Workshop Directors:  Jon Kusler, Associate Director, Association of State Wetland Managers; Jeanne Christie, Executive Director, Association of State Wetland Managers

Goals:  Under the Government Performance Results Act of 1993, federal agencies are responsible for developing, tracking and reporting on performance measures to demonstrate accountability for expenditures of appropriated dollars.  Performance measures must accurately reflect the type, quantity and quality of work being performed and must clearly express and support results.  Not only must federal agencies report on performance but their state, tribal and local partners should develop and track performance as well since many of the federal programs work with state, tribal and local entities to leverage funding. 

Goals for this workshop include:

- Assist state, federal agencies, and local governments in the development and implementation of "outcome" based wetland protection and restoration goals, performance measures and analysis techniques to improve monitoring and assessment, wetland restoration, compensatory mitigation, and protection of vulnerable wetlands.

- Evaluate the practicality of implementing an overall "no net loss/net gain" performance goal with regard to wetland acreage, functions, functional values, socioeconomic values, and other measures.

- Evaluate the use of remote sensing, sampling and other techniques for actual monitoring of wetlands and related ecosystems to apply performance and goals.

- Identify high priority research, pilot project, and demonstration project needs.

Sponsors:  The workshop is principally supported by the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration, Habitat Restoration Program. Additional support is provided by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service. This support is gratefully acknowledged.

Cooperating Organizations:  

·	National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration
·	U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
·	U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
·	U.S. Department of Agriculture
·	U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
·	Coastal States Organization
·	Association of State Floodplain Managers
·	International Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies
·	Society of Wetland Scientists

Workshop Format:  The workshop will be two days in length. It will include both presentations and discussion.

Workshop Attendees:  The workshop will focus on state wetland programs but with some consideration of federal and local programs as well. The workshop will be relatively small with 40-60 participants. Speaker and audience participation will be primarily by invitation and will include state wetland program managers, federal agency staff, scientific experts, and others. However, we will accommodate as many others as possible. Contact us if you have an interest in attending. 

March 24 Pre-Workshop: Annual State/Federal Wetland Program Meeting to Improve State/Federal Cooperation. 

This one-day workshop will address important areas of state/federal cooperation including: changes in CWA jurisdiction, progress implementing the National Mitigation Action Plan, analysis of recent court decisions, using the EPA State Wetland Grant program to fund program implementation, opportunities for increased state participation implementing Farm Bill programs as Technical Service Providers, tailoring Farm Bill programs to address state wetland and water quality issues, and other topics.

Everyone attending the Outcome-based workshop on March 25-26 is invited to this pre-meeting. Please indicate on the registration form (pdf format) if you are interested in attending this pre-meeting.

Tentative agenda of Outcome-Based Workshop:  (For discussion purposes.)

Day 1. Thursday, March 25.

8:00a.m.-9:00a.m.  Registration

9:00a.m.-9:15a.m.  Welcome and Introductions. Jeannie Christie, Association of State Wetland Managers and Rebecca Allee, NOAA Restoration Center

9:15a.m.-9:35a.m.  Issues and Options in Goal-Setting, Measuring, and Monitoring. Jon Kusler, Association of State Wetland Managers

9:35a.m.-10:30a.m.  Federal Wetland Agency Wetland Outcome-Based Goals, Measures, Monitoring

         (Panel. 15 minutes each.)  

·	Goal, Objectives, Targets: Step-by-Step to Ecologically-Informed Management. Perry Gayaldo, NOAA Restoration Center
·	USGS Perspective. Colleen Charles, U.S. Geological Survey
·	EPA Perspective. John Meagher, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

10:30a.m.-10:45a.m.  Coffee

10:45a.m.-12:15p.m.  (Panel Continued.)

·	Fish and Wildlife Service Status and Trends. John Cooper and Tom Dahl, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
·	NRCS's NRI and Performance Measures for Wetlands. Dan Mullarkey, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service
·	U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Perspective. Meg Smith, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
·	Administrative Perspective. Bill Leary, Council on Environmental Quality

12:15p.m.-1:15p.m.  Lunch Discussion. Performance goals: Can the no net loss/net gain goal form an umbrella goal for performance including measuring and monitoring? Is it enough to measure “function”?  If so, how is function to be defined? If not, what additional measures are needed such as overall ecosystem health? acreage? “functional values”? “socio-economic values”?

1:15p.m.-3:10p.m.  A Look at Some of the Tough Issues. Presentations and Discussion Concerning Individual Topics (See list above)

·	Economic Assessments of Wetland Outputs and Cost-Effective Restoration. Dennis King, University of Maryland
·	Monitoring Wetland Conservation Accomplishments Through Remote Sensing. Ralph Tiner, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
·	NWI: Issues and Options in Wetland Mapping and Assessment. Barry Drazkowski, GeoSpatial Services, St. Mary's University
·	The Use of Sampling Approaches to Resource Evaluation. Diane Eckles, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service

3:10p.m.-3:30p.m.  Break

3:30p.m.-5:00p.m.  A Look at Some of the Tough Issues. Presentations and Discussion Concerning Individual Topics Continued

·	Washington State Assessment and Monitoring: Does “Condition” Reflect Function?  Erik Stockdale, Washington Department of Ecology
·	Developing Indicators for Wetland Assessment and Restoration in Coastal Massachusetts. Bruce Carlisle, Massachusetts Coastal Zone Management
·	Developing a Hierarchal Approach for Virginia, Carl Hershner, Virginia Institute for Marine Science

5:00p.m.-6:00p.m.  Mixer

Day 2. Friday, March 26.

8:30a.m.-10:00a.m.  A Look at Some of the Tough Issues. Presentations and Discussion Concerning Individual Topics (See list above)

·	Use of Remote Sensing to Evaluate Wetland/Estuarine Conditions and Changes. Victor Klemas, University of Delaware
·	Use of Remote Sensing to Detect Wetland Violations. Ralph Tiner, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service presenting for Charles Costello
·	Integrating Wetland Measuring and Monitoring. Dennis Whigham, Smithsonian Institution

10:00a.m.-10:15a.m.  Coffee

10:15a.m.-12:15p.m.  Presentations and Discussion Concerning Individual Topics Continued

·	Using Remote Sensing Techniques to Assess Wetland Compensatory Mitigation Compliance. James Robb, Indiana Department of Environmental Management
·	Determining the Success of Creation, Restoration, and Enhancement for Mitigation or Other Purposes. Ann Ertman, Amy S. Green Environmental Consultants, Inc.
·	Sustainable Water Resources Roundtable. Tim Smith, Sustainable Water Resources Roundtable

12:15p.m.-1:30p.m.  Lunch. Wetlands and Aquatic Resource Indicators in "The State of the Nation's Ecosystems". Robin O'Malley, The Heinz Center.

1:30p.m.-2:30p.m.  What is Needed to Improve Our Long Term Ability to Establish More Specific Goals, Measures, Monitoring and Feedback Mechanisms: Research Needs, Demonstration Projects, Pilot Studies?

·	Are We Purveyors of Wetland Homogeneity?  A Model of Wetland Degradation and Restoration to Improve Mitigation Performance.  Robert Brooks, Penn State Cooperative Wetlands Center
·	Future Directions for Corps of Engineer Monitoring Efforts. Marc Sudol, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

2:30p.m.-3:15p.m.  General Discussion. Future Directions: What Pilot, Demonstration Projects, Research Projects are Needed?  All attendees are requested to present their ideas for advancing the status of performance goals, measures, and monitoring techniques.

3:15p.m.-3:30p.m.  Wrap Up. Jon Kusler, Association of State Wetland Mangers; Jeanne Christie, Association of State Wetland Managers; Rebecca Allee, NOAA Restoration Center

Registration Fee:  The registration fees include a box lunch on Wednesday, March 24, Thursday, March 25, and Friday, March 26 and a reception on Thursday, March 25. ASWM members: One day fee: $30; Two day fee: $60; and Three day fee: $90. ASWM nonmembers: One day fee: $40; Two day fee: $70; and Three day fee: $100. Please click here for registration form (pdf format).

Travel:  All speakers and participants are responsible for their own travel and hotel reservations.

Hotel: A block of rooms have been reserved at the Hotel George, 15 E Street, NW, Washington, D.C. at the government rate of $150 plus tax single occupancy until February 23, 2004. Please call 202-347-4200 or e-mail rooms@hotelgoeorge.com and identify that you are reserving a room as part of ASWM group number 5802.

Contact Information:  Jon Kusler, Association of State Wetland Managers, P.O. Box 269, Berne, NY 12023; (518) 872-1804, Fax: (518) 82-2171, aswm@aswm.org; www.aswm.org.