Document ga2j8by60o12gXn9DroGkvqzQ

United States Department of the Interior FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE In Reply Refer To: FWS/NWRS/063785 OCT 0 3 2016 To: Regional Chiefs, National Wildlife Refuge System From: Chief, National Wildlife Refuge System Subject: Guidance on Landscape Conservation Design The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) currently manages 565 units of the National Wildlife Refuge System (Refuge System) in accordance with the National Wildlife Refuge System Administration Act of 1966, as amended, and other applicable laws and policies. The Refuge System is the world's largest collection of lands and waters specifically designated and managed for fish and wildlife. Today, unprecedented challenges, such as climate change and habitat fragmentation, necessitate an innovative and adaptive conservation planning approach so that the Refuge System continues to support the Service's mission, incorporates the best available science, encourages collaboration with our partners, and inspires coordinated action. The Service's strategic vision for 21st Century conservation - Conserving the Future: Wildlife Refuges and the Next Generation - noted "landscape conservation is the only path forward to conserve America's wildlife and wild places," and that "our vision is to embrace a scientific, adaptive, landscape-level approach to conserving, managing, and restoring refuge lands and waters, and facilitate conservation benefits beyond our boundaries." To help implement our vision, several cross-regional teams were created, including the Planning Implementation Team (PIT), which produced A Landscape-scale Approach to Refuge System Planning (also known as the PIT Report). The PIT Report recommends that "the next generation of planning [focus] on landscape conservation design developed by the greater conservation community through partnerships in Landscape Conservation Cooperatives (LCCs)." This memorandum and attachments clarify the attributes of Land Conservation Design (LCD) as described in the PIT Report and the Department of the Interior's LCD Performance Tracking and Reporting (See Attachment 1: Guidance on LCD, Attachment 2: USFWS LCD Performance Measure Number 4.8.7 (FWSMN 4.8.7), and Attachment 3: Characteristics of LCC Landscape Conservation Designs Version 1.0 (2016-2018)). Their purpose is to help build a consistent understanding across the Refuge System of what constitutes an LCD and to provide guidance on our responsibilities in the collaborative processes and product development associated with LCD. This guidance will also help regional leadership prioritize the participation in and advocacy for LCDs that are relevant to priorities of the Refuge System, regardless of planning funding levels. For more information, please contact Aaron Mize, Chief, Branch of Conservation Planning and Policy, National Wildlife Refuge System, at (703) 358-2678. Attachments 1 Attachment 1 Guidance on landscape conservation design (LCD): The roles and responsibilities of the National Wildlife Refuge System (Refuge System) for the development and use of LCDs This guidance applies to all national, regional, and field personnel having responsibilities associated with land protection and comprehensive conservation planning. Each of these refuge planning processes support the conservation vision, goals, objectives, and strategies described in an LCD. In turn, new land protection plans (LPPs) and revisions to existing comprehensive conservation plans (CCPs) depend upon the development of LCDs. A. Guidance on LCD Introduction In a rapidly changing world, many sectors are seeking to manage adaptively to change. In the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, we are guided by the adaptive management framework of Strategic Habitat Conservation (SHC). Two of the major components of this framework include biological planning (i.e., setting conservation targets) and conservation design (i.e., defining actions on the landscape to meet those targets). Landscape conservation design is an approach to help address the planning and design aspects of SHC at multiple scales. Landscape conservation design is a stakeholder-driven process that provides strategic products to managers. The process incorporates the interests of multiple jurisdictions and sectors1 with the best-available information, including science and traditional knowledge, to assess the conditions of the landscape. This assessment looks at geographical and temporal patterns on the landscape, vulnerabilities and risks to species and resources, and opportunities to address them. Information from the assessment comes from a variety of disciplines. The LCD products are spatially-explicit and correspond to a set of strategies with multiple objectives. These strategies strive to protect vulnerable species and enhance ecosystem services. They are also designed to facilitate adaptation to climate change and other forces of change on the landscape. At the same time, they promote community resiliency to changes in land use, extreme weather events, and many other challenges. The Service is developing "resilient landscape2 designs" through Landscape Conservation Cooperatives (LCCs) and other partnerships (DOI, 2014)3. The Refuge System supports LCD as an "adaptation pathway4" for landscape conservation. Participatory design processes conducted 1By "jurisdiction" we mean the geographic area over which authority extends for example federal, state, local jurisdictions; and by "sector" we mean a part or subdivision, especially of a society or an economy, for example the manufacturing sector. "Adaptation requires coordination across multiple sectors.. .and levels of government and should build on the existing efforts and knowledge of a wide range of stakeholders" (Department of the Interior. (2014). Climate Change Adaptation Plan). 2 An area encompassing an interacting mosaic of ecosystems and human systems characterized by a set of common management concerns (DOI. (2015). Landscape-scale Mitigation Policy [600 DM 6]) 3 Department of the Interior. (2014). Climate Change Adaptation Plan. 4 A participatory, innovative, flexible, and iterative social learning process for managing change in social-ecological systems by building capacity that reduces vulnerabilities and risk (IPCC, 2014). 1 at multiple scales can inform conservation delivery across jurisdictions and sectors, producing greater conservation benefits than what is achieved when stakeholders work independently. Refuge System plans articulate our contributions to achieving a shared vision for the landscapes in which refuges are located. The Refuge System obtains public input on portions of the LCD that are applicable to our mission, mandates, and legal authorities through its land protection and comprehensive conservation planning processes which includes National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and other environmental compliance requirements. Cornerstones to Success Landscape conservation design is grounded in four cornerstones that are inherent to success: people, purpose, process, and products5. The Refuge System advocates for and participates in LCD when these cornerstones are evident. Alternatively, it can adopt a previously developed LCD that followed these cornerstones or that can be revised to conform to these cornerstones: 1. People Landscape conservation design is people-driven because its processes are identified and developed by stakeholders, including the Refuge System. Stakeholders cross multiple jurisdictions and sectors; they are the decision-makers and on-the-ground implementers of conservation and resource-use activities within the landscape. They need to be the ones driving the LCD process if landscape conservation is to be successful. Landscape conservation involves societal choice that requires stakeholder representation and engagement throughout the adaptive management cycle. Design is a discipline that addresses complex problems, and in doing so, improves the quality of people's lives (Brown, 2009)6. Landscape conservation design studies the complexity of change on the landscape, its components, and the services it provides people. It is guided by the expertise of a convening body, like the LCCs or some other landscape-scale partnership that facilitates cooperation, collaboration, and coordination across multiple stakeholders. The Refuge System engages as an equal partner in an LCD process. 2. Purpose Landscape conservation is a stakeholder-driven adaptation strategy7 to promote ecological sustainability during a time of change and uncertainty. Effective landscape conservation is facilitated by LCD processes that integrate stakeholders and their interests into a landscape spatial design and strategic plan: a call for collaborative and coordinated action. The purpose of LCD is to collect, produce, and use interdisciplinary knowledge to identify priorities and coordinated adaptation strategies that protect biodiversity and 5 The four cornerstones are derived from the LCD Performance Metric [FWSMN 4.8.7] in the DOI Strategic Plan (2014). 6 Brown, T. (2009). Change by design: How design thinking transforms organizations and inspires innovation. New York, NY: HarperCollins. 264p. 7 A plan of action or policy designed to facilitate adjustment to actual or expected climate and its effects on socioecological systems. In human systems, adaptation strategies seek to moderate or avoid harm or exploit beneficial opportunities. In some natural systems, human intervention may facilitate adjustment to expected climate and its effects (IPCC, Climate Change 2014: Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability). 2 ecosystem services and increase the resilience and sustainability of socio-ecological systems that support priority resources for future generations despite uncertainty and change (DOI, 2014). The purpose behind Refuge System participation in LCD is to promote a nationwide approach to landscape conservation through regionally-developed, stakeholder-driven design processes. Refuge System personnel engage in LCD to ensure its processes are guided by interests of the Service and the Refuge System. Those interests are considered within the context of other stakeholder interests; and LCD products are useful in guiding development of refuge CCPs and LPPs. 3. Process Design is the underpinning of successful landscape conservation. Landscape conservation design is undertaken in large landscapes typically delineated by a watershed, ecoregion, or larger spatial geography. The process considers climate change and other anthropogenic forces and their impacts on the landscape as a whole, individual components of the landscape (including our Service trust resources), and ecosystem services. The landscape provides a context for diverse stakeholders to identify interests, assess current and plausible future conditions, delineate priority areas, and identify coordinated adaptation strategies to achieve shared vision for the landscape. Landscape conservation design is a deliberative and iterative process that integrates societal values; the interests of multiple jurisdictions and sectors; and the best-available information, including science and traditional knowledge. It informs the identification of landscape configurations (i.e., spatial designs) and coordinated adaptation strategies that ensure current and plausible future landscapes are able to support priority resources despite uncertainty and change (DOI, 2014). It is grounded in interdisciplinary scientific disciplines including conservation biology, landscape ecology, and sustainability science. The Refuge System advocates for and participates in LCD processes that empower our partners and us to: identify desired landscape characteristics using quantifiable biological, cultural, social, and physical resource objectives; identify a shared vision of future landscape conditions that meet conservation goals; identify conservation targets and measureable objectives for those targets; evaluate the drivers that influence current and future landscape patterns; assess current and plausible future landscape conditions; analyze the ability of a landscape to support conservation targets at desirable levels under a variety of spatial and temporal scenarios; and provide strategies for landscape-scale management, restoration, protection, mitigation, and monitoring to support conservation targets at desirable levels. 3 4. Products Two main products are cooperatively produced in an LCD process: a portfolio of spatial designs (i.e. blueprints) and coordinated adaptation strategies (i.e., strategic plans). In support of these products, a variety of additional products may be produced, including models, applications, tools, datasets, databases, methodologies, protocols, etc. Some of these consist of inventories, classifications, assessments, and other forms of analyses. The data used for these products may be qualitative and/or quantitative. Also, the Refuge System does not own sole title to the final products, or sole responsibility for implementing them. An LCD consists of an assessment of the current conditions on the landscape described in terms of vulnerabilities, risks, and opportunities associated with the interests of landscape stakeholders. It also includes an assessment of plausible future conditions developed through participatory stakeholder processes. Given the assumptions made and uncertainties, it identifies a portfolio of priority areas and coordinated adaptation strategies to achieve the vision, goals, and objectives of a multifunctional landscape under various scenarios. Landscape conservation design does not require compliance with NEPA because it provides scientific information used for the purposes of strategic planning and does not propose a federal action, the trigger for NEPA. The National Fish, Wildlife, and Plants Climate Adaptation Strategy (NFWPCAP, 2012)8 is an example of a federal agency's cooperatively-developed strategic plan that did not require NEPA. The Refuge System's subsequent consideration of strategies identified in the LCD must comply with NEPA and all other applicable laws and policies, when it undertakes planning processes for CCPs, LPPs, and step-down management plans. 8 National Fish, Wildlife, and Plants Climate Adaptation Partnership. (2012). National Fish, Wildlife, and Plants Climate Adaptation Strategy. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office. 4 B. Table 1-1. Roles and responsibilities of the Refuge System in LCD development and utilization A. Director - U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service B. Regional Director - U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service C. Chief - National Wildlife Refuge System (NWRS) D. Regional Refuge Chiefs / Deputy Regional Refuge Chiefs E. LCC Steering Committee Representative (if he/she is an NWRS employee) F. Chief - Division of Natural Resources and Conservation Planning, and G. Chief - Branch of Conservation Planning and Policy H. Refuge Supervisor I. Project Leader / Refuge Manager J. Regional Natural Resources Chief / Regional Biologists K. Regional/Field Planners L. Field Staff 1) Approves Land Protection Strategies (LPSs) and Land Protection Plans (LPPs) that are informed by LCDs. 1) Approves Comprehensive Conservation Plans (CCPs) that are informed by LCDs. 1) Provides NWRS guidance that ensures a structured, systematic approach to LCD from a NWRS perspective; 2) Supports regional NWRS efforts to direct capacity to support collaborative LCD projects of interest to the NWRS through policy development and/or budget formulation. 1) Identifies priority landscapes of interest to the NWRS to guide NWRS participation in LCD; 2) Directs NWRS capacity to support collaborative LCD projects of interest to the NWRS regardless of 1265 funding levels; 3) Ensures that NWRS conservation priorities / targets are considered in development of LCDs; 4) Reviews CCPs and LPPs that are informed by LCDs. 1) Advocates for the initiation and development of new LCD projects at LCC Steering Committee meetings; 2) Coordinates with Regional Refuge Chief / Deputy Regional Refuge Chief and Refuge Supervisors to ensure NWRS capacity is directed to LCDs as appropriate; 3) Assists Regional leadership in identifying priority landscapes of interest to the NWRS, and uses this information to guide development of LCD proposals for LCC Steering Committee considerations. 1) Develops NWRS guidance that ensures a structured, systematic approach to LCD from a NWRS perspective; 2) Reviews CCPs and LPPs that are informed by LCDs, providing guidance as necessary to assist / facilitate final project approval. 1) Identifies priority landscapes of interest to the NWRS to guide NWRS participation in LCD; 2) Directs NWRS capacity to support collaborative LCD projects of interest to the NWRS; 3) Ensures that NWRS conservation priorities are considered in the development of the LCDs through participation and advocacy; 4) Reviews CCPs, LPSs, and LPPs that are informed by LCDs. 1) Directs NWRS capacity to support collaborative LCD projects of interest to the NWRS; 2) Ensures that NWRS conservation priorities are considered in development of the LCDs through NWRS participation and advocacy; 3) Ensures NWRS conservation priorities identified in LCDs are considered in development of CCPs, LPSs, and LPPs. 1) Identifies priority landscapes of interest to the NWRS to guide NWRS participation in LCD; 2) Directs NWRS capacity to support collaborative LCD project of interest to the NWRS; 3) Ensures that NWRS conservation priorities are considered in development of the LCD through participation and advocacy; 4) Ensures NWRS conservation priorities identified in LCDs are considered in development of CCPs, LPSs, and LPPs. 1) As directed by Regional leadership, provides assistance to support collaborative LCD projects of interest to the NWRS; 2) Ensures NWRS conservation priorities are considered in development of LCDs. 3) Ensures NWRS conservation priorities identified in LCDs are considered in development of CCPs, LPSs, and LPPs. 1) As directed by NWRS leadership, provides assistance to support collaborative LCD projects of interest to the NWRS. 2) Ensures NWRS conservation priorities identified in LCDs are considered in development of CCPs, LPSs, and LPPs. 4 C. Relationship between LCD and Refuge System planning. In keeping with the June 2013 memorandum from the Refuge System Chief to the Regional Refuge Chiefs, "with limited exceptions, no CCP or LPP should be developed until after an LCD has been completed." CCPs (revisions and new) and LPPs will depend upon LCD development, unless: 1. CCPs (and required compliance documents) are necessary to comply with the requirements of the National Wildlife Refuge System Administration Act, as amended (i.e., meet the Refuge System's 2012 deadline); 2. Step-down management plans (and required compliance documents) are determined to be necessary to address an immediate management concern. The Refuge System engages in stakeholder-driven LCD processes and product development in order to ensure LCDs support our work to conserve FWS trust resources. Our engagement ensures that LCDs generate products that guide development of CCPs and LPPs. The Refuge System advocates for, and supports development of, stakeholder-driven LCDs to ensure they prioritize conservation objectives within and beyond refuge boundaries. As they follow on from LCDs, CCPs and LPPs should: 1. support and contribute to fulfilling the LCD vision, goals, objectives and adaptation strategies; 2. be grounded in best-available science (provided, in part, by the LCD); 3. be responsive to the challenges posed by drivers of landscape change (e.g., climate change, fragmentation, etc.) that are assessed in the LCD; 4. provide management, restoration, protection, and monitoring prescriptions that align with the LCD vision, goals, objectives, and adaptation strategies; 5. be transparent about any uncertainties and assumptions made during LCD development, and the influence they might have on development and analysis of management actions proposed in CCPs and LPPs; 6. strategically deliver Refuge System resources and management actions that are coordinated with those of other stakeholders in the landscape. 5 Attachment 2 Department of Interior Strategic Plan Measure Definition Templates FY 2014 - 2018 FWS Contributing GPRA Measures Only % 6 PMIS Measure ID: Generated from PMIS 2224 (now No. 4.8.7) Measure Display Code: Generated from PMIS Mission Area: Building a Landscape Level Understanding of our Resources Goal: Providing Shared Landscape-Level Management and Planning Tools Strategy: Ensuring the use of landscape-level capabilities and mitigation actions Short Measure Name: The name of the measure that appears in ABC/M. Number of Landscape Conservation Designs Full Measure Name: List the name of measure in terms that can be easily understood by the public (spell out all acronyms). Beginning Year: What year did the measure first come into use? End Year: What year will the measure run through? Measure Scope: Describe the measure in a manner that the general public who is not familiar with your program could understand. Spell out all acronyms. Clearly describe in quantifiable terms what exactly will be measured by defining the parameter of the measure. Baseline/target data should be included. If baseline is not established, indicate the anticipated baseline availability. Measurement Process: Describe the method step-by-step and the formula that will be used to measure the data. Include how data gathered for the measure. The number of Landscape Conservation Designs available to inform management decisions. 2014 2018 A Landscape Conservation Design (LCD) consists of three main components: (1) an assessment of current conditions of a landscape, including biological, physical, and socio-economic metrics; (2) a spatially explicit assessment of the desired future condition of the landscape using quantifiable biological, physical, and socio-economic objectives; and (3) a high-level plan with recommendations on how to move the landscape from the current to the future condition. In collaboration with interested stakeholders (non-DOI entities), DOI bureaus develop LCDs for landscapes under the jurisdiction of, or of interest to, DOI for implementation by both DOI and non-DOI entities. An LCD can include the following: (1) conservation targets (such as wildlife population or ecological process objectives or habitat conditions) within that landscape, (2) factors (i.e., threats and stressors such as climate change) limiting the ability to achieve LCD recommendations, (3) gap and population analyses for the landscape, (4) modeling of future resource relationships for the landscape, and (5) coordinated management, mitigation, and monitoring strategies designed to achieve stated resource objectives. This measure counts the landscape conservation designs that are used to support multi-scale (including site- specific) management strategies and decisions tied to landscape-level objectives identified in landscape conservation designs. Each bureau will identify and design landscapes in response to their respective mission responsibilities. Landscape conservation designs will be established over time for each identified landscape. Each bureau will count the number of landscapes with a Landscape Conservation Design in place by the end of each reporting period. A reporting 1 | Page period is a fiscal year. Data Source(s): Describe the source of the data/information, to include identification of external sources if FWS - Performance Tracking and Reporting System relevant. This might be a (PTrac) description of a survey of NPS - Annual Service-wide natural resource-related customers conducted each quarter, performance data call or a review of a certain percent of cases by senior examiners for quality. Data Type: Is this measure a ratio or cardinal Cardinal number, etc. Data Aggregation: Is this measure cumulative or annual? Cumulative Display Precision: How many decimal points will the 0 display have? Reporting Frequency: How often will the measure be reported (e.g. Annually annually, quarterly, or monthly)? Exceeding Target Defined By: Is an actual lower or higher than the target better? Most measures Value Higher than Target should be written where higher than a target is better. Data Point A (Numerator when applicable) Short Name: Short description that appears in PMIS Number of landscape conservation designs completed and available to inform DOI management decisions Definition: Number of landscape conservation designs completed Define the data point using clear for landscapes under the jurisdiction of, or of interest, to language and no acronyms the Department Key Terms: Define any unusual or complex Definition: terms used in the template Landscape Conservation Designs (LCDs) describe shared, cross-jurisdictional visions for meeting conservation objectives. LCDs evaluate drivers that have created the current patterns on the landscape and that affect potential future landscape patterns. LCDs use a partnership-driven, science-based planning process that (1) assesses the current and projected landscape condition; (2) identifies desired landscape characteristics through the integration of quantifiable biological, cultural, social, and physical resource objectives; (3) analyzes the landscape's ability to achieve desired resource objectives landscape conservation designs under a variety of scenarios and/or limiting factors; and (4) provides landscape-scale management, mitigation, and monitoring strategies to achieve resource objectives. This information will inform a description of a desired future condition for identified landscape features, processes, or resources and a suite of management strategies developed with partners to achieve the desired future condition. Understanding historic and current environmental drivers will inform and guide management plans to achieve conservation goals for targeted features or resources or for a specific area under a bureau's jurisdiction. LCDs inform the development of each 2 | Page landscape condition landscape condition criteria site-specific management plans management decisions conservation delivery activities Bureaus Reporting: Identify which bureaus report to this measure Finalized Date: Date the template was first completed Last Updated Date: Overwrite the date with the most current date of change partner's site-specific management plans (and NEPA documents) and actions within the landscape of the LCD to deliver conservation activities, attain desired resource objectives, sustain ecosystem function/processes, and achieve the missions, mandates, and goals of partner agencies/organization. The landscape's ability to achieve desired objectives for features or resources under a variety of temporal scenarios and/or limiting factors. Landscape condition consists of the biological, physical, cultural, and socio-economic characteristics for the defined geographical area of the identified landscape. LCDs employ models to describe potential future conditions under various scenarios. Plans consistent with the policies, guidelines, and mission objectives of a bureau of DOI for the management of lands, waters, wildlife, cultural resources, visitor services, and other aspects of a specific unit of national public lands under the jurisdiction of that bureau. Decisions regarding the execution of program responsibilities, including, but not limited to, establishment of priorities, allocation of resources, assignment of roles and responsibilities, workload management, and such other decisions as are necessary to perform the functions of the program. Management decisions will include environmental use decisions commonly carried out by DOI land and resource management bureaus and others, often weighing the relative values of development and conservation. Specific actions undertaken to manage, restore, and/or protect landscape resources consist with the future condition described in the Landscape Conservation Design. ' 1 2 3 4 FWS NPS 5/7/2014 3 | Page Attachment 3 LANDSCAPE CONSERVATION COOPERATIVES Characteristics of LCC Landscape Conservation Designs Version 1.0 (2016-2018) August 26, 2016 Introduction: Landscape conservation design (Design or LCD) is of broad importance for achieving the goals of the Landscape Conservation Cooperative (LCC) Network. This document identifies the key Characteristics of LCC landscape conservation designs. These Characteristics were developed by the LCC Design Team*, revised based on feedback from all LCC Coordinators and Science Coordinators, and adopted at the 2016 LCC meeting in St. Louis. These Characteristics reflect current information from the scientific literature and conservation practitioners about attributes important for relevant and useful landscape conservation designs. As such, the LCC Network supports landscape conservation designs that demonstrate these Characteristics. Characteristics of LCC Landscape Conservation Designs Characteristic 1: Collaborative / Multi-sector / Partner-Driven Description: The partnership is cross-jurisdictional and multi-sector and operates using collaborative, partner-driven processes. Characteristic 2: Shared Goals Description: Partners collectively develop a shared vision, shared goals, and fundamental objectives for long-term, landscape-scale conservation in the subject geography. Characteristic 3: Holistic / System Level Description: The Design reflects a holistic or systems-level look at the landscape over a specified time frame. Characteristic 4: Conservation Features Description: The partnership identifies conservation features (such as elements of biodiversity, ecosystem processes, human well-being targets, etc.) as the most valued and/or urgent elements around which the Design is constructed. Identifying conservation features allows partners to link goals to specific factors driving change and to propose strategies to monitor these features as measures of progress towards goals. Characteristic 5: Desired Future Conditions Description: The Design includes a spatial and/or narrative expression of the desired future trajectories or conditions of the landscape. Characteristic 6: Assessment / Situation Analysis Description: The Design includes an assessment of current and projected future conditions of the landscape, of the factors driving change (e.g., climate change, land use, etc.), and of the economic, social, and/or ecological trends and opportunities affecting shared goals and desired future conditions within the landscape. Characteristic 7: Strategies Description: The partnership collaboratively provides recommendations on strategies to achieve the vision, goals, and objectives of the Design. Characteristic 8: Iterative / Adaptive Description: The Design products and processes are developed and managed iteratively, incorporate uncertainty, are adaptive to events and responsive to change, and are periodically evaluated and refined 2 | Page U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service National Wildlife Refuge System - Chiefs Meeting June 2018 Logistics Meeting Location: Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge 800 Great Creek Road Oceanville, New Jersey 08231 Dates and Agenda: Travel dates: June 18 and June 22 Meeting dates: June 19 - June 21 Agenda details forthcoming Field tours: Monday 6/18, OPTIONAL - afternoon tour (2:00 - 4:00pm) of Cape May NWR (1.5 hours from airport/50 minutes from hotel). Wednesday 6/20, morning tour EB Forsythe NWR Friday 6/22, OPTIONAL - brief morning tour (10:00 am) of John Heinz at Tinicum NWR for those departing from Philly in the afternoon (recommend early afternoon flight) Airports: Suggested: Philadelphia International Airport (1hour 15 minute drive to hotel) Alternative: Newark Liberty International Airport; further but may have options to suit needs Atlantic City International Airport is closest but Spirit Airlines is only major carrier to fly to/from this airport Accommodations: Stockton Seaview Hotel and Golf Club 401 South New York Road Galloway, NJ 08205 732-741-3897 Block of 40 rooms set aside for the period of June 18 through June 22 with an additional 20 rooms for those guests choosing to arrive on Sunday, June 17. Rooms are at per diem rate of $99/day. Check-in: 4:00pm. Check-out: 11:00am. Rooms must be reserved by May 11, 2018. The resort prefers reservations through the following link: https://book.passkey.com/e/49644646. However, reservations can also be made by phone by calling the toll free reservations # (855) 894-8698, and request that they want to make a reservation with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service room block. Please contact Rich Albers at 609-652-1665 x7103 if you have any questions. V2 - updated 12/Apr/18