UPCOMING EVENTS

WRP 2008 Annual Meeting
September 9-11, Ft. Collins, Colorado
The WRP 2008 annual meeting is scheduled for September 9-11 in Ft. Collins, Colorado. The focus this year is on management and control of aquatic invasives and we will be looking through this lens during presentations of member activities, quagga and zebra mussels in the west, Eurasian watermilfoil, Corbicula, and New Zealand mudsnails.

This year we are planning TWO field trips so if you want to attend all three days, plan your schedule accordingly. As we did last year, we will have a full day field trip at the beginning of the meeting on September 9. We will visit Rocky Mountain National Park and meet with staff from the National Park Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Trout Unlimited to hear about the removal of nonnative trout and the restoration of native trout in the park. You will receive more information about the field trip later in the summer but for planning purposes, we will probably have short presentations at the hotel and then two groups driving to Bear Lake in RMNP. There is an easy path around the lake. For those who want a longer hike, there will be a 3-4 mile hike to hear about more restoration work (and maybe do some fishing). The other group will have less strenous activities (maybe driving up to the top of the Continental Divide - one of the most beautiful views anywhere in my opinion). Either way, the day will start at 9:00 am and end in the late afternoon.

The WRP meeting will be all day Wednesday, Sept. 10, a social gathering for dinner, then from 8:15 am Thursday, Sept. 11 to 1:30 pm. (agenda below). At that time, we have the opportunity for field trip #2 to visit the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) lab in Ft. Collins. We will learn about and get a tour of their work on pythons, nutria and brown tree snakes. Participants will be returned to the hotel at 4:15.

Hotel information is below - the federal per diem rate is $85.00 per night.

Hilton Fort Collins
425 West Prospect Road
Ft. Collins, CO 80526
(970) 482-2626

You can make a hotel reservation for the WRP meeting directly on the web site:
http://www.hilton.com/en/hi/groups/personalized/FNLCOHF-GWE-20080908/index.jhtml

The cut-off date for reservations is August 21, 2008.

You can take a shuttle from Denver International Airport to the Hilton
Hotel in Ft. Collins for $32.00 one way. Make your reservations on this
web site: http://www.rideshamrock.com/rs_ax.php

Ft. Collins is about an hour's drive from Denver.

There will be a registration fee to cover a box lunch on the field trip to RMNP and lunch on Sept. 10 at the hotel. You will be receiving a registration form with that information on it later.

Below is the draft agenda which may change somewhat before September, but will give you an idea of major topics.

We will have an election for four Executive Committee members. Please let me know if you are interested in serving on this committee. We can always use new faces (and brains)!

I'm looking forward to the meeting and to seeing all of you again. The Hilton has assured me the elevator works really well!

Draft Agenda

Tina

Tina Proctor
Aquatic Invasive Species Coordinator
Western Regional Panel Coordinator
US Fish and Wildlife Service
P.O. Box 25486, DFC
Denver, CO 80225
Phone: (303) 236-4515
FAX: (303) 236-8163
bettina_proctor@fws.gov