Thank you to everyone who participated in our 2012 conference.

We had record-setting attendance - more than 350 people attended! A special thank you to all of the presenters and to our sponsors and exhibitors for their support.

• View 2012 conference photos below.
• Download the program booklet (PDF, 16 pp., <1 MB)
• Download presentation abstracts and presenter bios (PDF, 35 pp., <1 MB)

CONFERENCE PHOTOS

Thanks to photographer Bill Pielsticker for contributing his skills to this year's conference. Additional thanks to photographers Katie Beilfuss, Rich Eggleston, Aaron Marti, and Salina Wunderle, whose images are also used below.

Keynote Presenter David Batker, Earth Economics	WWA Executive Director Tracy Hames
Plenary Presenter Ed Collins McHenry County Conservation District	Special Session Moderator Jim Anderson Lake County Forest Preserve District
Special thanks to Redhorse for providing entertainment during the poster session and social!	Tracy Hames presents on his work restoring floodplains for the Yakama Nation
WWA Executive Director Tracy Hames and WWA Board Chair Mary Linton	Locally-grown apples!
Ramsar Celebration! Wisconsin wetland enthusiasts with many special guests celebrated two recent announcements from the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands during the conference: WWA's receipt of the 2012 Ramsar Wetland Conservation Award for Education and the designation and official listing of the Kakagon and Bad River Sloughs complex as a Wetland of International Importance.
Chairman Mike Wiggins, Jr. Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa	Peter Fasbender USFWS Green Bay Ecological Services Field Office
	Bad River Band Tribal Council Members and Natural Resources Staff
WWA Staff and Board, Wisconsin Ramsar Committee Members, and partners celebrate Ramsar in Wisconsin

2012 CONFERENCE PURPOSE & THEME

As more of our landscapes are developed, more of our wetlands are located in urban environments – in or near towns, cities, suburbs, or areas with concentrated recreational development. Development can bring dramatic changes to hydrology, species composition, water quality, soil and sediment structure and movement, and landscape patterns and connectivity, and these dramatic changes can mean significant negative impacts for wetlands.

At the same time, climate experts are predicting an increase in both the number and severity of future severe-weather events: scientists with the Wisconsin Initiative on Climate Change Impacts (WICCI) predict a 70% probability that annual average precipitation will increase. In addition, they predict a 25% increase in the frequency of intense rain events. These changes will bring particularly great challenges to urban areas – areas with significant impervious surfaces and traditional infrastructure that will be severely stressed by the increased intensity of rain events. Wetland protection and restoration will become increasingly important strategies for mitigating some of these impacts.

While urban environments pose great challenges to wetlands, wetlands can also offer many opportunities for human communities to manage water-related challenges and provide for a better quality of life for residents. Wetlands can be a tool for protecting water quality, abating flooding impacts, protecting shorelines, recharging groundwater, and providing fish and wildlife habitat. Nature adds to our quality of lives, and wetlands provide venues for recreation, education, and rejuvenation. Wetlands help people.

People also can help wetlands, and this can be particularly true for wetlands in urban environments. Wetlands located in urban areas are ideal places to engage the public in caring about and for wetlands through education, stewardship, and citizen science activities.

In 2012, Wisconsin Wetlands Association will convene members of the regional wetland community for our 17th annual conference to discuss the latest in wetland science, management, restoration, and protection issues around the conference theme, Urban Wetlands. This 2-day conference will include a keynote address, topical oral sessions, a poster session, working groups, a banquet and wetland field trips. Following more than a decade-long tradition, we anticipate that this year’s conference will contribute to a growing regional collaboration for protecting and conserving Wisconsin’s wetlands.

WHO SHOULD ATTEND
WWA invites wetland experts and enthusiasts from around the Midwest region and beyond to join us for our 2012 conference. Our audience typically includes:

PREVIOUS WWA CONFERENCES