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Monday, 2017 October 23rd

12:30 - 13:00

On-site Registration

12:00 - 17:30

Sponsors, Exhibits & Poster Displays Open

13:00 - 13:30

Welcome & Official Opening
Appalachian Corridor and Association ds biologistes du Québec (ABQ)

13:30 - 14:15

Habitat Networks & Multispecies Corridors Resilient to Global Change
- McGill University/ Quebec Centre for Biodiversity Science

Ambassadeur Room

Conserving habitat connectivity is now a common approach to maintaining biodiversity. The challenge lies in protecting habitat networks that take into account the ecological needs of a wide range of species and continue to provide well-connected, quality habitats in the future, despite ongoing global changes. A new approach to tackle this challenge will be presented, combining the network theory with multi-criteria prioritization. This approach will enable the identification, at the regional level, of multi-species habitat networks that remain interconnected under various land use and climate change scenarios. Several applications of this approach will also be discussed.

14 :15 - 14:45

Connectivity Beyond Borders : Resolution 40-3 of the Conference of New England Governors and Eastern Canadian Premiers
- Quebec’s Ministère des Forêts, de la Faune et des Parcs (MFFP)

Ambassadeur Room

In August 2016, the Resolution 40-3 on Ecological Connectivity, Adaptation to Climate Change and Biodiversity Conservation, was adopted at the Conference of New England Governors and Eastern Canadian Premiers (NEG-ECP). Through this resolution, governors and ministers recognize the importance of ecological connectivity for the adaptation and resilience of ecosystems, biodiversity and human communities to climate change. The resolution also stressed the importance of working across borders to advance efforts in conservation and ecological connectivity restoration. The issues addressed in the resolution include conservation, land-use planning, natural resource management and road infrastructure planning. The implementation of this resolution is carried out by a working group, the co-presidency of which is jointly covered by the Government of Quebec and Government of Vermont. By 2020, the activities of the working group will aim to produce an overall picture of the knowledge related to ecological connectivity, identification of ongoing actions and future priorities, and promotion of the implementation of policies and actions on ecological connectivity.

14:45 - 15:15

Break

15:15 - 15:40

Two concurrent sessions

Session A: Ambassadeur Room
Session B: Sainte-Anne Room

Session A: Large Mammal Passages
Session B: Culverts/Bridges & Aquatic Wildlife

15:15 - 16:30 Session A

The Costs and Benefits of Wildlife Vehicle Collision Mitigation
- Center for Large Landscape Conservation

Ambassadeur Room
Session A: Large Mammal Passages

This presentation will provide a review of how transportation practitioners in North America can evaluate the economic consequences of implementing various mitigation measures or doing nothing at all. The talk is based on a peer-reviewed paper published in the journal Ecology and Society in 2009, as one of its co-authors Mr. Ament will provide examples of how this cost-benefit information has been used on various highways in Alberta, British Columbia and the United States.

15:15 - 16:30 Session B

Considerations in the Adaptation of Infrastructures to Benefit Fish Populations and Meet Other Goals
- The Nature Conservancy, Massachusetts

Sainte-Anne Room
Session B: Culverts/Bridges & Aquatic Wildlife

Ninety-six percent of the U.S population lives in a county that has experienced a federally declared, weather-related disaster in the last several years. A major threat to our coasts and rivers is development in flood-prone areas combined with efforts to protect these developments with seawalls, dikes, dams or levees. These structures often destroy valuable habitat and block natural processes.
Most investments in ‘grey infrastructure’ solutions for disaster risk reduction focus on single purpose – dams, levees and seawalls are meant to hold back water or prevent land erosion. Natural features or ‘nature-based infrastructure,’ such as oyster reefs, floodplains, coastal wetlands, etc. can also perform these functions yet do so in a way that provides multiple additional benefits, including fish habitat.
To build the case for nature-based approaches, it is essential to engage communities about their goals and evaluate the social, economic and environmental outcomes of natural infrastructure projects. This talk will explore how measuring outcomes can improve practices for siting, constructing and monitoring these approaches, and by using a standardized set of performance measures across projects we can gain a broader perspective on success of projects at multiple scales to protect and restore fish populations while meeting other goals.

15:40 - 16:05

Two concurrent sessions

Session A: Ambassadeur Room
Session B: Sainte-Anne Room

Session A: Large Mammal Passages
Session B: Culverts/Bridges & Aquatic Wildlife

15:40 - 16:05 Session A

Passage Assessment System (PAS) for Wildlife in Vermont
The Nature Conservancy, Vermont

Ambassadeur Room
Session A: Large Mammal Passages

The Passage Assessment System (PAS) was developed in the Western United States to evaluate existing transportation infrastructure (bridges and culverts) for its ability to facilitate terrestrial wildlife movement from one side of a roadway to the other. PAS groups wildlife species into “movement guilds”, where species guild members theoretically share preferences for transportation structure use based on size characteristics. PAS also specifies a series of attribute requirements for a given structure to be considered potentially usable by wildlife. Recent game camera research on species structure use in Vermont assessed the regional applicability of the PAS framework, specifically with respect to relationships between the PAS species “movement guild” groupings and transportation structure use among different structure size classes. This study supported a modified movement guild species grouping for characterizing wildlife use of transportation structures in Northern New England, and also suggests other important structure and site characteristics that are appear important for characterizing wildlife structure use patterns. This modified PAS system is potentially useful for informing resource allocation decisions about transportation structure modifications to increase the ability of wildlife to use culverts and bridges to move under roadways.

15:40 - 16:05 Session B

Maine Stream Connectivity Partnership: From Data to Restoration
- USFW Gulf of Maine Coastal Program

Sainte-Anne Room
Session B: Culverts/Bridges & Aquatic Wildlife

The state of Maine has been committed to improving both stream connectivity and road infrastructure together in a focused way since 2007. Many state and federal agencies and non-governmental organizations are involved in this large project, and have been working in flexible partnerships to achieve various objectives over the past 11 years through the Maine Stream Connectivity Work Group. First and foremost, we devoted ourselves to building an inventory of stream barriers which could provide vital information to identify and classify barriers to be able to set priorities for restoration. Work has been done to improve and clarify state and federal regulations and permitting processes for replacement of stream crossings. Funding for restoration has been provided in a variety of ways, perhaps most importantly by the passage of a public bond act devoted primarily to supporting rural towns with replacement of stream crossings. Also critical to our success has been education concerning the fundamental problem of stream crossing barriers, online publication of barrier and habitat data through the Maine Stream Habitat Viewer, and training for professionals in technical aspects of restoration. Finally, in order to fill important gaps in expertise, we have provided technical assistance with site surveys, hydrological and hydraulic analyses, crossing replacement designs, development of restoration plans and oversight of construction projects, all to increase the pace and quality of restoration.

16:05 - 16:30

Two concurrent sessions

Session A: Ambassadeur Room
Session B: Sainte-Anne Room

Session A: Large Mammal Passages
Session B: Culverts/Bridges & Aquatic Wildlife

16:05 - 16:30 Session A

Integrating Road Ecology to Québec's Highway System
- Quebec’s Ministère des Transports, de la Mobilité durable, et de l’Électrification des transports (MTMDET)

Ambassadeur Room
Session A: Large Mammal Passages

Quebec’s ministère des Transports, de la Mobilité durable et de l’Électrification des transports (MTMDET) is responsible for all activities related to the planning, design, construction, improvement, rehabilitation, maintenance and operation of the road network, as well as a selection of other transport infrastructures. As such, the ministry must ensure the long lifespan of infrastructures in a context of sustainable development, while being aware that its activities bear significant impacts, particularly on widlife, plants and their habitats.
Research as well as numerous studies and environmental assessments have been carried out to inform various infrastructure development, improvement or maintenance projects, whether or not required by environmental legislation. In this context, the presentation will provide a detailed picture of the MTMDET's actions in the field of road ecology, from maintaining connectivity on both sides of the transportation network to the ecological control of vegetation and rainwater management.

16:05 - 16:30 Session B

Stream Crossings & Free Fish Movement in Quebec: Involvement of Fisheries and Oceans Canada since 2000
and - Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO)

Sainte-Anne Room
Session B: Culverts/Bridges & Aquatic Wildlife

Maintaining the free passage for fish is a major challenge for conserving productive aquatic ecosystems and associated fisheries. Significant efforts and advances have been made by Canada’s Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) for more than 15 years to reduce the fish movement barriers that culverts can represent. Regulatory review of road projects, development of tools, and implementation and participation in various initiatives ensured that maintaining free fish passage is not only an essential consideration from a biological and legal point of view, but has become an increasingly common practice. The work done by DFO over the years, in collaboration with various stakeholders, will be presented.

16:30 - 17:15

An Overview of Interesting Highway Mitigation Projects, Partnerships and Progress from Western North America and the World
- Center for Large Landscape Conservation

Sainte-Anne Room

A review of some wildlife sensitive highway projects and interesting partnerships from western North America will be highlighted. The presentation will demonstrate how broadly progress is being made in the field of wildlife crossings. It will then discuss some of the same issues from North America that require attention arising from the development of new roads systems in developing countries. Finally, it will describe a new global opportunity that has arrived via the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), a unique nonprofit comprised of over 1,300 governments and organizations, representing over 180 countries. Within the IUCN, a new Transport Working Group has formed that seeks to develop guidance for transportation policies and practices that result in infrastructure that is more sensitive to the needs of wildlife and ecological connectivity.

17:15 - 17:40

Building Support for Wildlife-Friendly Roads
- ARC Solutions & Center for Large Landscape Conservation

Sainte-Anne Room

Roads are one of the most disruptive human-made forces in the world today. In the U.S. alone, a vehicle hits an animal at least every 26 seconds, causing more than 200 human fatalities, 26,000 injuries, and 1-2 million large animal deaths every year. This estimate does not include the untold millions of small animals killed annually. The good news is there are proven solutions to the problem: wildlife crossing structures with associated fencing placed in areas of known wildlife movement have been shown to reduce motorist collisions with wildlife by up to 97%. Moreover, on roads with high crash rates – for example, with 3.2 or more deer collisions per km per year, it actually costs more to do NOTHING to solve this problem than it costs to do SOMETHING. So, this begs the question: “Why aren’t more crossings being built?” Although the answer is complicated, one factor is a lack of public awareness. Real progress, however, is being made to raise the profile of this issue. As a result, people are beginning to ask “Where?” and “How?” rather than “Why?” This session will discuss a variety of tools being used to increase top-down institutional and bottom-up grassroots support for wildlife crossings and other proven solutions for reducing wildlife mortality on our roads, with the ultimate goal of catalyzing the change necessary to solve this problem and save the lives of hundreds of people and millions of animals, of all sizes – every single year.

17:40 - 19:40

Dinner & Keynote Speaker: Partnerships, Research & Road Ecology Project Completion in France
- Yannick Autret (France) (ITTECOP Program & French Ministry of the Environment, Sustainable Development & Energy) - Conference from 18:40.

Ambassadeur Room

Partnerships as part of the ITTECOP Research Program (Terrestrial Transport Infrastructures, Ecosystems & Landscapes – www.ittecop.fr ) and case studies from projects completed in France

TUESDAY, 2017 OCTOBER 24TH

07:00 - 12:30

On-site Registration

07:00 - 08:30

Breakfast

Ambassadeur Room

07:00 - 17:30

Sponsors, Exhibits & Poster Displays Open

08:30 - 09:00

The Staying Connected Initiative: Linking People and Nature Across Two Nations
and - Two Countries, One Forest (2C1F)

Sainte-Anne Room

The Staying Connected Initiative (SCI), a program of Two Countries, One Forest, is a bi-national collaboration of over thirty public and private entities working since 2009 to sustain forested landscape connections across the Northern Appalachian-Acadian region for the benefit of nature and people. To meet this mission, SCI uses an innovative, multi-pronged approach that blends conservation science, land protection, land use planning, local engagement, policy advocacy, and transportation mitigation. SCI partners include transportation and natural resource agencies, universities, and conservation organizations. Partners work across borders and at different scales to sustain and enhance habitat connectivity, along with the many ecological, social, and economic benefits of a healthy, connected, resilient landscape.
In this bi-national region, many roads are significant barriers to the movement of wildlife. To address this challenge, SCI partners collaborate on science – including GIS modeling and field research with wildlife cameras and tracking – to identify priority road segments, key sites for wildlife movement, and design specifications for transportation infrastructure that will help wildlife move safely under roads. Across the region, SCI partners are implementing a range of cost-effective mitigation solutions, including construction and installation of wildlife “shelves” inside culverts and under bridges, to make roads safer for wildlife and people. SCI’s transportation work is complemented by land protection and land use planning to ensure that wildlife have access to habitat beyond the right of way, by community outreach to build support for this work, and by policy solutions to leverage investments like these and help ensure they are enduring.

09:00 - 09:25

Two concurrent sessions

Session C: Ambassadeur Room
Session D: Sainte-Anne Room

Session C: Existing Structure Adaptation & New Wildlife Passages
Session D: Managing Transportation Rights-of-way: Alien Invasive Species, Surface Runoff and ATV Trails

09:00 - 09:25 Session C

Adaptation of Existing Struxctures and New Wildlife Passages in Ontario
- Eco-kare International

Ambassadeur Room
Session C: Existing Structure Adaptation & New Wildlife Passages

This presentation will focus on several case studies that have used existing structures or built new structures to facilitate safe wildlife passage under roads with a focus on turtles. Although the focus is on turtle monitoring, lessons learned are applicable to both large and small mammals. Key focus areas include US Highway 83, Valentine National Wildlife Refuge, Nebraska and MTO Hwy 69, Georgian Bay Biosphere Refuge. Turtle passage on US Highway 83 was monitored with use of pit-fall traps and camera monitoring to assess turtle passage at existing drainage culverts with short pieces of chain link fence for one year. Turtle passage on MTO Highway 69 was monitored with cameras at both newly constructed and existing tunnels with longer sections of permanent fence for two years. Projects will be summarized according to the following attributes, 1) Focal species; 2) Impetus for initiation; 3) Adaptations of existing structures; 4) Performance evaluation of crossing structures and fence design; and 5) Recommendations for improvement.

09:000 - 09:25 Session D

Invasive Plants and Roads: Beyond Myths, Realities
- Université Laval

Sainte-Anne Room
Session D: Managing Transportation Rights-of-way: Alien Invasive Species, Surface Runoff and ATV Trails

In Quebec, the road system is probably the main type of corridor used by invasive exotic plants to disseminate over large areas. Examples of road invaders are numerous: Reed Canary Grass, Wild Chervil, Giant Hogweed, Smooth Bedstraw, Ragweed, Common Parsnip, Japanese Knotweed, Common Reed, Purple Loosestrife, etc. The sunny and often disturbed habitats on road embankments are obviously conducive to their proliferation, but some management practices for the maintenance of roadsides also contribute to their spread. Moreover, invaders are not all harmful and, when they are, they are not all at the same level. This presentation will review (1) the latest advances in understanding the phenomenon of road invaders (particularly in Quebec), (2) the consequences of invasions, and (3) the best practices to limit their expansion. The myths, often conveyed by the media, will be isolated from observable realities on the ground. Finally, the weak scientific basis of several control practices will be highlighted since, although not entirely ineffective, they have not always been rigorously tested. I will emphasize the need to provide environmental and transportation managers with factual information to enable them to make appropriate decisions.

09:25 - 09:50

Two concurrent sessions

Session C: Ambassadeur Room
Session D: Sainte-Anne Room

Session C: Existing Structure Adaptation & New Wildlife Passages
Session D: Managing Transportation Rights-of-way: Alien Invasive Species, Surface Runoff and ATV Trails

09:25 - 09:50 Session C

Highway 69 Expansion: the Road under Ontario’s First Wildlife Bridge
- Ministry of Transportation, Ontario (MTO)

Ambassadeur Room
Session C: Existing Structure Adaptation & New Wildlife Passages

The new four-lane Highway 69 south of Sudbury is a model for integrating ecological considerations into highway design and construction. The 10 km section north of Highway 637 completed in 2012 includes the province’s first integrated network of wildlife crossings for both large animals and reptiles, including Ontario’s first wildlife bridge. The presentation will highlight the design and planning process undertaken for the project as well as the five years of effectiveness monitoring results compiled to date. Post-construction monitoring continues to highlight the successes and challenges with the mitigation system, and ensures that design modifications are implemented into new construction contracts as highway expansion continues. The goal is to achieve 160 km of a newly expanded four-lane highway that is the most extensively mitigated highway in the world for both large animals and endangered turtles and snakes.

09:25 - 09:50 Session D

Ecological Improvements of Retention Basins in a Highway Context: Case Study and Future Examples on the Territory of the Capitale-Nationale
- Quebec's Ministère des Transports, de la Mobilité durable et de l’Électrification des transports (MTMDET), D.T. de la Capitale-Nationale

Sainte-Anne Room
Session D: Managing Transportation Rights-of-way: Alien Invasive Species, Surface Runoff and ATV Trails

Urban landscapes are seeing an increasing number of retention basins whose purpose is to compensate for the loss of ecological services normally rendered by natural ecosystems. Although their role is primarily the control of peak flow intensified by soil waterproofing (road surfacing), these rainwater management facilities offer much wider development opportunities.
An example made by the MTMDET in the interchange between the Félix-Leclerc and Laurentienne highways (QC) demonstrates that an integrated design can optimize retention basins by multiplying their ecological functions in a highway context. Fauna, flora and landscape enhancement practices have led to the creation of an aesthetic and productive riparian ecotone, and development of a biodiversity typical of wetlands and aquatic environments. Inspired by this success, other developments incorporating the same principles are in preparation.
In addition to enriching the visual experience of motorists, such an approach reintegrates into the urban fabric ecological services that were hitherto absent from vast unmanaged areas. The achievement of these objectives, however, is accompanied by several challenges, including the control of invasive plants and the promotion of the ecological value of these developments both to the public and relevant environment protection authorities.

09:50 - 10:15

Two concurrent sessions

Session C: Ambassadeur Room
Session D: Sainte-Anne Room

Session C: Existing Structure Adaptation & New Wildlife Passages
Session D: Managing Transportation Rights-of-way: Alien Invasive Species, Surface Runoff and ATV Trails

09:50 - 10:15 Session C

Addition of fencing and wildlife passages along Highway 138 in Petite-Rivière-Saint-François: immediate impacts on road safety and the use of biological corridors
- Quebec's Ministère des Transports, de la Mobilité durable et de l’Électrification des transports (MTMDET), D.T. de la Capitale-Nationale

Ambassadeur Room
Session C: Existing Structure Adaptation & New Wildlife Passages

About 70 km east of Québec City, the sector of Caps de Charlevoix straddles the municipalities of Saint-Tite-des-Caps and Petite-Rivière-Saint-François, between Route 138 and the St. Lawrence River. Moose density is high with 10 to 15 moose/10 km2. This territory offers exceptional habitats for moose and includes an area where hunting is prohibited. The conditions prevailing in this area favor the dispersal of moose on both sides of the road and thus the occurrence of several collisions annually. Trail inventories, combined with the location of collisions, motivated Quebec’s Ministère des Transports, de la Mobilité durable et de l’Électrification des transports (MTMDET) to install, in 2007, a high fence for large mammals on both sides of the road to secure the most problematic sector. A few years later, the number of accidents with moose increased outside the fenced section. In 2014, MTMDET extended the fences in both directions and developed two large mammal underpasses, building on the experience gained from tracking moose crossings under Highway 175 between the Quebec City and Saguenay regions, built with low vertical clearances. In 2015 and 2016, a dramatic reduction in collisions with moose was observed in this section of the road. Since that time, both underpasses are regularly and successfully used, mainly by moose.

09:50 - 10:15 Session D

ATV trails Crossing Wildlife Habitats: Case Studies for Impact Mitigation on Wildlife & Aquatic Connectivity
- Fondation de la faune du Québec

Sainte-Anne Room
Session D: Managing Transportation Rights-of-way: Alien Invasive Species, Surface Runoff and ATV Trails

Over the last few years, the All-terrain Vehicle (ATV) business has boomed in Quebec, now reaching more than a million users. This popularity for the use of ATVs also led to a rise in the number of ATV trails. To this day, an estimated 33,000 km of snowmobile trails and 25,000 km of ATVs crisscross the province. These trails and associated infrastructures have negative impacts on wildlife habitats and lead to a loss of connectivity, degradation of aquatic and terrestrial habitat quality, wildlife disturbance, etc. Since 2010, thanks to funding from the ministère des Transports, de la Mobilité durable et de l'Électrification des transports (MTMDET), the Fondation de la faune du Québec has been supporting various projects aiming to improve ATV trails so as to protect wildlife and their habitats. This presentation will highlight a number of case studies.

10:15 - 10:40

Break

10:40 - 11:05

Two concurrent sessions

Session E: Ambassadeur Room
Session F: Sainte-Anne Room

Session E: Wildlife Movement Detection & Monitoring
Session F: Wildlife Passage Design & Engineering

10:40 -11:05 Session E

Identification of Wildlife Corridors & Passages either side of Highway 10 (Estrie & Montérégie Est regions, southern QC)
and student - Appalachian Corridor & Concordia University

Ambassadeur Room
Session E: Wildlife Movement Detection & Monitoring

Presentation of a parntership project to identify and protect wildlife corridors and passages either side of Highway 10 between km 68 (Granby) and km 143 (Sherbrooke) on Appalachian Corridor's territory of action in southern Quebec.

10:40 - 11:05 Session F

ARC International Design Competition (Integrated design of landscape and infrastructure)
and - ARC Solutions

Sainte-Anne Room
Session F: Wildlife Passage Design & Engineering

The first-ever competition intended to solve the problem of ensuring safe passage for humans and wildlife, the ARC International Wildlife Crossing Infrastructure Design Competition challenged the best and most innovative design teams to create the next generation of wildlife crossing infrastructure for North America’s roadways. Wildlife crossings are an opportunity to explore new materials, features, and approaches to building and construction. This exploration is important, given the diversity of roads and of habitats and wildlife species that must be accommodated affordably and safely across the continent. Design teams were challenged to develop new solutions for animal road-crossing structures that would be cost-efficient, ecologically responsive, safe, and flexible; they developed concept solutions that could be readily adapted for widespread use in various locations and under many conditions.

To fulfill the criteria set out by the ARC competition, wildlife crossing structures required a new category of infrastructure and an interdisciplinary approach for effective planning and design. Wildlife infrastructure design is necessarily a collaborative craft, one that requires the input of many different types of experts, from ecologists to architects to landscape designers to engineers and transportation specialists. The ARC competition demonstrated that it is possible to design not only innovative and practical crossing structures, but also a process that can resolve the challenge of building both for transportation and for resilience in response to changes in climate, habitat conditions and the increased necessity for wildlife movement.

11:05 -11:30

Two concurrent sessions

Session E: Ambassadeur Room
Session F: Sainte-Anne Room

Session E: Wildlife Movement Detection & Monitoring
Session F: Wildlife Passage Design & Engineering

11:05 - 11:30 Session E

Spatial and Temporal Analysis of Road Collisions Involving Cervids on the 85/185 Road in Témiscouata
et l’étudiant - Université du Québec à Rimouski (UQAR)

Ambassadeur Room
Session E: Wildlife Movement Detection & Monitoring

In recent decades, road ecology has been of interest to researchers in animal ecology because of the increasing development of road networks worldwide. The impacts of this increase are well known, ranging from a rise in the level of fragmentation of habitats to growing risks of vehicle-wildlife collisions. These collisions can represent a serious road safety problem that must be studied in order to limit its occurrence. Variables that may play a role in a vehicle-wildlife collision include road characteristics, landscape features, and various variables that affect driver visibility. From a road development perspective, it is important to understand how these variables influence behavioral animal movement and, secondly, the risk of collision with a vehicle. In this presentation, we will use the example of Road 185, which links Rivière-du-Loup to New Brunswick, to discuss spatiotemporal variations in factors that may explain collisions with Moose (Alces americanus) and White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus). A good understanding of the wildlife movement dynamics will allow for the development of appropriate mitigation structures such as wildlife fencing and crossings, to reduce wildlife-collisions while maintaining functional connectivity between habitats on both sides of the road.

11:05 - 11:30 Session F

Wildlife crossings for White-tailed Deer on the Robert-Cliche Highway (QC): From design to the reality of the construction sites
and - Quebec’s Ministère des Transports, de la Mobilité durable, et de l’Électrification des transports, D.T. Chaudières- Appalaches

Sainte-Anne Room
Session F: Wildlife Passage Design & Engineering

The Robert-Cliche Highway (A-73) in the Beauce region of Quebec has been the subject of numerous construction projects over the last decade. Quebec’s ministère des Transports, de la Mobilité durable et de l’Électrification des transports (MTMDET) worked simultaneously to build a 32 km-section of roadway parallel to the existing one between Sainte-Marie and Beauceville, and to extend the highway by 18 km between Beauceville and Saint-Georges.

The design of the A-73's various road projects spanned over nearly 20 years. Since the 1990s, the problem of road collisions involving cervids has become a concern in several regions of Quebec. In partnership with Quebec’s ministère des Forêts, de la Faune et des Parcs (MFFP), the MTMDET began to design a section of highway that crosses a White-tailed Deer winter yard; it thus seemed essential to construct a road permeable to deer movements. Twenty years later, the A-73, which crosses two White-tailed Deer winter yards, includes 22.3 km section of fenced road, 62 jumps and 10 large mammal crossings.

11:30 - 12:00

New Road Ecology Structures on Highways 175 / 73: Introduction to Fieldtrip
and - Concordia University and Quebec's MTMDET, D.T. Capitale-Nationale

Ambassadeur Room

Outline of Wednesday's fieldtrip, for which there will still be time to register.

12:00 - 13:00

Lunch

13:00 - 13:25

Two concurrent sessions

Session G: Ambassadeur Room
Session H: Sainte-Anne Room

Session G: Climate Change Adaptation
Session H: The Power of Partnerships

13:00 - 13:25 Session G

The Challenges of Climate Change Adaptation in Quebec in a Road Ecology Context
- Ouranos

Ambassadeur Room
Session G: Climate Change Adaptation

Climate change issues affecting road ecology are numerous, complex and varied when considering the Province of Quebec. It is important to be well prepared and such planning in the adaptation to climate change requires a good understanding of the magnitude and speed of expected changes and associated impacts, especially since these factors may vary between regions and sectors of activity. The presentation will provide an overview of the observed trends and projections for several climate indicators of interest for different road ecology themes in Québec, such as temperature extremes, precipitation, freeze-thaw events, etc. Vulnerabilities in the face of climate change will be discussed, followed by a discussion on the direct impacts of climate change on materials and structures, and indirect impacts on natural habitats. The adaptation to climate change concepts will then be introduced, followed by concrete examples for road infrastructures. Finally, tools available in Québec to improve adaptation to climate change will be presented.

13:00 - 13:25 Session H

Successes in Road Ecology: Partnerships and Training in Vermont
- Vermont Agency of Transportation (Vtrans)

Sainte-Anne Room
Session H: The Power of Partnerships

In order to improve upon and institutionalize the practice of road ecology at the Vermont Agency of Transportation (VTrans), regular trainings and partnership development have become the most effective tools to ensure current and future success.
Road ecology training for VTrans staff has been ongoing since 2002. This training targets engineers, designers, project managers, transportation planners, and operations personnel by getting them out of their offices and garages and into the critical habitat adjacent to Vermont’s roads and bridges. Trainings help these decision makers and designers better understand Vermont ecology in order to help create and implement solutions to the ongoing concerns with wildlife-transportation interactions. These solutions often involve partnerships with sister state agencies, federal agencies, neighboring states and provinces, and non-government organizations who have been utilized as powerful tools for VTrans to work outside of the transportation right-of-way.
VTrans is tasked with moving people and goods in a safe and efficient manner while taking the natural environment into consideration. VTrans does not conduct land use planning or land management outside of the transportation network, where roadway infrastructure ends and wildlife habitat begins. Without key partnerships, there is a definite risk of losing critical habitat adjacent to transportation infrastructure that was designed to help wildlife move safely through the system.

13:25 - 13:50

Two concurrent sessions

Session G: Ambassadeur Room
Session H: Sainte-Anne Room

Session G: Climate Change Adaptation
Session H: The Power of Partnerships

13:25 - 13:50 Session G

Vulnerability of Road infrastructures to Coastal Erosion and Submersion in Eastern Quebec in a Changing Climate
- Université du Québec à Rimouski (UQAR)

Ambassadeur Room
Session G: Climate Change Adaptation

In Eastern Quebec, one-third of the population and nearly 60% of national roads are located within 500 meters of the coast. The purpose of this study, carried out for the ministère des Transports du Québec (MTMDET), was to better understand and quantify the vulnerability of the 2,258 km of roads in Eastern Quebec to erosion and submersion in a climate change context. The first phase of the project quantified road exposure to coastal erosion and submersion. Over 33 km of road are exposed to an imminent threat of erosion, while an additional 623 km will be exposed by 2100. In addition, 96 km are potentially submersible during storm events. The second phase of the project developed a road vulnerability index to coastal hazards (Indice de Vulnérabilité des Routes aux Aléas Côtiers - IVRAC) for short- (2020), medium- (2060) and long-term (2100) on nine control sites (122.4 km of roads). This index includes 15 parameters related to exposure to coastal erosion and submersion, road segment and road network characteristics, and presence or absence of protection structures. The index has been organized into 5 levels according to the actions that need to be undertaken to reduce vulnerability, ranging from non-vulnerable (no intervention required) to critical (immediate intervention required). The databases and the map collections were handed over to the MTMDET. These decision-making tools can contribute to better management of coastal roads, plan priorities for future actions and determine on which parameters to intervene.

13:25 - 13:50 Session H

Patterns of Wildlife Road Mortality on Ontario's Frontenac Arch: From Science to Action
- Queens University

Sainte-Anne Room
Session H: The Power of Partnerships

Strategies to reduce wildlife road mortality are a significant component of many conservation efforts. However, their success depends on knowledge of the temporal and spatial patterns of mortality. We provide an overview of these patterns from Ontario’s Frontenac Arch; a biologically diverse southerly extension of the Canadian Shield that is bisected by three major highways, including Highway 401, Canada’s busiest roadway. Wildlife/road interaction surveys were conducted by foot, bicycle, and automobile along these three highways at different times over a course of 10 years and the data have been used to identify wildlife mortality hotspots, prioritize mitigation sites and inform on potential key wildlife movement corridors. Regular surveys to record details on wildlife mortality have been conducted by foot, bicycle, and automobile along these three highways for the last 10 years and the data have been used to identify hotspots of wildlife mortality for the purpose of identifying priority locations for mitigation efforts. The sheer volume of data that has been collected has allowed us to explore several other topics, including an assessment of the spatial and temporal saliency of hotspots, modelling their relationship with different habitats and roadway features, and analysis of the differences in species’ susceptibility to road mortality. To date, proposed strategies for mitigation have focused on proven site-level approaches, including construction of fencing and maintenance and retrofitting of culverts, particularly for species-at-risk snakes and turtles. The challenge ahead is to integrate these efforts within a broader landscape-level strategy aimed at restoring ecological connectivity in the region and incorporating more ambitious strategies such as highway overpasses and underpasses, and habitat restoration.

13:50 - 14:15

Two concurrent sessions

Session G: Ambassadeur Room
Session H: Sainte-Anne Room

Session G: Climate Change Adaptation
Session H: The Power of Partnership

13:50 - 14:15 Session G

Going with the flow: Conserving resilient and connected landscapes
- The Nature Conservancy, New Hampshire

Ambassadeur Room
Session G: Climate Change Adaptation

To track a rapidly changing climate, plants and animals must relocate to survive. In 2016, The Nature Conservancy completed an analysis of “Resilient and Connected Landscapes for Terrestrial Conservation”. This first-of-its-kind study maps climate-resilient sites, confirmed biodiversity locations, and species movement areas (zones and corridors) across Eastern North America. The study uses the information to prioritize a conservation portfolio that naturally aligns these features into a network of resilient sites integrated with the species movement zones, and thus a blueprint for conservation that represents all habitats while allowing nature to adapt and change. Dr. Patrick will provide an overview of the approaches used in developing this conservation portfolio and discuss how the data layers can be used to identify locations where roads may pose a risk to regional connectivity. The presentation will also evaluate how patterns of predicted regional movement can be used to inform the efficacy of different approaches for mitigating road barriers.

13:50 - 14:15 Session H

Partnerships for the Creation of Montreal’s Green and Blue Belt
- Nature-action Québec

Sainte-Anne Room
Session H: The Power of Partnerships

The creation of a green belt is a collective project. Covering 1.7 million hectares across 82 municipalities and housing 4 million people, the protection, restoration and enhancement of the natural habitats of the Greenbelt of Montreal cannot be achieved without the harmonization of uses between the various stakeholders on the territory. Since 2014, over 150 municipal, governmental and civil society organizations met during more than 80 meetings. Four action plans have been implemented with municipal and regional authorities, enabling planning of natural habitat management in consultation with several stakeholders over the targeted area. The goal is to ensure the sustainability of our collective natural infrastructures, which represent more than $4.3 billion of ecological services annually.

During this presentation, the following elements will be discussed:
• Beware of projects involving strategic partnerships in a complex and multi-stakeholder context
• Aspiration to work outside "silo" operating dynamics
• Demonstrating that together we may move slower but we are stronger and more resilient
• Understand the triggers and success factors of this partnership

14:15 - 14:40

Two concurrent sessions

Session G: Ambassadeur Room
Session H: Sainte-Anne Room

Session G: Climate Change Adaptation
Session H: The Power of Partnerships

14:15 - 14:40 Session G

Lessons Learned in Vermont Following Tropical Storm Irene
- Vermont Agency of Transportation (Vtrans)

Ambassadeur Room
Session G: Climate Change Adaptation

Tropical Storm Irene devastated the state of Vermont during the summer of 2011. Many homes were destroyed, and several lives were lost. Thirteen Vermont communities were isolated due to bridge and road failures. Most of the roads and bridges that were impacted had minimal consideration of potential flood conditions when they were designed. Of the structures that were designed considering flood and aquatic organism passage, none failed during this storm event.
Since Tropical Storm Irene, Fluvial geomorphology, the study of streams and how they interact with the landscape, has become a critical component when designing culverts, bridges and roads spanning or adjacent to waterways. Not only does this reduce risk of failure during a storm event, it allows for and encourages better movement of aquatic and terrestrial wildlife through the transportation network.
Vermont has also reconsidered how it approaches design standards on state and local highways to ensure eligibility for federal emergency relief funding. When design standards do not require a structure to be sized to withstand future storm events, relief funding may only allow for replacement in-kind, risking future emergency situations.

14:15 - 14:40 Session H

Assessing and prioritizing aquatic barriers in the Northeast U.S. through the North Atlantic Aquatic Connectivity Collaborative (NAACC)
- The Nature Conservancy

Sainte-Anne Room
Session H: The Power of Partnerships

The fragmentation of aquatic habitats by dams and road-stream crossings is a primary threat to aquatic species. Road-stream crossings also limit the ability of water to flow freely during extreme storm events which can result in culvert failures and road washouts. The strategic removal of dams and upgrade of road-stream crossings can both increase habitat connectivity and enhance the resiliency of road infrastructure. The North Atlantic Aquatic Connectivity Collaborative (NAACC) is a partnership of state, federal, academic and non-profit members. It was founded with funding from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and Hurricane Sandy relief funds to organize and support efforts to assess and improve aquatic connectivity and resilience in the 13 states from Maine to Virginia through a host of activities.
Under the umbrella of the NACCC, The Nature Conservancy has recently completed the Northeast Aquatic Connectivity Project. This project expanded on the original 2011 Northeast Aquatic Connectivity project by incorporating road-stream crossings as well as dams and through the development of a web-based decision support tool. The results can be used to identify potential stream restoration projects as well as to support funding applications, to help inform funding allocation decisions, and for communication and outreach.

14:40 - 15:05

Break

15:05 - 15:30

Appalachian Corridor: A Conservation Strategy for Connectivity
- Appalachian Corridor

Ambassadeur Room

Since its inception in 2002, Appalachian Corridor implemented its Northern Green Mountains Conservation Strategy, based on the protection of an ecological network made of large core areas linked by natural corridors. Recent studies on landscape connectivity and the resilience of Appalachian ecosystems to climate change confirm the relevance and necessity of this landscape-scale conservation initiative.

To date, over 130 km2 of natural habitats have been protected on the territory of action of the organism, mainly in the large core areas. The priority is now to safeguard connectivity between these core areas; there are many challenges and hurdles ahead. This great project cannot be completed through private stewardship alone. A broader approach and the pooling of the all relevant stakeholders’ expertise on land use planning and road infrastructure must be put forward.

The presentation will provide an overview of the ongoing work to identify and protect connectivity in the Northern Green Mountains, and will address conservation tools on private lands as well as the need for dialogue with municipal authorities, in order to make sure land use planning contributes to maintaining connectivity.

15:30 - 15:55

Two concurrent sessions

Session I: Ambassadeur Room
Session J: Sainte-Anne Room

Session I: Land & Development Planning and Ecological Connectivity
Session J: Technical Aspects of Climate Change Adaptation

15:30 - 15:55 Session I

The Role of Land Use & Development Planners in Maintaining Ecological Connectivity
- Marguerite-D’Youville Regional County Municipality (RCM)

Ambassadeur Room
Session I: Land & Development Planning and Ecological Connectivity

The concept of sustainable development is now one of the main concerns of all the professionals involved in a land use and development planning process. Due to the nature of his functions, the regional land use and development planner is a bridge between the demands made and the legitimate aspirations of elected municipal officials, various groups of citizens and the government. In the process of conciliation, the regional land use and development planner is frequently placed at the center of the dialogue. We will present the multiple tasks and roles that regional land use and development planners face in maintaining ecological connectivity. In addition, an overview will be provided of the winning conditions that can lead to the integration of ecological concerns in land use and development planning. Finally, an attempt will be made to formulate some measures that could improve cooperation between the various stakeholders.

15:30 - 15:55 Session J

Management of Eastern Quebec Stream Crossings Facing Hydro-sedimentary Problems in a Changing Climate
- Université du Québec à Rimouski (UQAR)

Sainte-Anne Room
Session J: Technical Aspects of Climate Change Adaptation

Road infrastructures management is confronted with several problems related to stream dynamics - erosion of the bed and banks, obstruction of water crossings by sediments or woody debris, as well as flooding of road surfaces. Climate change is likely to exacerbate these processes by changing liquid and solid flows. In addition, climate change adds to other factors that trigger change, such as the recovery of sediment flows following the end of timber driving practices and the adoption of an environmental policy limiting the systematic cleaning of streams. A project conducted jointly with the Ministère des Transports du Québec (MTMDET) led to the study of several rivers in Eastern Quebec where the management of water crossings is confronted with challenges posed by the evolution of hydro-sedimentary dynamics (rivers: Ouelle, Marsoui, Anse-Pleureuse and Matane; streams: Kilmore and d’Argent). This presentation shows a selection of case studies as well as methodological tools for the analysis and the identification of sustainable solutions.

15:55 - 16:20

Two concurrent sessions

Session I: Ambassadeur Room
Session J: Sainte-Anne Room

Session I: Land & Development Planning and Ecological Connectivity
Session J: Technical Aspects of Climate Change Adaptation

15:55 - 16:20 Session I

Planning for Wildlife Connectivity in Vermont Land Use
- Vermont Fish & Wildlife

Ambassadeur Room
Session I: Land & Development Planning and Ecological Connectivity

In this session, participants will see several case studies in municipal land use planning for habitat connectivity. With the vast majority of Vermont land in private ownership and land use planning and regulatory authority given to the individual towns, it is critically important to include forest blocks and wildlife connectivity in the town planning process as a tool in building climate resilience. We’ll explore one location where investment in transportation infrastructure to facilitate wildlife movement was rendered meaningless by adjacent development and a different case where a regulatory “Overlay District” was established to protect an important connection. The town planning process is inherently local while understanding of the need for habitat connectivity requires a larger scale and context. We’ll explore the use of BioFinder, an online mapping tool, in providing this regional context and prioritization in Vermont’s municipal land use planning process. Each town that includes land use protections for wildlife connectivity and the network of connected forest and associated wildlife road crossings is taking tangible steps toward climate resilience.

15:55 - 16:20 Session J

Using Living Shorelines to Reduce Erosion and Improve the Ecology on Coastal Slopes
- Helping Nature Heal Inc.

Sainte-Anne Room
Session J: Technical Aspects of Climate Change Adaptation

The coastal environment faces unique erosion challenges especially in the context of climate change and sea level rise. The proliferation of hard structures along the shoreline to defend against erosion has produced its own social and environmental challenges. This presentation explores nature-based options for reducing erosion damage on coastal slopes. Specific Living Shoreline techniques that can be used alone or in combination with traditional armouring will be discussed. The techniques that will be discussed have multiple benefits such as buffering wind and wave activity, addressing issues of road runoff, creating habitat, and increasing the biological diversity of coastal roadside slopes. Results of new Canadian research into the effectiveness of these techniques for erosion reduction as well as examples of successful projects from the Maritime Provinces will be presented.

16:20 - 16:45

Two concurrent sessions

Session I: Ambassadeur Room
Session J: Sainte-Anne Room

Session I: Land & Development Planning and Ecological Connectivity
Session J: Technical Aspects of Climate Change Adaptation

16:20 - 16:45 Session I

Making Room for Connectivity: Case Study from a Quebec Municipality in the Estrie Region
- Municipality of Austin (QC)

Ambassadeur Room
Session I: Land & Development Planning and Ecological Connectivity

In 2016, the Municipality of Austin, in Quebec’s Eastern Townships, adopted an innovative Urban & Development Plan and amended its zoning and subdivision bylaws to reflect the citizens' desire to protect their natural environment, in all its aspects, as expressed during consultations on strategic planning. The urban plan incorporated several measures to protect wildlife corridors linking large forest blocks.

16:20 - 16:45 Session J

Climate change and hydraulic structures: what needs to be done to maintain an adequate level of performance over the long term?
- Institut national de la recherche scientifique (INRS), Centre Eau Terre et Environnement

Sainte-Anne Room
Session J: Technical Aspects of Climate Change Adaptation

The increase in greenhouse gases in the Earth's atmosphere will have a major impact on climate. In addition to global warming of terrestrial temperatures, it will lead to a change in precipitation patterns and especially of the most intense precipitation. The consequences of these changes will have an overall effect on the level of service of the various structures and hydraulic infrastructures in place, initially designed according to the historical frequencies of occurrence of extreme precipitation. This presentation aims to make an update on the current state of knowledge on the future evolution of extreme precipitation in Québec and more specifically on the Intensity-Duration-Frequency (FDI) curves. Afterwards, the means and measures to be implemented in order to adapt our current infrastructures and design methods to the new climate situation and ensure a long-term acceptable level of service in a context of climate change will be discussed.

16:45 - 17:15

Preventing Roadkill as a Priority
- Carleton University

Ambassadeur Room

In order to establish an effective strategy to mitigate the effects of roads on wildlife, it is essential to focus on those species whose populations are most sensitive to the effects of natural habitat fragmentation by roads, i.e. amphibians, reptiles and mammals with low reproductive rates. These species are particularly affected by road mortality. Priority should therefore be given to preventing road mortality, but how can this be achieved? First of all, it does not involve the sole installation of ecopassages. There is no evidence that ecopassages used alone reduce road mortality. The emphasis must therefore be placed on the structures and measures that prevent animals from crossing roads in one way or another. But where to install these structures and blocking measures? You cannot rely solely on hotspot analyses to select road sections where fencing or other blocking structures should be installed. Any high traffic stretch along natural habitats deserves the installation of such structures.

17:15 - 19:00

Networking Event organized by Two Countries, One Forest (2C1F) and its Staying Connected Initiative (SCI)

Atrium

Registration required

Free evening

Wednesday, 2017 October 25TH

07:00 - 12:30

On-site Registration

07:00 - 08:30

Breakfast

Ambassadeur Room

07:00 - 12:30

Sponsors, Exhibits & Poster Displays Open

08:30-08:55

Natural Infrastructures : A Climate Change Adaptation Strategy
- Université du Québec en Outaouais (UQO)

Sainte-Anne Room

Natural infrastructures will here be understood as natural habitats in urban areas that render services to communities. Such services may include flood prevention provided by wetlands, air purification provided by plants, and the fight against heat islands provided by urban trees. Natural infrastructures represent one of the most important and efficient measures in the adaptation to climate change and prevention of extreme events. Although benefits and advantages provided by ecosystems and biodiversity are well known, measurable and critical for the quality of life of our citizens, their weight in the land use and development decision-making process is still too small. This can be explained, among other factors, by a lack of information regarding natural infrastructures and the pressures of urban sprawl. Indeed, nature protection and restoration in urban settings are too often seen as barriers to development and as economic losses rather than investments. This presentation will highlight research results on the economy, protection and (re)creation of natural infrastructures, with case studies in the Greater Montreal and a discussion on implementation strategies applicable to the Québec City context.

08:55 - 09:20

Two concurrent sessions

Session K: Ambassadeur Room
Session L: Sainte-Anne Room

Session K: Wildlife Passages for Smaller Species including Herpetofauna
Session L: Municipality and Community Involvement

08:55 - 09:20 Session K

Turtle Crossing Case Study : Road 245 in East Bolton (Estrie Region, QC)
- Appalachian Corridor

Ambassadeur Room
Session K: Wildlife Passages for Smaller Species including Herpetofauna

The identification of threats affecting Wood Turtle populations in several rivers flowing though Appalachian Corridor’s territory of action in Southern Quebec revealed that Road 245, located near the Missisquoi Nord River, represented a particularly important danger to turtles. Indeed, since turtle population dynamics rely on the longevity of adults in order to compensate for low recruitment rate in juveniles, they cannot recover rapidly to the loss of individuals through road mortality. As a result, turtle populations affected by road mortality can experience significant population declines, even leading to local extinction. In 2012, a study was initiated along Road 245 in order to document turtle roadkill rates, with a view to implement specific measures to lower that rate in the most problematic areas. Although the study was repeated over several years, results from the first year of data collection were sufficient to identify some of these problem areas. In addition to data collection, a partnership with local and regional stakeholders (ministries such as MFFP and MTMDET, as well as the municipality of West Bolton, QC) was initiated to implement these roadkill mitigation measures in the most severely impacted areas. Once aware of the issue, Quebec’s Ministère des Transports (MTMDET) promptly integrated several elements of mitigation to its scheduled culvert replacement work, in order to facilitate safe turtle movement under the road. Led by the MTMDET, every step of the culvert replacement and mitigation works were completed in consultation with partners, from design to completion. All partners involved played a key role towards successful project completion, and all will be involved with the structure maintenance and follow-up study for a minimum period of three years.

08:55 - 09:20 Session L

Road Ecology Case Study in Ontario: The Public, Politics and Progress
- Ontario Road Ecology Group (OREG)

Sainte-Anne Room
Session L: Municipality and Community Involvement

Collaboration among government and non-government agencies and the public has led to the protection of local biodiversity on a high traffic volume municipal road that bisects wetland habitats in Brampton, Ontario. This case study provides an excellent working model of how legislation, staff dedication, and Citizen Science each contributed to the implementation of wildlife/road mitigation solutions.
This multi-partner, multi-year project has produced an extensive dataset of wildlife/road interactions, turtle population studies, a committed team of Citizen Scientists, public engagement, and support for road ecology initiatives and infrastructure. A mitigation strategy was developed and delivered with the installation of a dedicated wildlife culvert and exclusion fencing among other measures. Next steps include monitoring the site and continuing to champion for the protection of wildlife from the threats of roads through improved landscape connectivity.

09:20 - 09:45

Two concurrent sessions

Session K: Ambassadeur Room
Session L: Sainte-Anne Room

Session K: Wildlife Passages for Smaller Species including Herpetofauna
Session L: Municipality and Community Involvement

09:20 - 09:45 Session K

Monitoring the use and effectiveness of fences and wildlife passages for small and medium-sized mammals along Highway 175 in Quebec: Main results and recommendations

Ambassadeur Room
Session K: Wildlife Passages for Smaller Species including Herpetofauna

This study evaluates the effectiveness of 18 wildlife passages for medium-sized and small mammals along HWY 175 in Québec, between Québec City and Saguenay. Exclusion fences were placed for 100 m on either side. Three research objectives were related to road mortality, the performance of the wildlife passages, and the permeability of the highway for wildlife across the road. Methods included road mortality surveys, digital cameras, VHF radiotelemetry, and genetic analysis.
Road mortality: Dead porcupines were found most often, followed by red foxes, woodchucks, striped skunks, and snowshoe hares. The fences reduce road mortality within the fenced sections, but every fence has two fence-ends, at which mortality is higher ("fence-end effect"), and their combined effect did not result in lower road mortality compared to unfenced sections, indicating that the fences are too short.
Effectiveness of wildlife passages: On average, 6.3 species per passage were documented to perform full crossings. Mortality was lower at wildlife passages that were used more frequently, except for porcupines. The results represent a major success for the existing wildlife passages. However, several species were never documented by the photos to perform a full crossing, e.g., American marten, fisher and Canada lynx; and few full crossings were recorded for river otter, red fox, porcupine and raccoon.
Permeability of the highway: Martens are able to cross the 4-lane HWY 175, but do so less often than martens along a 2-lane highway (HWY 381). The genetic analysis detected a negative relationship between genetic relatedness of martens and presence of the road. The findings suggest that the 4-lane highway is a stronger barrier than the 2-lane HWY.
We provide 16 recommendations, for example, the use of a variety of types of wildlife passages with a preference for those types that perform best for the target species considered.

09:20 - 09:45 Session L

Municipal & Community Commitment to Maintaining Ecological Corridors as a Response to Climate Change
- Nature Conservancy Canada (NCC)

Sainte-Anne Room
Session L: Municipality and Community Involvement

It is paramount to maintain landscape connectivity as an adaptation to climate change in order to foster human well-being intrinsically linked to biological richness and ecological services. As part of the Action-Climat Québec program (Green Fund), Nature Conservancy Canada will implement an ecological connectivity project in five priority areas across various regions of southern Quebec.
This project aims to support local and regional actors (MRCs, municipalities, forest managers, citizens, NGOs) in maintaining the connectivity on their territory in order to facilitate adaptation to climate change. The following organizations contributed to the project’s development: Appalachian Corridor, Éco-corridors laurentiens, Nature-Action Québec, Two Countries, One Forest (2C1F) and its program Staying Connected Initiative. Local and regional expertise will be shared in order to carry out activities in the five targeted connectivity areas. The interventions will encourage changes in behavior and the support of local and regional authorities for the maintenance of ecological corridors. Activities will be carried out to target knowledge integration, co-creation and co-construction, mutual commitment and support.
Over the next three years, actions will focus on five major connectivity areas across southern Quebec. In 2020, a regional response plan for each priority connectivity area will be in place for the next decade. Community involvement in maintaining corridors as a response to climate change will be expressed through actions taken by municipal stakeholders, forest managers and private landowners.

09:45 - 10:10

Two concurrent sessions

Session K: Ambassadeur Room
Session L: Sainte-Anne Room

Session K: Wildlife Passages for Smaller Species including Herpetofauna
Session L: Municipality and Community Involvement

09:45 - 10:10 Session K

Effectiveness of a Unique Design of Barrier Wall and Underpass on Reducing Road Mortality in Ontario
- Glenside Ecological Services Ltd

Ambassadeur Room
Session K: Wildlife Passages for Smaller Species including Herpetofauna

With the fragmentation of the landscape by an expanding network of roads, road mortality is a high level of concern for Ontario’s turtle populations. Much work has been done on mitigating the impacts of roads on turtle populations, ranging from the installation of signage, to engineered barrier walls and underpasses. However many solutions are temporary, ineffective and/or expensive and therefore unfeasible for installation at the municipal and provincial level. We investigated the effectiveness of a unique design of barrier wall fabricated from High Definition Polyethylene (HDPE) pipe partnered with an existing semiaquatic culvert as an underpass. Two control sites and one test site were selected. Each site was 500 m in length, with adjacent wetlands connected under the road by an existing culvert. The sites were monitored for 7 hours/day during May and June for 3 years. After one year of monitoring, a barrier wall was installed on both sides of the road at the test site. The ends of the barrier wall were curved back on themselves with the intent of deflecting turtle movements towards the underpass and wetland. The investigation examined the effectiveness of the barrier wall in reducing the number of turtles on the road. Turtle activity beyond the barrier wall was also assessed to determine whether turtles were circumnavigating the barrier wall. Finally, post-mitigation turtle use of the existing semiaquatic culvert underpass was quantified to determine whether the barrier wall was prohibiting migration between wetlands. The information provides valuable insight into barrier wall and underpass design for turtle road mortality mitigation.

09:45 - 10:10 Session L

Citizen Science and Community Involvement : Wildpaths (VT) and Faune sans frontières (QC)
and - Cold Hollow to Canada (CHC) and Ruiter Valley Land Trust (RVLT)

Sainte-Anne Room
Session L: Municipality and Community Involvement

The scale of the current ecological challenges and the urgent need to take action call on the world of environmental education and eco-citizenship, including through the deployment and enhancement of citizen science and communities’ commitment on their territory. The decline of biodiversity, destruction of habitats, and loss of ecological and wildlife connectivity urge the development of inclusive strategies that optimize the transfer of knowledge and skills from all stakeholders in our society. Partnerships between environmental experts, scientific groups, and citizens informed and committed to the protection of their territory facilitate the sustainable implementation of ecological projects. With this in mind, the Ruiter Valley Land Trust (RVLT,) in partnership with Appalachian Corridor and the Fondation de la faune du Québec, and inspired by the WildPaths program of Cold Hollow to Canada (CHC)*, developed the program Faune sans frontières: Citizen Science at its Best. This program involves active participation from citizens of the Appalachian region of southern Quebec with the collection of wildlife crossing information using tracking methods. The aim is to contribute to the development and implementation a road crossing model to reconnect wildlife movement corridors either side of Highway 10.
*The WildPaths Project was developed in order to provide additional data to ground truth the wildlife crossing modeling done by the state of Vermont. CHC Program Director, Bridget Butler, will share the origins of the protocols for the project, the challenges in engaging and retaining volunteers and the open source platform iNaturalist they are using to document sightings.

10:10 - 10:35

Break

10:35 - 11:05

Funding Wildlife Passages: Case Studies from Europe and the US, and opportunities in Quebec
(ITTECOP), (ARC Solutions) and Joël Bonin (CNC) - ITTECOP Program (France), ARC Solutions, and Nature Conservancy Canada (NCC)

Ambassadeur Room

This session will highlight the use of Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) in the United States and in France, including how such partnerships may be leveraged to fund new projects or accelerate construction of existing ones. In particular, examples of innovative sources of public and private funding such as voter-approved financing mechanisms, foundational and private sector funding, crowd-sourcing and social media marketing, as well as other cutting-edge tools aimed at accelerating construction of wildlife crossings using public and private funding will be presented.
In Quebec, how can we financially support the construction of wildlife crossings and ensure their maintenance, improvement and monitoring of long-term effectiveness? What should be the role of the government and the private sector in funding the structures needed to foster biodiversity conservation and adaptation to climate change? When it comes to improving road safety, the financial involvement of the federal state and the provincial department responsible for transportation may be considered, but what should we do for the wildlife conservation component? Should the governments also play a mobilizing role and ensure the establishment of a long-term start-up fund to encourage community participation? Should we consider private sector compensation funds in relation to adaptation to climate change? Can we interest private contributors to increase the benefits for wildlife and recreational or tourism activities in a region? The connectivity of ecosystems extending across borders, can we bring stakeholders together in an international effort?

11:05 - 12:10

Plenary Session
Panel : (Ecology Consultant), (Kheops) (Concordia) and (ITTECOP)
Facilitators : Yves Bédard (ABQ) and André Champoux (Appalachian Corridor) -Appalachian Corridor, Kheops, Concordia University, ITTECOP and Association des biologistes du Québec (ABQ)

Ambassadeur Room

The goals of this plenary session are as follows:

• Generate a discussion around the central question: How can the Province of Quebec progress in the field of road ecology?
• Establish the first bases for action, looking ahead at priorities and concrete measures post-conference

In order to reach these goals, five themes will be discussed:

Ecological connectivity and road ecology
Road Ecology toolbox
Resource center/ standard practice register on measures implemented to mitigate natural habitat fragmentation by roads
Partnerships and funding
Social acceptability of road ecology projects

Panelists will briefly present their points of view and facilitators will open the debate with the audience. " -

12:10 - 12:20

Conference Wrap-up and Next Steps
Appalachian Corridor

Ambassadeur Room

12:20 - 12:30

Official Adjournment of the Conference
Appalachian Corridor

Ambassadeur Room

12:30 - 12:50

Lunch Box Distribution

Participants registered for the fieldtrip only

12:50

Buses Depart for Fieldtrip