2012 Montana Plant

Conservation Conference

the Montana Natural Heritage Program

February 15 and 16, 2012

at

Montana Wild - Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks new Outdoor Education Facility

Highway 12, West, Helena, Montana

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- or-

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Schedule

Wednesday, February 15
9:30-9:40 Welcome Dave Hanna, MNPS president
EFFECTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON PLANTS Tara Carolin, Moderator, Glacier National Park, National Park Service
9:40-10:10 Long-term Vegetation Change as Revealed by the Fossil Pollen Record Heather Almquist, College of Arts and Science,
University of Montana
10:10-10:35 Radial Growth Responses Among Naturally Occurring Western U.S. Conifers Under Changing Environmental
Conditions: Responses from Western Montana Forests Steve Shelly, U.S. Forest Service, Region One; Paul Knapp,
Department of Geography, University of North Carolina, Greensboro; Peter Soulé, Department of Geography, Appalachian State
University
10:35-10:50 Break
10:50-11:15 Wildflower Phenology on Mt. Sentinel - A Harbinger of Global Change? Paul Alaback, College of Forestry, University of
Montana
11:15-11:40 Glacier National Park GLORIA Project: An Evaluation of the Effects of Climate Change on Alpine Plant Species
Composition and Distribution Lindsey Bengston, Glacier National Park, National Park Service
11:40-12:00 Arctic and Boreal Plants Decline at the Southern Margin of Their Range in Montana Peter Lesica, Herbarium, University of
Montana
12:00-1:15 Lunch
STRATEGIES FOR MITIGATING EFFECTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON PLANTS David Cole, Moderator, Aldo Leopold Wilderness Institute, U.S. Forest
Service
1:15-1:35 Responding to Climate Change in Natural Areas: What Do We Hope to Accomplish? David Cole, Aldo Leopold Wilderness
Institute, U.S. Forest Service
1:35-1:55 Plant Conservation in a Changing Climate: Adaptation Approaches in the Northern Region of the U.S. Forest Service
Steve Shelly, U.S. Forest Service, Region One
1:55-2:15 Preparing Biodiversity Conservation Projects for Climate Change: Taking Confident Steps into an Uncertain Future
Jonathan Hoekstra, Senior Scientist, The Nature Conservancy, Seattle
2:15-2:30 Break
2:30-2:50 Climate Change Adaptation Tools in the BLM David Wood, Montana State Office, Bureau of Land Management
2:50-3:10 Working with National Park Service Partners to Mitigate the Effects of Climate Change Tom Olliff, Great Northern
Landscape Conservation Cooperative, National Park Service
3:10-4:00 Questions/Discussion
Thursday, February 16
8:30-12:00 Workshop: Threats and Ranks of Montana's Plant Species of Concern Scott Mincemoyer, Moderator, Montana Natural
Heritage Program articipants will review the MT plant Species of Concern (SOC), contributing information on threats and related data that are used to assign threat ranks and state Heritage ranks. Assignment before the meeting: Please review the plant SOC list online here and the Montana Threat ranks online here and be prepared to contribute any new information or thoughts you may have during the discussion. This process helps to improve the SOC list, which agencies and NGOs use to direct conservation actions.
12:00-1:00 Lunch
1:00-3:30 Workshop: Montana's Important Plant Areas Peter Lesica, Moderator, Herbarium, University of Montana - Peter will lead discussion of new IPA nominations.