Dear Partners,
The CCP is helping the Chesapeake Bay Program’s Fish Habitat Workgroup prepare for an intensive STAC two-day workshop planned for April of this year. We are asking willing partners to please complete and share the following Fish Habitat Needs Questionnaire with an appropriate person or organization, preferably before March 16th but no later than March 23rd.
Gina Hunt, Fish Habitat Coordinator at the Chesapeake Bay Program, is coordinating this effort. The primary goal for the workshop is to inform the development of a Regional Fish Habitat Assessment (regional means NY through VA). The workshop will build on the National Fish Habitat Assessment. That assessment scored watersheds down to the HUC12 level for their risk of fish habitat degradation (lower risk means healthier habitats). It also identified which stressors most impacted habitats.
The Fish Habitat workshop is proposing to refine the National Assessment with more local data sets improving its utility for local decisions. We would like to get some input from government staff, planners and conservation land-use folks to help guide the agenda for the technical workshop. The primary goal of the questionnaire is to determine if a regional assessment would be useful, does it have utility in restoration and conservation planning. And if so, at what scale would an assessment be most helpful?
Gina can be reached via email at [email protected] or by phone at 410-948-9836.
We apologize for the short notice but greatly appreciate your willingness to support this effort.
(photo credit: Kelly Fike/USFWS)
