The relationship between science and management has traditionally been thought of as mutually reinforcing, with scientific investigation and discovery informing management on the one hand, and management helping to guide and focus science on the other. Unfortunately, recent trends suggest a slow unraveling of this integration within the natural resource community. A workshop at the 81^st North American Wildlife and Natural Resources Conference, Barriers and Bridges in Reconnecting Natural Resources Science and Management, will address the issue by engaging the audience to identify the causes of these trends and possible steps that can be taken to re-connect natural resource science and management. The workshop is slated for Tuesday, March 15, 2015 at 1:00 p.m., at the Wyndham Grand Hotel in Pittsburgh, PA.

The need to inform fish and wildlife management by science was first articulated by Theodore Roosevelt in what Aldo Leopold would term the "Roosevelt Doctrine." This was reinforced by Leopold's 1930 American Game Policy which led to the establishment of The Wildlife Society, National Wildlife Federation, and U.S. Geological Survey's (USGS) Cooperative Research Units. Similarly, fisheries science and management has been linked since the beginning of the American Fisheries Society in 1870, resulting from the need to better understand the causes of early fish stock depletions. The edifice of scientific understanding which today underlies the management of fish and wildlife attests to the long and successful record of interaction between these functions.

However, in recent years there has been an increasing disconnect between science and management. One of many examples is seen in the attendance at North American Wildlife and Natural Resource Conferences and the annual meetings of the professional fisheries and wildlife societies. Since the early 1990s, attendance at the North American Conference has trended away from the sciences, and attendance at the annual society meetings has trended away from resource management. This separation is also reflected in the staffing, funding and organizational trends within federal and state agencies. The trends can even be seen in the land grant universities, where there is an ongoing shift in the focus of research away from natural resource management issues. Such trends, if left unchecked, may undermine the foundations of effective conservation.

Organized by the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, The Wildlife Society, American Fisheries Society, and the USGS Cooperative Research Units, the workshop will explore some institutional arrangements in the natural resources profession that have been successful in sustaining linkages between science and management, and some that have not been successful. Presenters and panelists will include state agency directors, university leaders and scientists, executives in the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, leaders in the U.S. Geological Survey, and the executive directors of The Wildlife Society and American Fisheries Society.

Following a series of presentations, workshop attendees will have the opportunity to participate in roundtable discussions with topical experts on the science capacity within state fish and wildlife agencies, trends in university research and education, and the challenges and barriers in maintaining connections between science and management. Three case studies will be presented with potential models for approaches to link science and management, and speakers will explore themes and messages from the issues and case studies while also providing next steps in reconnecting science and management.

Workshop to be moderated and facilitated by Dave Case, DJ Case & Associates

Part 1 - Validating the Problem and Pinpointing the Challenges

Part 2 - Case Studies: Evaluating the Process of Science and Management Decisions

Part 3 - Analyzing What Works and What Doesn't

Part 4 - Conclusions and Looking Forward