Conservation Guidance for Species in Greatest Need of Conservation (SGNC)

Interview questions were designed and Internal Review Board approval was acquired. Interviewees were identified, contacted, and consent obtained. Eleven interviews were completed, transcribed, and analyzed. Conservation planning documents have also been compiled and analyzed. We continue to work with IDNR staff on the review of incoming conservation plans and development of Incidental Take Authorizations. Using the information collected, the conservation plan template and the species guidance document template have been created and are being pilot tested. draft species guidance document for Illinois chorus frog has been compiled from primary literature and IDNR documents. A list of knowledgeable practitioners and scientists was compiled and the Illinois Chorus Frog documentwas sent out for stakeholder review and comment. A draft species guidance document has been prepared for Blanding’s turtle and is under preliminary review by the Blanding’s turtle working group. A list of practitioners, scientists, and stakeholders to review the document i s being compiled. The species guidance document template was used to guide document development and is being refined in the process. The Endangered Species Program is actively using the conservation plan template and the template is being revised as needed. These templates will continuously be improved during the project.In addition, the Endangered Species webpage that will hold the species guidance documents has been built and placeholder links to INHS species pages have been created. The Incidental Take Authorization webpage has been revised to include past ITAs and conservation plans. The conservation plan template has also been posted.Preliminary findings were presented to academic peers at the International Symposium on Society and Resource Management. Results included the need for scientific information, the need to formulate research questions, and the need for a structured approach to elicit expert judgements. Also, while at the conference training was received on Structured Decision Making, a technique that will be incorporated into the conservation planning and ITA process. We have also built interest in the project through a presentation at a regional fisheries conference. We identified additional taxa experts, who are developing guidance documents for bats, mussels, and fish, for which we will be coordinating the review and revision. A survey has been sent to IDNR practitioners to assess their preferred source of information and responses are currently being collected.