Identifying critical habitat for species at risk is one of the essential action items for recovery and action planning. While the importance of critical habitat for species recovery is well recognized among recovery planners, confusion and controversy remain regarding ecologically and legally defensible approaches to identifying critical habitat. This conference clarified policy surrounding critical habitat identification, and, through presentations from people working on identifying critical habitat, explored the issues, challenges, methods, and solutions related to critical habitat identification.
On October 18 and 19, presentations were held at the Prestige Inn in Cranbrook, B.C. On October 20, a field trip group went north of Cranbrook as far as Radium Hot Springs to look at habitat work in the Rocky Mountain Trench. Also on October 20, as an adjunct session to the main conference, FORREX offered a one-day event entitled ?ABCs of Planning a Communication Strategy that Works!?.
The workshop was attended by 125 people. Participants were: biologists, resource managers, government staff, academics, representatives of environmental non-government organizations, and others with an interest in critical habitat definition.
