as new members of the NABCI Committee prior to that meeting.
