August 24–25, 2023
Columbia Country Club, Columbia Missouri
CONFERENCE THEME
“One Health Concept of Community Conservation”
SPONSORS
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SCHEDULE
Thursday, August 24 |
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| 5 pm | Registration |
| 6 pm–7:30 pm | Social time, with heavy hors d’oeuvres |
| 7:30 pm–8:00 pm | Welcoming remarks/housekeeping John Burk
Open Silent Auction (view items) |
| 8:00 pm–9:00 pm | Keynote speaker: Jason Sumners (Assistant Deputy Director with the Missouri Department of Conservation) “One Health” concept of conservation. The focus is effectively communicating the importance of ecological connectivity to the health of everything and everyone to the masses in urban areas that represent a majority by the numbers but have also lost this perspective. |
| 9:00 pm–10 pm | Continue social time |
Friday, August 25 |
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| 7:15 am | Coffee and tea for conference registrants |
| 8:00 am–9:00 am | Welcome and highlights of the year. General Assembly Meeting. Allison Vaughn (Chair, MoBCI Steering Committee) |
| 9:00 am–10:15 am | Community Conservation Background and examples. 3, 20-Minute presentations on the concept of community conservation and examples:
A presentation outlining the new community conservation tiers. Jason Jensen (Missouri Department of Conservation) Light pollution impacts to bird populations and the Dark Sky Initiative. Vayujeet Gokhale (Professor of Physics at Truman State University) Reducing Powerline and Window Collisions of Raptors in Urban Areas. Steve Heying (Missouri Falconers Association) |
| 10:15 am–10:30 am | Project Poster Session and Break |
| 10:30 am–11:30 am | 3, 20-Minute presentations providing additional examples of community conservation:
Green infrastructure in urban development planning. Ronda Burnett (Missouri Department of Conservation Community Conservation Planner) Addressing deer population problems that will arise in urban green areas that impact habitat quality. John George (MDC Central Region Resource Management Supervisor) Prescribed Burning Associations and community coordination of prescribed burning. Wes Buchheit (Missouri Prescribed Fire Coordinating Wildlife Biologist with Pheasants and Quail Forever) |
| 11:30am–12:30 pm | Lunch with Presentation: Update on Wetlands Summit: Tyler Schwartz (Director of CFM) |
| 12:30pm–1:00 pm | Discuss programmatic modifications within the Farm Bill that may be possible to improve ecosystem services as they are implemented. Nate Goodrich (Assistant State Conservationist of Partnerships, Natural Resource Conservation Service) |
| 1:00–2:20pm | Breakout sessions to brainstorm on calls to action where attendees will rotate amongst the tables. Sessions will be 20 minutes and each session will be provided 4 times.
Farmers & Fields. Emily Beck (Natural Resource Conservation Specialist, MFA) Farm Bill delivery in Missouri. Nate Goodrich (ASTC Partnerships, NRCS), and Doug Helmers (Retired USFWS) Discussion of Youth in the Outdoors Outreach. Laura Semken (Missouri River Bird Observatory Education Coordinator) Discussion on community sustainability. Jason Jenson (MDC) |
| 2:20 pm–2:50 pm | Table Topic leaders summarize what was discussed in the respective sessions. |
| 2:50–3:15pm | MoBCI & community conservation funding opportunities. Tony Elliot (MDC) and Allison Vaughn (MoBCI Chair) |
| 3:15–3:30 pm | Closing comments: How WE can make a difference for birds. Allison Vaughn (MoBCI Chair) |
LOCATION & DIRECTIONS
Columbia Country Club
2210 N. Country Club Drive
Columbia, Missouri
Driving Directions from I-70:
From I-70 take Rangeline Exit and head South on Rangeline. At the second signal, turn left onto Business Loop 70. Follow approximately 1 mile passing under a bridge and take a right on Old Hwy 63. Travel about one half mile and turn left onto Country Club Drive at the gates which will lead you to the Club.
Driving Directions from Hwy 63: From Hwy 63 take the Broadway Exit and head West on Broadway. At the second signal, turn right on Old Hwy 63. Follow approximately one half mile and turn right onto Country Club Drive at the gates, which will lead you to the Club.
AREA ACCOMMODATIONS
Columbia Country Club does not have overnight accommodations so the conference attendees are encouraged to book their own rooms, in advance, at a facility of their choice.
There is a block of rooms at the Best Western near the conference venue, with a nightly rate of $84+tax, which translates to $94.06 total. Call the hotel directly for hotel arrangements for Thursday night:
Best Western Plus Columbia Inn
2904 Clark Lane, Columbia, MO 65202
573.397.6471
Columbia has a wide selection of other hotels and motels within a short distance.