The Northeast Regional Conservation Framework Workshop (Albany II) was a forum to bring together conservation leaders from the Northeast region to review progress, celebrate successes and identify the challenges of fish and wildlife conservation in the recent past. The meeting was held in Albany, New York on June 14-16, 2011 with eighty-six (86) participants, representing a cross-section of 13 state agencies, six federal agencies and 12 nongovernmental organizations or universities. The workshop served as a five-year follow-up to the State Wildlife Action Plans Meeting (Albany I), providing the opportunity to discuss the Northeast Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies Regional Conservation Needs (RCN) program, and increase collaboration with the Landscape Conservation Cooperatives (LCCs) in the northeast. The workshop was organized around a regional conservation framework to help guide and organize conservation activities and needs in the Northeast region, and provide a means for identifying common needs and coordinating efforts among partners.

Convened and sponsored jointly by the Northeast Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (NEAFWA) and the Landscape Conservation Cooperatives (LCCs) in the Northeast Region, the workshop provided an opportunity to step back and synthesize the results of the many projects that have been completed or are underway through the RCN and LCC processes, to determine how these projects might fit into a common regional conservation framework, and to identify the greatest needs for future work.  By fostering information sharing and discussions among regional conservation experts, the workshop sought to clarify the “big picture” of conservation, illuminate how existing efforts complement each other, and identify key roles for each of the partners to play in the future. These activities all contributed to the overarching goal of achieving more effective and efficient conservation in the Northeast region.

The specific objectives of the workshop were to:

• Review, synthesize, evaluate, and present Regional Conservation Needs (RCN) and initial LCC projects completed or underway;
• Increase understanding and engagement by state and other conservation partners in RCN and LCC projects and goals in the Northeast;
• Review progress made toward original goals for the RCN program;
• Discuss challenges, needs, and opportunities for the RCN program and LCCs in the Northeast;
• Explore and discuss opportunities for collaborations between RCNs and LCCs in the Northeast to address common needs; and
• Develop initial consensus on a common conservation framework, vision, and highest priorities going forward.

The summary reports for Albany I and Albany II are provided below.  Fo more information on the LCC projects, visit the North Atlantic Landscape Conservation Cooperative website.