A message from John Cooper, past president of the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, and Steve Williams, executive director of the Wildlife Management Institute and past director of the Fish and Wildlife Service.

Welcome to Beyond Seasons’ End, a site designed exclusively for wildlife and fisheries professionals confronting the threat of global climate change. The site is a response to comments from many of you calling for an electronic work space that

• connects you with others in the wildlife community who are concerned about climate change
• channels information to you about the nuts and bolts of field projects addressing climate changeinforms you about best practices in the field related to climate change
• encourages discussion and debate relevant to global climate change’s effect on the design and implementation of your field projects
• creates a stage for the interaction of global climate change theory and field experience

For help getting around this site read Navigation tips.
We are asking you to take five minutes, fill out your profile on the dashboard your with agency/organization and job title and walk through the site’s features. Take another five minutes and give us your thoughts on what works and what doesn’t. Respond by clicking on “Comment” to the right of this blog’s by-line, or e-mail us at swilliamsjcooper@gmail.com. Although we’re initiating this site, we hope that you will make it your own. Tell us what we need to change, add or drop and we will get it done — or we’ll tell you why we can’t.;

Global climate change is an unparalleled threat to the fish and wildlife we’ve all worked so long and so hard to protect. The future depends on our concerted and coordinated effort as a wildlife community, and that requires good communications channels.

We believe that if you become involved in this site by helping us give you what you need, the site can make a powerful contribution to shielding the wild and the resources that live in it.

John Cooper and Steve Williams

Site Features

• Access — limited to those working in the fish and wildlife industry, including state and federal agency employees, legislators’ staffs, outdoor communicators and scientist
• Featured blog — an expert’s point of view on climate change issues
• Beyond Seasons’ End blogs — your soap box for speaking out on climate change research, projects and practices
• Blog commentary — “threaded” to present responses to a blog in a logical sequence
• Forum — your opportunity to initiate or participate in discussions with others in the wildlife community about climate change topics
• Advisories — e-mail notification of responses to your comment in a blog or forum
• WIKI — your tool for posting papers, reports and presentations and inviting the Beyond Seasons’ End community to collaborate, comment or edit
• Webinars — your opportunity to direct or participate in internet presentations
• Surveys — your means of polling the Beyond Seasons’ End community on topics of interest
• Posted articles — selected for significance to global climate change and its effect on fish and wildlife
• Podcasts — interviews with colleagues prominent in the field of global climate change
• Profiles and search engine — your tool for connecting with other professionals who have a similar focus of work, project in development, field of interest, academic training, geographical proximity or organizational affiliation
• Invite your colleagues — your method of expanding the Beyond Season’s End community among your peers
• Messaging — your individual account designated for exchanges related to this site or the issue of global climate change
• Events calendar — your calendar for posting upcoming events of interest to the site community