Latest Program Update (posted 05/28/2025)

 

The GWS ParkForum 2025 Program is here! We have four Plenary Sessions, 45 Breakout Sessions, a three-day Poster Session, Field Trips, and Special Events waiting for you in Missoula!  Click the PDF icon above for the most recent version, and come back often for updates.

 

Here are some of the highlights.

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Plenary Sessions

• Monday, October 20 (mid-afternoon start): We’ll welcome you to ParkForum 2025 by offering an introduction to the region in which we are gathering, organized by our friends at the Yellowstone to Yukon (Y2Y) Conservation Initiative. Details are still gelling, but we anticipate having the participation of members of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, on whose Traditional Territory (along with that of the Kalispel) the city of Missoula sits. The Tribal representatives will be asked to share their activities on climate change and cultural heritage, and will be joined by a Y2Y climate scientist to talk about the initiative’s work in this area, including Y2Y’s integration of Western science and Traditional Knowledge.

• Tuesday, October 21: Ervin Carlson of the Blackfeet Nation and Mark Biel of Glacier National Park will discuss collaboration on the Iinnii Initiative to restore buffalo/bison to Blackfeet lands.

• Wednesday, October 22: The State of Play in the US National Park System: Perspectives from the National Parks Conservation Association (working title). Details TBA.

• Thursday, October 23: Land Tawney, founder of the American Hunters and Anglers Action Network, will discuss the group’s work to advocate for public lands and waters and defend them against privatization proposals.

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Field Trips (optional, all but one with fee)

The area in and around Missoula is spectacular … and we want to help you experience it! We have a set of afternoon learning excursions on Wednesday, October 22, to some of the best protected places in the immediate Missoula vicinity. We’re even planning bike and walking tours so you can get out and get moving in the company of knowledgeable local guides. And on Friday, October 24, we are offering a post-workshop, all-day field trip to the National Bison Range.

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Here's the lineup for Wednesday afternoon, October 22:

• Marshall Mountain Park • Meet with reps from Missoula County Parks and Rec, City of Missoula Conservation Lands, and Five Valleys Land Trust to learn about how this former ski area has been turned into a public community asset and world class mountain bike destination (fee for transport via mini-van)

• Blackfoot Watershed • Learn about how broad-scale collaboration is leading a comprehensive effort to protect and restore this iconic watershed east of Missoula (fee for transport via mini-van)

• Rattlesnake Dam Removal Restoration Project and Universal Trail • Come see the impressive ecological results from the nationally recognized removal of a dam on Rattlesnake Creek and the development of a new universal trail on the site (fee for transport via mini-van)

• Missoula Butterfly House and Insectarium • With a tropical greenhouse filled with butterflies from around the world and an exhibit area featuring a wide array of insects, arachnids, millipedes, centipedes, and crustaceans, this is a place that celebrates “the little things that run the world” (transport via Mountain Ride, Missoula's free public bus system; $10 admission fee)

• Bike Tour (itinerary TBA; bike rental fee)

• Walking Tour (itinerary TBA; no fee)

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The GWS ParkForum program features:

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• Plenary Presentations

• Core Workshop Sessions

• Information-Sharing Sessions

• Paper and Poster Presentations

• A 3MR (Three-Minute Research Competition)

• Affinity Meetings

• Special Events

• Field Trips

 

Read on to learn more.

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Plenary Presentations

Daily opportunities for all attendees to come together to hear about and discuss key issues. Some may be recorded and/or livestreamed.

 

Core Workshop Sessions

With input from partners, the Program Committee will develop solutions-driven Core Workshop Sessions in which participants will grapple with real-life issues and develop potential solutions to them. Based on the extensive knowledge and expertise of workshop participants, results-based desired outcomes will include proven case study solutions and success stories, good practices, and tailoring strategies to address site-specific challenges. The Core Workshop Sessions will focus on four recurring themes:

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1. Responding to Climate Change threats and impacts on parks, protected/conserved areas, cultural sites, and other forms of place-based conservation. Climate change — and the disastrous loss of biodiversity, which go hand in hand — are global emergencies.  Climate change is the defining challenge of our time, reshaping not only the planet’s biological diversity but also a wide array of cultural practices that depend upon a stable natural world. Most protected areas have both cultural and natural heritage values.  Making these areas more adaptive and resilient to climate change is an essential part of humanity’s overall response. Parks, protected/conserved areas, and cultural sites must also be in the forefront of demonstrating effective and practical climate mitigation measures.

2. Integrating Natural and Cultural Heritage Conservation wherever possible. The GWS’s hallmark is bringing people from diverse backgrounds and skill sets together. In our experience, conservation outcomes — including landscape-scale conservation—are more effective and long-lasting if “nature” and “culture” are not in separate silos. While not every aspect of place-based conservation can be treated this way, there is much more scope to do this than commonly realized.

3. Ensuring that Social and Environmental Justice (more broadly, JEDI: justice, equity, diversity, inclusion) is part and parcel of place-based conservation. This is first and foremost a moral imperative to address past and continuing wrongs related to conservation activities. Beyond that, today JEDI is a prerequisite for conservation success because of larger societal demands for such redress, and to gain the support of a much broader and more representative portion of the public.

4. Exploring the broad and significant concept of the Economic Value that parks bring to communities on the local, regional, national and international levels. This value manifests in the direct economic returns parks generate from tourism. Equally if not more important, though harder to quantify, is the value of the ecological or ecosystem services parks provide to humankind for free. Economic value is important to stress because it is critical to people’s livelihood and to the political context in which all parks operate.

 

Information-Sharing Sessions

A chance for you to share your work and ideas, these sessions will be fashioned by the Program Committee from submissions to the Call for Proposals.

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Paper and Poster Presentations

Individuals may propose to give a Paper or a Poster on any topic related to parks, protected/conserved areas, cultural sites, and other forms of place-based conservation.

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Three-Minute Research (3MR) Competition for Emerging Researchers

Open to current students (undergraduate or graduate) and recent graduates, the 3MR is a friendly, supportive competition designed to help emerging researchers develop academic, presentation, and research communication skills — specifically, the ability to effectively explain their research in language appropriate to a non-specialist audience. You’ll have three minutes to present the key points of your research following a standard format that we will provide.

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Affinity Meetings

Opportunities for groups who share a particular interest to get together.

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Special Events

Social events such as Welcoming Reception, a GWS Awards event, and more.

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Field Trips

Optional earning excursions (some with fee) in and near Missoula.​