2003-2006 PROGRAM OF WORK
Focus Areas
Raise awareness of the detrimental effects of invasive species and develop strategies among agencies, communities, industry, and volunteers to address this threat to the Southern Appalachians.
- Facilitate cooperation among agencies in the region to coordinate invasive species management plans
- Host workshops with the nursery and landscaping industry on native and exotic plant substitutes for invasive plants, and to develop policies and guidelines for promoting use of non-invasive plants in landscaping
- Develop informational materials to help identify invasive plants, and to promote use of non-invasive plants in landscaping
- Work with a community in the Southern Appalachians to demonstrate how community-based invasive plant management can be accomplished
- Enhance information shared on invasives via the SAMAB website
- Train volunteers to conduct detection surveys for invasive plant species
Build in Southern Appalachian communities an understanding of natural resource conditions and a stewardship ethic through citizen-based environmental inventory and monitoring.
- Continue SAMAB-sponsored monitoring of invasive exotic plants and water quality in gateway communities
- Expand monitoring to include communities in other parts of the Southern Appalachians and additional indicators of environmental health
- Address community-specific inventory and monitoring needs
- Collect data in a manner consistent with Cooperative agency protocols to ensure its usefulness for federal land management purposes
- Communicate “lessons learned” to other partnerships along the Appalachians to promote monitoring along the full length of the Appalachian Trail
- Facilitate constructive dialogue among citizens, gateway communities, and federal land management agencies
Protect watersheds and native forests and grasslands by providing information and building understanding of the use of tools (like prescribed fire) in ecosystem restoration efforts.
- Facilitate information exchange on current restoration projects in the Southern Appalachians
- Host a panel on the use of prescribed fire in the Southern Appalachians at the SAMAB Fall Conference
- Work across agency boundaries on the Upper Tennessee River Watershed Restoration project
- Host a field trip at the SAMAB Fall Conference to demonstrate successful use of prescribed burns to restore native grasslands
- Explore the potential for a workshop or conference on “Fire Ecology in the Appalachians”
- Host a workshop on techniques to restore native pine-hardwood ecosystems, many of which have been lost due to southern pine beetle epidemic
Coordinate and facilitate delivery of data and information on the Southern Appalachian region through the Southern Appalachian Information Node (SAIN) of the National Biological Information Infrastructure (NBII).
- Work with SAIN to test and improve its Web-based infrastructure for functionality and usability
- Develop prototype applications of information sharing through SAIN, e.g., document GPRA accomplishments and assist with NEPA processes, public participation and involvement, resource assessments, and management issues
- Identify agency and organization leads for providing data, information, and tools
- Secure organizational commitments to documented, on-line information linked to or through SAIN
- Convene a meeting with appropriate technical personnel from regional agencies and organizations to facilitate information sharing.
- Identify and prioritize shared, unmet information needs, including data quality objectives for each need
Facilitate access to information, tools, and resources that communities need to develop sustainably.
- Compile a “toolbox” of Community Sustainability Planning Assistance including information, procedures, and funding sources
- Host a Community Leaders Workshop to raise awareness of availability of technical assistance programs and competitive funding opportunities
- Provide technical and managerial assistance, training, funding, and access to tools to a few pilot communities in the Southern Appalachians
- Host a workshop on Gateway Communities, focusing on their common issues and opportunities
- Provide assistance in piloting and distributing the SEF and GeoBook, and in making GeoBook data web-accessible
Raise awareness of the importance of cultural resources in the Southern Appalachians. Promote and foster conservation, preservation, interpretation and research of cultural resources. Facilitate information exchange and dialogue between landowners/managers and communities/affected populations.
- Host a workshop with the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, landowners/managers and agencies addressing issues, consultation and cooperative endeavors
- Host a workshop to share issues and develop regional priorities for cultural resource management
- Promote sharing of expertise among all agencies and individuals by sponsoring thematic symposia
- Identify and participate in historic preservation initiatives across the region. Help secure funds for their support and make technical expertise available
Building on recent results of Southern Appalachian Mountain Initiative, promote broader understanding of the causes of air pollution in the region and pursue opportunities for inter-agency cooperation to address these issues.
- Host a panel at future SAMAB Fall Conference on air quality issues in the Southern Appalachians and ways to promote understanding with the general public
314 Conference Center Building, Knoxville, TN 37996-4138
Phone (865) 974-4583 • FAX (865) 974-4609 • E-mail: samab@utk.edu
SAMAB's Web Pages are hosted by
SunSITE utk.edu
