As a result of November's elections, new leadership with be at the helm when the House and Senate Committees that oversee agriculture convene in January, according to the Wildlife Management Institute.

Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) will be taking over as Chair of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry. Senator Stabenow replaces Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) who was defeated in her bid to return to the Senate. Stabenow has served on the Committee since 2000 and has a history of supporting small farmers and growers of specialty crops.

The Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership (TRCP) in late November appealed a judge's decision to uphold the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) energy development plan in the Upper Green River Basin in southwest Wyoming. In September, the court ruled against the TRCP's argument that the BLM failed to implement effective "adaptive environmental management" (AEM) and mitigation requirements in its oil and gas development plan for the Pinedale Anticline.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) announced on December 13 that wolverines in the contiguous United States are warranted to be listed under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) but precluded from full protection due to other listings of higher priority. The decision puts this distinct population segment of wolverines on the candidate list but keeps management of the species under state control. The species' status will be reviewed annually.

Conservation planning increasingly emphasizes a broad-scale perspective that looks across ownership boundaries to coordinate management and restoration activities at landscape or watershed scales.This is especially important given the predicted impacts of climate change, current efforts to reduce increased risks of wildfire, widespread effects of increased human population, and related issues. An important issue that can limit success is the integration of aquatic and terrestrial management.

On December 3, President Obama formally nominated Dan Ashe to be the next Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Currently serving as Deputy Director, Ashe has been the science advisor to the Director, Chief of the National Wildlife Refuge System and Assistant Director for External Affairs.

During the week of March 28-April 1, 2011, Colorado State University will again offer the annual Wildlife Management Short Course mainly for laypersons and agency personnel without wildlife training.