The National Workshop on Large Landscape Conservation

October 22 - 24, 2014

This is the second of two session focusing on the Western Governor's Wildlife Council's Crucial Habitat Assessment Tool (CHAT).  In response to energy development needs, the Western Governors’ Association issued their Wildlife Corridors report in 2008 and established the Western Governors’ Wildlife Council (WGWC) to oversee and implement their vision for a west-wide decision support tool to enable efficient and economical energy development that conserved the west’s wildlife resources.  This symposia presents the science, application, and implications of the WGA’s 6 year effort to build wall-to-wall data for mapping crucial wildlife habitats across the 2,168,951 mi² landscape of the western U.S. including development the WGA Crucial Habitat Assessment Tool (CHAT), individual state CHAT tools, and the collaborative and network capacities and strategies that were employed and accommodated to implement and continue this landscape level vision for conservation and energy development.  This second session is set in a panel discussion to encourage dialog about CHAT with several leaders from different states.