More than 30 Forest Service employees from throughout the agency, along with a half dozen partner organizations, convened in Portland, Oregon, the week of March 13 to contribute to the ongoing process to rebuild a National Fish and Aquatic Conservation Strategy.

While it won’t be finalized until fall 2017, the draft strategy settled around six main goals, including conservation of fish and aquatic resources, connecting people to the aquatic world, partnerships, scientific research, mentoring and training, and communicating the value of Forest Service work.

The group spent a rainy day on Siuslaw National Forest seeing the impressive collaborative successes of the Salmon Super Highway and the Salmon River Estuary Partnership.