August 13 - Bozeman, MT - MT Elk Management Symposium

[Ben Lamb]

Cream rises to the top buddy. Thank you!

 

[Gerald Martin]

Cream rises to the top buddy. Thank you!

Ole Stutter Martin is always happy to help

 

[MtnElk]

The Livestream for the Symposium has been set up:

We also are gong to have some storytelling during the social featuring Andrew McKean from Outdoor Life, Jared Fraiser from 2% for Conservation, Jessi Johnson from the Wyoming Wildlife Federation and DeAnna Bublitz from DEER Camp, MT.

We're also adding a training day on Sunday for folks looking to improve your advocacy skills. This is a small venue, but if folks are interested in attending we'll have Myself, Sonya Smith from MWF, Marcia Brownlee from MT Artemis and Kevin Farron from the Montana Chapter of Backcountry Hunters & Anglers on hand to talk about

1.) Grassroots advocacy training: How to be a better advocate through direct advocacy like testifying at commission meetings, legislative meetings, writing to your legislators, etc.
2.) Media Training: Writing the perfect letter to the editor, presenting your argument in a compelling way, and how to ensure that your message rises to the top and how to use social media effectively as an advocacy tool.

The afternoon session is geared more towards folks who serve on boards or are staff but all are welcome as well. That focuses on:
1.) How to talk to an with the press: What is "on the record" and what isn't, how to communicate effectively in front of a camera, and how to work with your professional staff to properly represent your organization in a professional and thoughtful manner.
2.) Representing your organization in a legislative & executive meeting: What not to do, what to do and how to do it in a professional and compelling manner.

If you are interested in attending the Sunday training, please hit me up via PM and we'll get you in.

Will there be a recording we can watch at a later date as well? Thank you all for what you’re doing

 

[Kiwi]

Looking forward to listening in via YouTube. Starts at 4am Saturday morning for me so might be joining a little late!

 

[Ben Lamb]

Will there be a recording we can watch at a later date as well? Thank you all for what you’re doing

I believe so, yes. We will have it recorded & posted afterwards.

We also will have a proceedings document out together by our fascilitator as well

 

[brocksw]

Ole Stutter Martin is always happy to help

You did well Gerald!

 

[R.K.]

Out of curiosity, will all of this be recorded to view later? The symposium, the advocacy workshops, etc.?

I'm going to be unavailable this weekend, but would love to be able to access the info.

 

[Ben Lamb]

Out of curiosity, will all of this be recorded to view later? The symposium, the advocacy workshops, etc.?

I'm going to be unavailable this weekend, but would love to be able to access the info.

The symposium will be recorded, and we're still working on the advocacy workshops, and we're likely to have a few more of those before the session.

 

[Carnage2011]

If I didn’t have prior plans I’d be attending this. Looks like a good lineup. I’ve had some good conversations with Gerald about elk management and I’ve had some with Kevin. If I was attending I’d buy those guys each a couple beers and sit between them while they debate elk management in MT. That would be quality entertainment!

 

[Ben Lamb]

Well, into every life a little rain must fall.

We had some folks need to cancel on the training day due to illness and family matters, so we're going to cancel this portion of the weekend but we will be rescheduling training days later in the year with a bit more heads up as well.

Sorry for folks who had considered attending this portion. We'll send an email out as well, which if you haven't signed up for the Coalitions listserv, you can do so at the bottom of the page here: https://www.montanaelk.org/

 

[mtmiller]

Streaming now, thanks.

 

[Ben Lamb]

Were having a few hiccups with the internet here so hopefully the stream keeps moving.

 

[Ben Lamb]

@Eric Albus & @Gerald Martin are up now!

 

[mtmiller]

Appreciate @Gerald Martin specific solution thoughts.

 

[Big Sky Guy]

@Gerald Martin and @Eric Albus spoke very well and thorough. Second @mtmiller appreciation on specific solutions. Both with block management and possible season restructure / reduced pressure on accessible lands.

Great job to you both and thank you for taking time to discuss.

 

[mtmiller]

• early two week cow season won't work, instead last two weeks
• early two week bull season is better option
• few people on the accessible lands
• first thing we need to do is get numbers to objectives

hmmmm.....

 

[mtmuley]

Listened in. Thanks Gerald. Good information from all. mtmuley

 

[Eric Albus]

Ben,
We’ll thought out and executed show that you put on.

 

[Ben Lamb]

Ben,
We’ll thought out and executed show that you put on.

Thanks for being a big part of it, Eric. I hope we were able to bring folks closer together yesterday. I know I was inspired.
@Gerald Martin, @Eric Albus & @Big Fin all did a fantastic job yesterday - Huge thank you to all and we're going to get some stuff solved. I'm hopeful.

Super glad Gerald was able to get a nap in as well. It was a long day.

Cody McKee from Nevada Department of Wildlife discussing their landowner program (Jeremy Vesbach from New Mexico & Garrett Visser from Idaho to his left):

Ken Hamlin, retired FWP & the author of the 2005 EMP talking about how humans are the biggest hurdle to elk management. Dr. Chris Servheen, former USFWS Grizzyl Bear Recovery Coodrinator (left) & Jon Horne from the Idaho Department of Wildlife (right) in deep thought. Chris was the panel moderator & Jon was talking about his work in predator/prey studies. We will be posting the power points from each presenter on the website.

We had about 100 people in the audience, and pretty constant 45 or so online. The crowd thinned out a bit after lunch, which is to be expected. It's tough to sit through 8 hours of panels when it's prime hopper season. The folks who did stick around also stayed for the social which was a blast, connecting with so many people. Even Paul Ellis & I were able to find some things to laugh about together (mostly our bad behavior towards each other).

The one & only George Bettas, our Emcee for the event:

 

[Straight Arrow]

As I streamed parts of the discussions, it was refreshing and educating to hear and learn of various perspectives and ideas for solutions. The congeniality and the professionalism was remarkable in that it was gathered in one event. Kudos to Ben Lamb and all who participated in any capacity.

The HT forum can be proud of Eric Albus and Gerald Martin for their obviously well prepared and well thought out remarks. As usual, the Big Fin also did an outstanding job.