Vicky Meretsky's message of 7 Dec. (quoted below) called our attention to an odd and awkward fact.  This list has already seen a fair amount of traffic regarding the "Freshwater Mollusk Conservation Society."  Yet there has been no formal announcement of the Society's existence.  This because, technically speaking, the Society does not exist quite yet.  Perhaps a word of explanation is in order.

The FMCS traces its roots back to the "Symposium on the Conservation and Management of Freshwater Mussels" held in St. Louis in 1992, sponsored by the Upper Mississippi River Conservation Committee.  The UMRCC mussel ad hoc committee organized a second St. Louis symposium in 1995.  The proceedings of both these symposia were edited by Kevin Cummings (ksc@mail.inhs.uiuc.edu) and colleagues, and have been published as "Conservation and Management of Freshwater Mussels" I (Oct 1993) and II (April 1997).

In the spring of 1996 a mussel subcommittee was established under the Mississippi Interstate Cooperative Resource Association, which then expanded its portfolio to include all states and became known in 1997 as the National Native Mussel Conservation Committee, with eight subcommittees.  In March, 1998, the NNMCC voted to form a society, the Freshwater Mollusk Conservation Society, and to broaden its interests to include gastropod conservation.

A de-facto FMCS Executive Committee met in Chattanooga in early November to work on a constitution, bylaws, dues structure, application form, and numerous additional details.  A ninth (uniquely gastropod) committee was added.  The FMCS should be incorporated as an independent, non-profit scientific and professional organization in January.

A substantial fraction of our effort in November was spent making plans for the first FMCS symposium, scheduled for March 17 - 19 in Chattanooga.  Everybody on this list should have received an announcement from Paul Johnson (pdj@tennis.org) on 25 November regarding the symposium.  I've appended a copy, for those of us with overly-tidy hard drives.  Note that the deadline for abstract submission is December 15, so there's still time!

Alan Buchanan of the Missouri Dept of Conservation has been the chair of this (variously named) group throughout its evolution (BUCHAA@mail.conservation.state.mo.us).  The mailing list (currently somewhat over 100 names) is heavily weighted toward North American state & federal managers involved with unionid conservation.  But the problems we face are clearly global in scope.  We very much welcome involvement from all countries, all backgrounds, and all interests.  I will be adding the names of about 50 workers interested in freshwater gastropods from the FWGNA project (see my 7/98 post to this list ).

So finally, to answer Vicky's question about FMCS membership in three words:
*Contact Alan Buchanan.*
We hope to mail membership forms and info to all interested parties in January.

See you in Chattanooga?
Rob
 

--------[begin P. Johnson post of 25 Nov]--------

Dear Colleagues ,

This is a reminder concerning early registration and abstract
submissions for the first symposium of the Freshwater Mollusk
Conservation Society.  The meeting will be held on March 17-19, 1999, at
the Chattanooga Clarion Hotel, in Chattanooga, Tennessee.  The symposium
is hosted by the Tennessee Aquarium and the Southeast Aquatic Research
Institute.  This meeting will be similar to the 1992 and 1995
"Conservation and Management of Freshwater Mussels" meetings in St
Louis, but this meeting will accept papers dealing with other freshwater
mollusks (gastropods and sphaeriids).  A published proceedings for this
symposium is planned.

The deadline for early registration and submission of abstracts (oral
and poster) for presentation is December 15, 1998.  The symposium
committee will design the meeting program by January 15, 1998, so we
would like everyone's cooperation with their abstract submissions.
Meeting and instructions for authors  information can be obtain from the
Southeast Aquatic Research Institute website (http://www.sari.org/), by
accessing the "Current Activities" link.  The website will also support
on-line registration.

Please direct any questions to the address below.

Thanks,

Paul Johnson
Research Scientist I
Southeast Aquatic Research Institute
817-B North Market St.
Chattanooga, TN 37405
Phone (423) 785-4074
Fax (423) 266-5124
http://www.sari.org/

-----[end P. Johnson post of 25 Nov]-----
 

----[begin V. Meretsky post of 7 Dec]------
>
>Hi,
>I'm having a literature search run on a very nearly this topic, and would
>happily pass on what I learn.  How does one become of member of the Society?
>I've been working in conservation of an endangered snail since 1995 and
>haven't heard of the group until today and am very interested.
>Many thanks,
>
>Vicky Meretsky
>
>