Leopold Institute staff have either co-hosted or been actively involved in the following conferences and workshops. Conference proceedings are also available as mentioned below.

Workshop: Beyond Naturalness? Defining Desired Future Conditions for Protected Area Ecosystems

The Leopold Institute collaborated with the University of Montana and the Rocky Mountains Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit in convening a workshop on April 3-5 at the Lubrecht Experimental Forest, Montana. The workshop was entitled, "Beyond Naturalness? Defining Desired Future Conditions for Protected Area Ecosystems." Institute scientists David Cole, Dave Parsons and Peter Landres were joined by 13 scientists from the National Park Service, U.S. Geological Survey, U.S. Forest Service, Parks Canada, The Nature Conservancy, The Wilderness Society and Universities in Alaska, California, Montana, North Carolina, British Columbia and Western Australia. Presentations and discussions dealt with challenges in using the concept of naturalness to guide park and wilderness stewardship, particularly given rapid climate change, and explored alternatives such as ecological integrity and resilience. The consensus of the group was that, while the workshop barely scratched the surface, substantial progress was made in articulating the need for and sketching out some trajectories for a plurality of goals for parks and wilderness. The group agreed to work together to produce an edited book on the topic.

The 2007 George Wright Society Biennial Conference on Parks, Protected Areas, and Cultural Sites

"Rethinking Protected Areas in a Changing World" - The 2007 George Wright Society Biennial Conference on Parks, Protected Areas, and Cultural Sites was held April 16-20, 2007 in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Leopold Institute Director, Dave Parsons attended the George Wright Society Conference and in his role on the program committee, Dave organized and introduced the opening plenary session. The plenary address, "The Impact of Climate Change on Parks, Protected Areas, and Cultural Sites" was presented by Dr. Lisa Graumlich, Director, School of Natural Resources, University of Arizona. Climate change was a major theme at the conference, which included plenary addresses on "Continental-Scale Conservation in North America: Y2Y and Beyond" (Harvey Locke, Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society), "Native Peoples, Protected Lands" (Bobbie Conner, Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, and Tom Lee, CEO of Parks Canada), "Media Realities: the Complex Environment of News Reporting" (Elizabeth Arnold, National Public Radio), and "The Pristine Myth" (Charles Mann, author of 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus).

For full information on GWS2007, including conference background, please visit the official website at: http://www.georgewright.org/2007.html.

The 8th World Wilderness Congress, Anchorage Alaska, September 2005

The 8th World Wilderness Congress (8WWC) took place in Anchorage, Alaska, September 30 - October 6, 2005. Organized by The WILD Foundation (USA), and hosted by many Alaskan and international organizations, the theme of 8WWC was, "Wilderness, Wildlands and People - A Partnership for the Planet." The Congress included technical working sessions in the symposium co-chaired by Leopold Institute social scientist Alan Watson, and Sawtooth National Recreation Area land manager Liese Dean, entitled, "Science and Stewardship to Protect and Sustain Wilderness Values."

To view the Science & Stewardship symposium program, including titles, authors and brief descriptions of the many fine presentations, panel discussions and special sessions, click here.

Attention Symposium Presenters: The following are copies of the Author Guidelines and the Poster Guidelines for the Symposium Proceedings:
Author Guidelines
Poster Guidelines

For more information regarding the 8th World Wilderness Congress, visit the official 8WWC website at http://www.8wwc.org.

The 2005 George Wright Society Biennial Conference on Parks, Protected Areas, and Cultural Sites

"People, Places, and Parks: Preservation for Future Generations" - The 2005 George Wright Society Biennial Conference on Parks, Protected Areas, and Cultural Sites was held March 14-18, 2005 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. For conference details visit the official website at: http://www.georgewright.org/2005.html

The George Wright Society Biennial Conference: April 2003

For conference details visit the official website at: http://www.georgewright.org/2003.html

Protecting Our Diverse Heritage: The Role of Parks, Protected Areas, and Cultural Sites is an interdisciplinary joint conference of the George Wright Society and the National Park Service. The George Wright Society Biennial Conference is the USA's largest interdisciplinary conference on protected areas; Cultural Resources 2003 will be the second in a series of nationwide forums, convened by the National Park Service, for discussing how to increase awareness of the value of cultural resources, for strengthening communications among National Park Service cultural resources staff and NPS partners, and for discussing best practices and recent developments in cultural resources management. This conference will take place in San Diego, California from April 14-18, 2003.

The 7th World Wilderness Congress: Port Elizabeth, South Africa,
November 2001

The 7th World Wilderness Congress (WWC7) took place in beautiful Port Elizabeth, South Africa, November 2 - 8. The Congress, whose theme was "Wilderness and Human Communities: The Spirit of the 21st Century," was a smashing success with over 700 delegates from more than 44 nations participating. Included in the program were technical working sessions in the symposium chaired by Leopold Institute social scientist Alan Watson, entitled, "Science and Stewardship to Protect and Sustain Wilderness Values." Symposium papers are currently being compiled into a proceedings that will be available summer of 2003.

To view the Proceedings Table of Contents click here

For more information regarding Congress results and accomplishments, visit the official WWC7 website at www.worldwilderness.org.

Wilderness in the Circumpolar North: Searching for Compatibility in Traditional, Ecotourism and Ecological Values May 15 & 16, 2001

Purpose: This seminar brought together scientists from the circumpolar North community who are studying the valuation process (human decision-making on trade-offs between competing demands and values) for terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems protected as wilderness. These scientists shared with other scientists, federal land managers, students, and the public ways in which contentious issues surrounding traditional relationships with nature, nature tourism and ecological protection in remote northern areas have been studied and addressed.

http://www.forestry.umt.edu/kiosk/seminars/circumpolar/

World Congress on Adventure Travel and Ecotourism: September 2000

Alan Watson addressed the World Congress on Adventure Travel and Ecotourism in Anchorage, AK. He was invited by the Congress Program Committee to provide observations on international wilderness trends. While in Anchorage he visited the Biological Sciences Center to propose cooperation on Alaska wilderness issues on lands managed by the Department of Interior. Alan also visited the University of Alaska in Anchorage to meet those involved with the Cooperative Ecosystems Study Unit.

Wilderness Values Workshop, Washington, DC: July 11-12, 2000

This workshop, attended by Alan Watson and Dave Parsons, had three objectives:

• to conceptualize a multidisciplinary Wilderness Values Framework,
• to summarize the current state of knowledge about wilderness values,
• to identify research needed to improve our understanding of wilderness values.

Click Here to view a summary of the Wilderness Values Workshop, and then click on "Wilderness Workshop Summary in PDF (43 KB)"

Visitor Use Density and Wilderness Experience

This workshop was held June 1-3, 2000 in Missoula, MT. David Cole (Leopold Institute) and Wayne Freimund (University of Montana) hosted a gathering of approximately 15 scientists to assess the extent of the research available to support use limit decisions. The participants assessed the scientific progress to date and offered ideas to better understand the relationship between visitor use density and wilderness experiences and its application to decisions about use limitation in wilderness and parks.

The proceedings are now available.

Wilderness Science in a Time of Change Conference - (Proceedings Now Available)

The Wilderness Science in a Time of Change Conference took place May 23-27, 1999 in Missoula, MT. The conference brought together scientists and managers to review the current state-of-knowledge and research on wilderness. The resulting proceedings, containing over 150 papers, is now available in five volumes.

For a complete list of papers included in each volume, click here.

To obtain copies of the proceedings, click here.

Proceedings of the Sixth World Wilderness Congress - (Proceedings Now Available - Volumes I and II)

The 6th World Wilderness Congress (WWC6) took place in October 1998 in Bangalore, India, the first time it met in Asia. The theme was "The Call for a Sustainable Future." Seven hundred and fifty delegates from 25 nations participated in the six day conference. Alan Watson (Leopold Institute) and Greg Aplet (The Wilderness Society) co-chaired one of the many fine symposia offered at the conference.

The resulting proceedings entitled, "Personal, Societal, and Ecological Values of Wilderness: Sixth World Wilderness Congress Proceedings on Research, Management and Allocation" are now available in two volumes. These proceedings are available through the Rocky Mountain Research Station, USDA Forest Service.

For a complete list of papers included in the proceedings, click here.

To order copies of the proceedings, click here.  Note! In order to complete the publication order form you will need the following publication numbers: Volume I (publication #342); Volume II (publication #375).

The WWC6 was hosted by the World Wilderness Trust (India) and The Wild Foundation (USA). More detailed WWC6 information can be found at: http://www.worldwilderness.org

Fish Stocking Workshop: October 16-18, 1998

This workshop, sponsored by the US Geological Survey and the Leopold Institute, explored the issue of fish stocking in wilderness lakes. It was held at the Flathead Lake Biological Station, Polson, Montana in 1998. Participants included 45 scientists, managers, wilderness users and advocates, and students. The format of the meeting included 24 invited talks organized into four subject areas: overview of fish stocking in wilderness, community and ecosystem effects, effects on species, and restoration and management.

Click Here  for Workshop Overview.

The Proceedings have been published in Ecosystems 2001,
Volume 4, No 4.

Limits of Acceptable Change and Related Planning Processes: Progress and Future Directions

This workshop was held May 20-22, 1997 in Missoula, MT. Workshop goals were to assess progress in applications of Limits of Acceptable Change (LAC) and to work toward more successful applications in the future. Particular attention was given to concepts and terminology requiring clarification and to procedural revisions. Although initially developed to address the issue of recreation use in wilderness, the LAC process can clearly be used outside wilderness and can be used to address issues other than recreation. Considerable attention was devoted to identifying the range of situations in which LAC can be usefully applied.

The proceedings are now available.