The Wildlife Society’s (TWS) Annual Conference was held in October in Baltimore, Maryland. Working with the TWS Habitat Restoration Working Group, the USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) organized a half-day symposium entitled ‘Scaling up voluntary conservation on private lands.’ The symposium was a joint effort between the NRCS Conservation Effects Assessment Project and Working Lands for Wildlife (WLFW). The sessions featured speakers representing NRCS, academia, and NGO partners and demonstrated how co-produced science and voluntary collaboration with private landowners is driving more effective wildlife conservation, while sustaining livelihoods and local rural communities. The presentations highlighted NRCS Working Lands for Wildlife frameworks for conservation action addressing primary stressors in the Sagebrush, Great Plains Grasslands, and Northern Bobwhite Grasslands and Savannas biomes.
Steve Jester (Partnerscapes), Jessica McGuire (Quail Forever), and Jeff Larkin (Indiana University of Pennsylvania and Working Lands for Wildlife Science Advisor) served on a panel at the conclusion of the session to discuss with the attendees the importance of developing relationships and partnerships around a shared vision with landowners in the practice of voluntary conservation delivery. The attendees, university wildlife students and wildlife conservation professionals, were very engaged throughout the session, particularly around the practical aspects of building productive relationships and projects across perspectives
