ABSTRACT

This chapter focuses on Canadian-American efforts to manage species whose distributions are inevitably crossborder in nature; the broader theme is the provision of environmental security. The United States and Canada have pursued basic approaches to species-based conservation programs. The use of indicator species for monitoring and focal species adds another layer of protection to species inhabiting protected habitats, providing additional biodiversity benefits by affording an umbrella of protection to other species. Ecoregional conservation is instituted at the regional, ecosystem, and landscape scale. Each management scale is interlinked to provide a solid foundation for biotic communities to sustain themselves. The buffer areas consist of rehabilitated landscapes and areas subject to resource extraction. The most evident biological impact is on other unionid bivalves, such as clams and other mussels, native to the newly-colonized area. Canadian-American cooperation will be instrumental in this regard, as will the participation of non-state actors.