ABSTRACT
We present the mission, objectives and roles of the NSST, chart a course for developing a NSST vision, goals and objectives based on a comprehensive analysis of the NSST Charter (mission and objectives) and NSST Roles (task assignments and charges) identified in historical documents. We elucidate the primary impending challenges ahead for the NSST.
Among the most pressing issues discussed are: 1.) Addressing the coherence of harvest and habitat management under the realization that harvest and habitat management are inextricably linked, and the objectives of both harvest management and the NAWMP should explicitly reflect that linkage; 2.) Coalescing regional habitat objectives and linking them to continental population objectives so that they “add up”, while being partitioned amongst the Joint Ventures (JV), to a cogent continental assessment to assess NAWMP progress while accounting for uncontrolled environmental variation; and 3.) Developing creative, efficient approaches to waterfowl and habitat conservation, given limited resources and globalization of stewardship initiatives, that reaffirm our commitment to those resources in the context of “All Bird” management.