Welcome to Wetlands 2003:
LANDSCAPE SCALE WETLAND
ASSESSMENT AND MANAGEMENT

Target Audience: State agencies, tribal agencies, federal agencies, local governments, consultants, non-profits, landowners, developers, others.

NEW! Continuing Education Credits available for Wetland and Soil Scientists in New Hampshire. The New Hampshire Board of Natural Scientists has approved "Wetlands 2003: Landscape Scale Wetland Assessment and Management" October 20-22 for 6 CEU's for both Wetland & Soil Scientists. The Board is currently reviewing the itineraries for the field trips for additional CEU credits.

Important Dates:

Ø	Rregistration fee of $225 for ASWM Members and $260 for Nonmembers has been extended until October 17. (On-line Registration Form), (Printable PDF - Registration Form)
Ø	Submission of speaker registration form, revised abstracts/biographies, poster abstracts (if needed), CD materials required by August 27 (On-line Speaker Registration form) (Printable PDF - Speaker Registration Form)
Ø	Sponsorship Commitment form due by September 30 (Sponsorship Levels), (On-line - Sponsor Commitment Form), (Printable PDF - Sponsor Commitment Form), (Exhibit Information), (Exhibit Rules), (On-line - Exhibit/Poster Session Registration Form), (Printable PDF - Exhibit/Poster Session Registration Form)
Ø	Sponsor/Exhibitor Advertising for agenda due by August 30
Ø	Exhibit/Poster Registration Form Due by September 30 (On-line Exhibit/Poster Session Registration Form), (Printable PDF - Exhibit/Poster Session Registration Form PDF)
Ø	Speaker PowerPoint presentations needed by September 30
Ø	Hotel rate of $89 at the Sheraton available until October 5 (Hotel Information) (If you have any trouble receiving this rate, please give ASWM a call.)

AGENDA:  The three day agenda will include plenary and concurrent sessions, a Monday evening reception, exhibits and poster sessions and field trips.  A detailed agenda will be posted around September 1^st. 

Agenda Overview: To view agenda please see NEW UPDATED AGENDA.
Printable PDF AGENDA.

Monday	AM and PM	Plenary Session all day: Plenary talks will address major scientific and institutional strategies used to assess wetlands in a landscape context.
		Evening Reception
Tuesday	AM and PM	Four Concurrent Sessions (All Day): 4-5 sessions; three papers per session with 30 minutes for each presentation Addressing: Institutional Issues, Wetland Restoration, Soils, Vernal Pools, Bioassessment, Invasive Species, and more.
Wednesday	AM	Morning Concurrent Sessions: 4-5 sessions; three papers per session with 30 minutes for each presentation Addressing Stormwater, Remote Sensing, Habitats, Assessment and more.
	PM	Plenary: Presentations on Federal Policy Changes, Assessment Strategies and Putting it All Together
Thursday		Three field trips

National Symposium Goals:  The overall goal of this symposium will be to build the capabilities of local governments, states, federal agencies, not for profits and others to assess and manage wetlands and related ecosystems on a landscape level by:

• Examining the goals and management needs for regional wetland monitoring assessment and management,
• Integrating compensatory mitigation and voluntary restoration activities into a watershed context,
• Sharing information concerning the types and scales of data needed and data analysis approaches to meet various landscape scale management needs,
• Familiarizing wetland, floodplain, stream, and watershed managers with various wetland monitoring and assessment techniques including the comparative advantages and disadvantages of techniques, and
• Helping wetland managers select techniques appropriate to their circumstances ranging from site-specific planning and regulation to watershed scale analysis, restoration, and management.

Wetland Assessment is a broad topic with many applications.  Wetland assessment is used for many activities: monitoring wetland health, making permit decisions, targeting voluntary wetland restoration activities, maintaining biodiversity, measuring mitigation success, undertaking  watershed management, developing wetland classifications, protecting public water supplies, implementing local land use plans and so on.  In recent years there has been increasing interest in identifying a single wetland assessment methodology that will answer all questions on wetland functions and values for all applications.  Over 50 methodologies are in various stages of development.  While each method may be useful for one or more applications, there is no single method that can be applied to every situation.   During the day and a half of plenary we are proposing to touch on 7 major approaches or categories of wetland/ landscape assessment.  These are Water Quality, Soils, Habitat, Biodiversity, Hydrology, Birds and Targeted Wetland Restoration. The plenary talks will also examine interdisciplinary address regional approaches such as those being applied in places such as the Everglades, Chesapeake Bay, Gulf of Maine and others.  There will be discussion on the relative usefulness of the various approaches that exist as well as the continuing work to synthesize ideas on which specific methods are most useful to answer specific types of questions.  The concurrent sessions will address these topics as well.  The plenary and concurrent sessions will also incorporate discussions of tools important to landscape assessment such as remote sensing and GIS applications. Finally, the plenary and concurrent sessions will touch on institutional considerations and provide information on recent and anticipated changes in Federal policy affecting wetlands.

FIELD TRIPS (See draft.) There are three field trips planned for Thursday October 23.  One will be designed to end mid-afternoon to enable participants to catch a late afternoon or evening flight home.  The other two will require the full day.

Field Trip 1 (Half Day)

Stop 1: Aquatic Ecosystem Restoration within Mine Falls Park, Nashua NH
Stop 2: NH Route 101 Wetland Mitigation Site, Brentwood, NH
(Please note, we will be able to stop at the Manchester Airport after Field Trip 1 for those wishing to catch a flight home.)

Field Trip 2 (Continues from above to the Seacoast.)

Stop 3: Little River Salt Marsh Restoration, North Hampton Awcomin Salt Marsh Restoration Project,  Rye NHNH
Stop 4: Awcomin Salt Marsh Restoration Project,  Rye NH
Stop 5: (Time permitting) Pickering Creek Salt Marsh, Greenland NH

Field Trip 3: (Full Day)

COMPARATIVE FIELD STUDY OF WETLAND BOUNDARY INDICATORS
Mascoma Headwaters, Dorchester, New Hampshire

Conference Registration:  The registration fee includes conference materials, a reception the evening of October 20, continental breakfasts and lunches on Monday, October 20, Tuesday, October 21, and Wednesday, October 22, and a one-year (2004) ASWM individual membership.  Registrants will need to pay an additional fee of $35 to participate in a field trip. ON-LINE REGISTRATION FORM, PRINTABLE PDF - REGISTRATION FORM.

REGISTRATION FEES	Regular (Thru 9/22) EXTENDED UNTIL OCTOBER 17	Late (After 10/17)	Walk-Ins
Members of ASWM*	$225	$265	$305
Non-members of ASWM*	$260	$295	$340
One Day Fee Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday	$100	$125	$150
Field Trip	$35	$35	$35

Conference Facility:  The Sheraton Nashua Hotel in Nashua, New Hampshire is a 336-room facility located in southern New Hampshire with easy access to Route 3.   There is ample free parking at the facility.  The Sheraton is located 20 miles from Manchester Airport in New Hampshire.  The hotel provides free shuttle service to and from Manchester Airport.  It is approximately 45 miles from Logan Airport in Boston.  The hotel includes a fitness center with an indoor pool.  It is located in an office park surrounded by walking trails and tall trees.  For general information on the Sheraton Nashua Hotel search http://www.starwood.com. See lodging below to register on-line.

Lodging: Lodging is available at the Sheraton at the government rate of $89.00 per night for single or double occupancy, plus 8% tax.  Reservations must be made by October 5, 2003 to guarantee these rates. Registrants may reserve rooms at this rate three days prior to and three days after the conference. The end of October is generally the height of New England fall foliage and/or there are plenty of things to explore or other activities available in the area.  Please see Things to Do.  To make a reservation, call the Sheraton at 1-888-627-7183 and indicate that the reservation is part of “Wetlands Managers” at the Sheraton in Nashua, New Hampshire. Register on-line by clicking SHERATON. (If you have any trouble receiving this rate, please give ASWM a call.)

Sponsorship/Exhibit Space:  Sponsorship/Exhibitor opportunities are available.  Sponsorship levels and benefits can be found here SPONSORSHIP. See here for registration forms and rules: ON-LINE - SPONSOR COMMITMENT FORM, PRINTABLE PDF- SPONSOR COMMITMENT FORM, EXHIBIT INFORMATION , EXHIBIT RULES, ON-LINE EXHIBIT/POSTER REGISTRATION FORM, and PRINTABLE PDF - EXHIBIT/POSTER REGISTRATION FORM). Exhibits will be located in Ashwood Court where refreshments are available during breaks and in hall space directly adjacent to plenary and concurrent sessions.

Poster Session:  Symposium speakers and participants paying a registration fee can reserve display space for poster materials, publications, etc. during Wetlands 2003, subject to the limitations set forth in the EXHIBIT RULES. Please see EXHIBIT INFORMATION for details. ON-LINE - EXHIBIT/POSTER REGISTRATION FORM, PRINTABLE PDF - EXHIBIT/POSTER REGISTRATION FORM, and CONFERENCE REGISTRATION FORM.

Background Materials:  All participants will receive a package of conference materials including a CD with conference abstracts and annotated bibliographies, memos, and newly prepared materials on wetland assessment, wetlands and watershed management, smart growth, stream and floodplain protection and restoration.  We are also looking for additional relevant material to include on the CD, such as fact sheets, field guides, technical guidance, etc relating to topics covered by the conference.  We are interested in your recommendations of materials that are available in electronic format, but please be sure to inform us of the copyright status of any materials recommended.  If we are to include any copyrighted material we will need written permission from the copyright holder by August 27.  To recommend materials contact sharon.weaver@aswm.org.

Travel:

Manchester Airport, One Airport Road, Manchester, NH 03103; 603-624-6539; http://www.flymanchester.com/home_frames.htm.  Approximately 25 minutes from the hotel.

Logan Airport, 1-800-23-LOGAN; http://www.massport.com/logan/default.asp. Approximately 45 minutes from the hotel.

Parking:  There is amble free parking available at the Sheraton.

Things to Do:  New England is famous for its fall foliage.  There are also many kinds of activities for outdoor enthusiasts, history buffs, and those in search of quiet and solitude. THINGS TO DO

Scholarships: There are limited scholarships opportunities available for state agencies, conservation commissions, not for profits, and students.  To inquire, please contact Sharon Weaver or Mary Hampton at aswm@aswm.org or 518-872-1804.

Volunteers:  Volunteers are needed to help with registration, moderate sessions, assist with audio visual equipment, and many other activities.   If you would like to volunteer at the conference, please contact Sharon Weaver at sharon.weaver@aswm.org or 518-872-1804.

For more information contact:  The Association of State Wetland Managers (ASWM), P.O. Box 269, Berne, NY 12023-9746; 518-872-1804; Fax: 518-872-2171; E-mail: aswm@aswm.org; Web site: www.aswm.org.