Northwest Partners in Amphibian and Reptile Conservation
Northwest Partners in Amphibian and Reptile Conservation
Meetings & Events
Webinar October 7th, 2026
This meeting was cancelled due to Covid 19 precautions. Watch for the next virtual meeting in 2021
The 12th annual NW PARC meeting was held February 25-March 1, 2019, in conjunction with the Society for Northwestern Vertebrate Biology and the Washington Chapter of the Wildlife Society.
The 11th Annual NW PARC Meeting was held in Portland, Oregon, February 13-16, 2018, in conjunction with the annual meetings of the Society for Northwestern Vertebrate Biology (SNVB) and the Washington and Oregon Chapters of The Wildlife Society.
The national effort to designated priority amphibian and reptile conservation areas, or PARCAs, came to Washington on August 8 and 9, and was a great success. The concept of PARCAs comes in part from the Important Bird Areas program developed by Birdlife International, and such area designations are intended to raise public awareness and encourage voluntary action by landowners and conservation partners to benefit amphibians and reptiles. Areas are nominated using scientific criteria and expert review, drawing on the ideas of species rarity, richness, and landscape integrity. JJ Apodaca and Jen Williams of National PARC managed the Washington meeting and synthesized the information contributed by a number of experts from around the region. A total of 17 PARCAs were proposed for Washington. An important aspect of PARCAs is that they are nonregulatory designations and that they are not designed to compete with existing landscape biodiversity initiatives, but rather to complement them and provide an additional spatially explicit layer for conservation consideration. The draft document outlining these areas will be available for review within the next few months. If you are interested in reviewing, please contact Betsy Howell, blhowell@fs.fed.us, or Katy Weil,katy.weil@oregonmetro.gov.
The 10th Annual NW PARC Meeting was held in Arcata, California, on March 1, 2017, in conjunction with the annual meetings of the Society for Northwestern Vertebrate Biology (SNVB) and the California North Coast Chapter of The Wildlife Society.
( Photo of Northern Leopard Frog by Kris Kendell)
NW PARC’s 9th Annual Symposium was held February 25, 2016, in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, in conjunction with the week-long, annual meetings for the Washington and Idaho chapters of The Wildlife Society and the Society for Northwestern Vertebrate Biology.
(Photo by Chuck Peterson)
We held our 8th annual NW PARC meeting and workshop at the Embassy Suites in downtown Portland, OR. The event focused on expanding science knowledge and ecological literacy through citizen science and occurred in conjunction with the Society of Northwest Vertebrate Biology (SNVB) conference, 24-27 February 2015. We heard from over a dozen citizen science experts from several organizations in the Portland area and further afield. We also heard some personal stories and experiences from a handful of citizen scientists involved with the Southwest Washington Amphibian Monitoring Project (SWAMP).
(Photo of Sharman Apt Russell, Key Note speaker, discussing her experiences as a citizen scientist. Photo by Betsy Howell.)
We held our 7th annual NW PARC meeting and workshop early this February in Pasco, WA, in conjunction with: the Global Owl Project (BUWOC), Researchers Implementing Conservation Action (RICA), Society for Northwestern Vertebrate Biology (SNVB), Washington Chapter of the Wildlife Society (WATWS). This offered members of NW PARC opportunities to partner and interact with a wide variety of groups.
(Photo of Scott Peterson, the “Reptile Man,” with friend. Photo by Betsy Howell)
We held our NW PARC 2013 annual meeting on April 8-9 in Squamish, BC. Our meeting opened with an address by David Pilliod who welcomed all of the participants and our new co-chair, Kris Kendell. David has served as co-chair for several years and will continue to participate as a member of our steering committee. David has been an active member of NW PARC since its inception and all of his contributions have served to strengthen our regional chapter. We are extremely grateful for his continued participation and expertise!
(Photo of Stephen Spear of the Orianne Society presenting eDNA sampling techniques. Photo by Betsy Howell.)
