LCC News

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First came the sound: an airy “poooof.” Then two sizeable nostrils spraying water emerged, followed by a blubbery, bewhiskered face. The massive mother manatee lifted her head and lingered at the surface momentarily to breathe in some oxygen. Beside her, just below the surface, floated her three-foot-long calf, about a third of her body length.

I couldn’t believe my luck. These slow-moving aquatic mammals can hold their breath for 20 minutes—and I wasn’t even sure that I had paddled into the right branch of the river as I’d been almost running aground the whole way.

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Message From a Co-Chair Ericha Nix

Greetings GTC,

Here we are halfway through the year and that means most of us are deep into our field seasons! That also means the 41st Annual Gopher Tortoise Council Meeting is right around the corner! We have moved the meeting time from October to November with hopes of avoiding hurricane threats. With that said, I am happy to announce that the 2019 meeting will take place November 15-17, 2019 in Gulf Shores, Alabama at the beautiful Lodge at Gulf State Park. This is a brand-new venue situated on the beach of Alabama’s beautiful Gulf Coast.

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As the Holiday season approaches we are reminded of our Network Partners who have helped to sustain this unique partnership over the past year. Thank you for imparting your knowledge and skills to help move our Network out of it's infancy stage and into an action oriented partnership. Although the year is coming to an end, you all continue to work diligently to conserve our Basin's aquatic conservation. We thank you for that and wish you a happy Thanksgiving and a joyful holiday season.

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SEAFWA Adopts Black Bear Resistant Container Testing Protocol

The Southeastern Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (SEAFWA) recently adopted a black bear resistant container testing protocol. The protocol provides consistent guidelines for evaluating food and garbage containers, wildlife feeders, or other items that may hold substances that are attractive to bears. Rapid growth of human and bear populations across the southeastern U.S. has led to increasing conflicts that result from bears accessing anthropogenic food rewards. SEAFWA recognized the need to increase human safety and enhance bear conservation by developing a program that objectively assesses devices designed to secure bear attractants. SEAFWA also wants to be sure that feeders used to deliver toxicants to help reduce feral pig populations do not have an adverse impact on black bears. The Wildlife Management Institute (WMI) will partner with SEAFWA to implement the protocol, building on WMI’s experience implementing the grizzly bear resistant testing protocol for the Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee (IGBC). Products that are certified “Black Bear Resistant” through the protocol will be listed on SEAFWA’s BearWise website. Where appropriate, local, state, or federal governments, homeowners’ associations, and others can require or encourage voluntary use of these containers.

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CONFERENCE OFFERS SHORTLEAF PINE & FIRE SCIENCE Volume 8, Issue 4 October, 2019 This shortleaf pine stand was planted during the 1950s in the Cane Ridge area of the Mark Twain National Forest, and has been treated with prescribed fire in 2010, 2018 and 2019, said silviculturalist Michael Stevens during a field trip at the 5th Shortleaf Pine Conference in early October. The stand was previously overstocked, but a timber sale reduced stocking to the present closed-woodland condition. See page 4 for more photos from the field trip. “Is shortleaf pine a modern-day phoenix?” asked wildlife researcher Ron Masters during his keynote address at the 5th Biennial Shortleaf Pine Conference organized by the Shortleaf Pine Initiative. According to myth, the phoenix dies, bursts into flames and renews its life. Responding to his own question, Masters said the answer might be yes for ecosystems dominated by shortleaf pine.

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NASF releases biennial survey results on state forestry agencies [NASF Newsroom]

According to the National Association of State Foresters’ newly released biennial survey, family forestland owners receive more forest management technical assistance from state forestry agencies than from any other source. In fact, state forestry agencies provided technical assistance to nearly 270,000 landowners and 8,502 communities in 2018, the report found.

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LF REMAP PRODUCTION IS AHEAD OF SCHEDULE
North Central GeoArea Products Released

LF Remap, the comprehensive mapping effort to create a new base map data suite representing 2016 ground conditions, met its 2019 product release schedule a little early with the North Central GeoArea products. This area was released early in November, bringing the total of on-time products to four GeoAreas, including the Northwest, Southwest, and South Central regions.

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FHWA Releases 2015 8-Hour Ozone Non-Attainment Area Maps

The 2015 NAAQS nonattainment area maps are now available on the Office of Planning, Environment and Realty (HEP) Air Quality Transportation Conformity website. The maps show the boundaries for nonattainment areas under the 2015 8-Hour Ozone standard, which applies to 52 areas across the country. More information on the 2015 NAAQS is available via the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) here.

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From theory to reality: validating connectivity models with on-the-ground movement data

Empirical evidence from GPS-collared fishers reveals how well three different connectivity mapping schemes explain real-life patterns.

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Special Section: Captive Propagation of Imperiled Species Augmentation of wild populations with hatchery‐reared individuals continues to be a valuable tool in conservation biology.

The authors and editors hoped that the tips, tricks, and techniques that worked on some imperiled species might be adaptable to others. This special section serves as a repository for information shared at the Captive Propagation of Imperiled Aquatic Species Symposium at the 147th AFS Annual Meeting (held in Tampa, Florida, August 2017).

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Special Section: Captive Propagation of Imperiled Species Augmentation of wild populations with hatchery‐reared individuals continues to be a valuable tool in conservation biology.

The authors and editors hoped that the tips, tricks, and techniques that worked on some imperiled species might be adaptable to others. This special section serves as a repository for information shared at the Captive Propagation of Imperiled Aquatic Species Symposium at the 147th AFS Annual Meeting (held in Tampa, Florida, August 2017).

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Southeast Blueprint Version 4.0 is now finalized! It was presented and
reviewed at the Southeast Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies
(SEAFWA) annual meeting a couple of weeks ago. We made lots of great
improvements this year, including: corrected over prioritization in Texas,
Oklahoma, and the mountains of West Virginia and Virginia; improved
priorities in the Lower Mississippi Valley, Louisiana marshes, and the
Southern Appalachians; updated inputs from Florida and the Middle South
subregion; expanded marine coverage to include state and federal waters
around Florida; and expanded hubs and corridors that now cover all of
Florida. To explore the latest Southeast Blueprint, visit Rua's blog...

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The Eastern Brook Trout Joint Venture (EBTJV) is excited to announce its collaboration with RepYourWater, Beyond the Pond, and Atlantic Coastal Fish Habitat Partnership (ACFHP) to further support fish habitat conservation from whitewater to bluewater. Starting now, 3% of all proceeds from RepYourWater merchandise featuring Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New England, New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Washington DC, Virginia, South Carolina, and Georgia will go directly to ACFHP and EBTJV via Beyond the Pond. In addition, RepYourWater donates 10% of proceeds from its conservation collection to their conservation partners, which includes Beyond the Pond. That translates to even more funding support for the 20 Fish Habitat Partnerships, including the EBTJV.

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SE PARC 2020 Meeting

This year we are returning to Camp McDowell in Nauvoo, AL for our annual meeting, held from February 20-23, 2020! Our theme this year is "Putting the 'P' Back in PARC: Partnerships Allow for Real Collaborations". Please keep an eye out for our Call for Abstracts and announcement of this year's symposia topics, coming soon. Check our website to stay updated!

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