Overview

The Working Group

​​

The Brook Floater Working Group (BFWG) is a collection of 39 representatives from 3 federal and 14 state agencies and 4 academic institutions. Our group is diverse and includes funded and unfunded representatives from partner states (see map) who specialize in mussel ecology/conservation and technical advisors that specialize in mussel surveys methods, propagation and decision science. ​

Goals​

Our primary objective is to increase range wide cooperative conservation efforts and strategic planning towards reducing further population losses and defining approaches for the recovery of Brook Floater throughout the species' range from Georgia to Nova Scotia.

​

1. We assess the status of Brook Floater within states by 

    implementing the Brook Floater Rapid Monitoring

    Assessment Protocol (Sterrett et al. 2018).

​

2. We assess the feasibility of increasing mussel

     propagation capacity in the Northeast.​

​

3. We build upon an existing USFWS Brook Floater genomic

    database by contributing previously unsampled

    populations using a standardized collection protocol.

​

4. We work with state partners to develop consistent and

    coordinated monitoring at the state and regional scales

    to understand status and changes in Brook Floater

    populations throughout their range.