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Pennsylvania Biodiversity Partnership 2001 Conference: Welcome

What is the State of Biodiversity in Pennsylvania?
November 29-30, 2001
State College, PA

Greetings!

On behalf of the Pennsylvania Biodiversity Partnership, welcome to the Pennsylvania Biodiversity Conference and thank you for helping to craft a report on the present state of biodiversity in Pennsylvania. The consultants and PBP members who have been compiling information on biodiversity issues in the state as well as the PBP Public Relations Task Force have worked many hours in planning this conference and the interesting slate of presentations.

This is the first-ever conference organized by the Pennsylvania Biodiversity Partnership, a relatively new organization that was formed in response to a recommendation in the Report of the Pennsylvania 21st Century Environment Commission that a broad-based public-private partnership be formed to coordinate activities on protecting and conserving native species and their communities. PBP brings together organizations and individuals with diverse interests and backgrounds, but with the shared goal of conserving biodiversity. Despite differing backgrounds, a consensus emerged that a comprehensive statewide plan for protecting Pennsylvania’s biodiversity must be developed. The first step of this process is determining the present state of biodiversity in Pennsylvania.

Our goal today is to bring together biodiversity experts, state and local government officials, policy-makers, business and industry representatives, conservation practitioners, land managers, environmental educators, and others concerned with this important topic to discuss the present state of biodiversity in Pennsylvania and to initiate dialogue to develop a statewide biodiversity conservation plan.

I hope that you will find the conference and its many networking opportunities to be a stimulating, energizing, and motivating experience. We look forward to hearing your ideas, questions, and comments and thank you for assisting us in this endeavor.

Sincerely,

Sue Thompson
PBP Interim Executive Director