Friends,

The following announcement relates to a meeting of the WA and OR
chapters of The Wildlife Society. A few of you may have a direct
interest there. But I hope a number of you are interested in the ranking
process used by Natural Heritage programs and will have some comments on
the ranking information presented below.

John Fleckenstein, zoologist
Washington Natural Heritage Program



Joint Washington and Oregon Rare Animal and Invertebrate Meeting

The Washington Natural Heritage Program and Oregon Biodiversity
Information Center maintain lists of rare, threatened and endangered
species in their respective states. Species on the lists are ranked, and
the lists are used by US Forest Service and BLM to identify Sensitive
and Special Status species.

A joint meeting to discuss rare animal and invertebrate species from
Oregon and Washington, the ranking process, and the resultant ranks will
be held on Tuesday, February 12 in the Jefferson room, in conjunction
with the Oregon and Washington Chapters of The Wildlife Society Joint
Meeting. The meeting will start at 1:00 pm and last until about 5:00 pm
(no later than 5:30 pm). The meeting is open to all, but we request
people register so we can alert you to proposed changes to the lists as
the meeting date approaches. The current Rare, Threatened, and
Endangered Species list for Oregon is available at http://orbic.pdx.edu.
The Washington Rare, Threatened and Endangered Species list is available
at http://www1.dnr.wa.gov/nhp/refdesk/animals.html. This is your
opportunity to submit information on rarity, threats, trends, local data
and knowledge, and professional judgment.

You can bring your recommendations for species additions, deletions,
changes to rank, distribution or list, or any other changes to the
meeting or send them prior to Eleanor Gaines (eleanor.gaines at pdx.edu
<mailto:eleanor.gaines%40pdx.edu> ) for Oregon species, or John
Fleckenstein (john.fleckenstein at dnr.wa.gov
<mailto:john.fleckenstein%40dnr.wa.gov> ) for Washington species. A
spreadsheet with recommendations submitted will be summarized and posted
to the websites prior to the meeting. Registered participants will be
notified when the spreadsheet is updated.

To register for the meeting, please email eleanor.gaines at pdx.edu
<mailto:eleanor.gaines%40pdx.edu> . There is no registration fee.