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LOCAL CHAPTERS: LAUNCHING, MAINTAINING, AND ACHIEVING

ARE YOU THINKING OF STARTING A LOCAL CHAPTER?

SCB's Web site (www.conbio.org) now includes advice on how to start a local chapter, complete with generic templates of a Charter and Bylaws (as downloadable Microsoft Word documents). Look for Local Chapters in the Activities menu.

Approximately 30 chapters have been chartered over the years, including three outside North America, but the status of many chapters fluctuates between active and inactive. The number of active chapters surged recently from 11 in early 2003 to 16 in early 2004 (15 in North America and one in Bolivia). Most chapters are headquartered at universities and have memberships dominated by graduate students. Several have memberships more equally divided among practitioners, academics, and students. At a workshop for chapter members during SCB's 2003 annual meeting, participants identified three factors that characterize chapters that not only survive, but thrive over the years. First, vibrant and enduring chapters have a regular annual meeting with oral presentation sessions. These meetings range from a conservation biology-oriented session within a larger regional meeting to stand-alone conferences with plenary and concurrent oral sessions, a poster session, and a banquet. By consistently providing a high-quality program, the meeting becomes a "must-attend" event in the region. For examples, visit the Web sites of the Berkeley, Davis, or Missouri chapters. Second, successful chapters typically have an active, responsible newsletter editor or Web master. Your Web site is how potential members learn about the chapter and how current members keep abreast of activities. Up-to-date content engages visitors and generates long-term involvement, whereas stale content drives away visitors instantly.

Third, enduring chapters tend to have just one or two clearly-defined recurring projects (such as an annual symposium or newsletter). Other projects come and go over time, depending on member interests, but these focal projects anchor the core membership to the chapter. Chapters that start with a long list of exciting projects tend to ignite in a blaze of glorious activity and then wither away just as quickly. Remember that a clear commitment to a quality service provided over the long term keeps your chapter alive so it can engage in other short-term projects. The number and objectives of the smaller projects will change over time, but your chapter will survive and thrive through these changes if it maintains its fundamental services.

If you have more questions about starting a chapter after visiting SCB's Web site, you may contact Paul Beier (the current chapter liaison on the Board of Governors). You also may want to contact one or more local chapters linked to that site to learn from their experiences. Three local chapter activists offer their assistance and advice: Lisa Delissio of the New England Chapter (lisa.delissio@salemstate.edu), Cristian Olivo of the Bolivia Chapter (olivocris@yahoo.it), and Fiona Nagle of the Minnesota Chapter (finagle@umn.edu).

Paul Beier

FREE WEB HOSTING FOR LOCAL CHAPTER WEB SITES!

As of January 2004, SCB offers free Web hosting for local chapters. The system is easy to use and requires minimal experience with html editors or other specialized software. After five minutes of on-line training from Kat Powers-Morris (kpm@conbio.org) and a few days to set up an address, your Web master can start posting content.

SCB's only conditions for serving as host are that your site include (a) a list of current officers, their contact information, and the dates their terms expire, (b) a copy of your charter and bylaws, and (c) no obsolete content (for example, lists of events that concluded more than six months ago). We hope this service will be useful for chapters worldwide; we will be able to support non-English content in the future. In addition to text, you may upload your logo, photographs, and other content. Visit the pages for the Upper Cumberland, Aldo Leopold, or Maine chapters at www.conbio.org (follow the Local Chapters link under Activities). These pages are only a few weeks old and may not be polished when you see them, but you will appreciate what this service can offer your chapter.

Eleven of our chapters maintain their own Web sites. Within the guidelines established by the Executive Office, these chapters may either migrate to the SCB site or remain independent. If your chapter has its own site, please check the SCB Web site to make sure we have correctly listed and hyperlinked your site.

Please note the SCB site will delete hyperlinks to the Montana, Duke, Texas A&M, and Victoria chapters unless a chapter representative contacts Kat by 15 June with a solemn oath to update content! If you have questions, please contact Kat Powers-Morris (kpm@conbio.org). For other chapter-related questions, contact me (Paul.Beier@NAU.EDU).

Paul Beier

COLORADO PLATEAU CHAPTER INITIATIVES

The newly reformulated and recharged Colorado Plateau Chapter of the Society for Conservation Biology is emerging as an active voice in promoting integrated and effective research in the service of conservation in our region.

Our chapter president, Tom Fleischner, recently wrote a letter of support for a new set of assessment guidelines for evaluation of riparian ecosystems by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in our region. These guidelines, authored by Larry Stevens and other chapter members, were developed specifically for lower elevation tributaries of the Colorado Plateau and have a stronger biological basis than the current method used by the BLM. The guidelines themselves are partly the outgrowth of a chapter Work Group, and to our pleasant surprise, BLM has been receptive to our ideas. Tom sent the letter of support to the U.S. National Riparian Service Team, and we have heard rumors that the Team in fact may be incorporating our approach into the national Properly Functioning Condition protocol.

Our chapter is excited about our first two Work Groups. These alternatives to standing subcommittees are coordinated by our Conservation Chair, Paul Beier. We regard Work Groups as an effective mechanism to develop products, such as white papers, letters, or comments on environmental impact statements, that further the mission and goals of the chapter. One Work Group is producing a well-documented, illustrated book on the Plateau's rare and imperiled species. The book will highlight these species' distributions, life histories, ecology, threats, and strategies and actions to restore them. We hope the book will galvanize public and private support for threatened and endangered species native to our region. Another Work Group assembled a comprehensive "guidance document" for the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument's soon-to-be-revised grazing program. The document reviewed scientific literature on effects of grazing on arid systems. Using new protocols specific to the Intermountain West and southwestern United States, the document also suggested new approaches for determining the cause of declines in rangeland health and assessing carrying capacity of grazing allotments. The guidance document was framed as a management strategy that will meet the Monument's statutory and regulatory obligations with respect to livestock grazing.

We hope to initiate several new Work Groups in the near future. A riparian woodlands group, for example, would focus on understanding water availability on the Colorado Plateau and its response to human activity. Another group would comment on the scientific basis of ongoing land-use plan revisions for Colorado Plateau Field Offices of the BLM and suggest potential modifications. Reviewing recovery plans for threatened and endangered species on the Plateau also is a potential Work Group activity.

In November 2003, the chapter orchestrated the first paper session on conservation biology at the U.S. Geological Survey's Biennial Conference for Research on the Colorado Plateau in Flagstaff, Arizona. The session was well attended. Building on the momentum of this experience, we have decided to host chapter gatherings in even-numbered years to supplement our odd-numbered year meetings during the Biennial Conference. Because the Biennial Conference always is held in Flagstaff, we intend to hold the even-numbered year meetings elsewhere. At our first chapter meeting, which will be held this spring at Lee's Ferry, we plan to promote networking across disciplines by involving social scientists and researchers on human dimensions of conservation.

We invite SCB members who live in or do research on the Colorado Plateau to visit our Web site (www.envsci.nau.edu/cp_scb/index.htm) and join the chapter. The site has links to ongoing research, land use history, active conservation groups, and book reviews. We have an active board (myself, Tom Fleischner, Gary Nabhan, Paul Beier, Dave Mattson, Marisa Howe, and Matt Johnson), and we are eager to work with new, energetic members as we promote ecological research and science-based conservation efforts across the Colorado Plateau.

Allison Jones

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