The logjam broke for a number of natural resource-related bills during the last few weeks of the 113^th Congress. Legislation to increase the cost of the duck stamp passed, as did a defense authorization bill that included a number of public lands measures, and an omnibus appropriations bill that included a legislative rider on sage-grouse. One issue that failed at the finish line was a bill that included a permanent extension to conservation tax incentives. The flurry of activity resulted in a mixed bag of success for conservation.

The Program Committee for the 2015 North American Wildlife and Natural Resources Conference has announced the event's line-up of four concurrent Special Sessions scheduled to follow the Plenary Session on Wednesday, March 11.

In coordination with the Program Committee, Special Session co-chairs have drafted brief descriptions of the session topics. Persons interested in presenting at one of these Special Sessions are welcome to contact the appropriate co-chairs, and should do so as soon as possible.

The Archery Trade Association (ATA) just concluded its 2014 Archery and Bowhunting Summit in Louisville, Kentucky. Now in its 10^th year, this annual gathering of professionals from state and federal agencies, non-profits and the archery industry focused on the aggressive implementation of target archery and bowhunting recruitment programs. From range design, location and construction to the development of programs that capture the interest of potential hunters and shooters, cutting edge ideas about archery participation were the focus of this year's Summit.

The five Landscape Conservation Cooperatives (LCCs) that span the north Pacific coast, northwestern Canada and all of Alaska joined with the Alaska Climate Science Center (AK CSC) and University of Alaska Fairbanks to host a 2-day conference in Anchorage last month.

The most popular waterfowl book ever is once again available ? new and much improved. Ducks, Geese and Swans of North America was first released more than 70 years ago and sold more than one million copies in its first three editions. Now, nearly 35 years since the last revision, Johns Hopkins University Press (JHUP) has released the fourth edition of this seminal reference of the continent's waterfowl. The latest edition is a magnificent, two-volume Wildlife Management Institute (WMI) book, authored by the late Guy Baldassarre.

Research conducted at Iowa State University indicates that establishment of a small amount of native prairie vegetation at strategic locations in crop fields can substantially reduce the loss of topsoil and nutrients to adjacent waterways, according to the Wildlife Management Institute. Researchers found that converting just ten percent of crop fields into prairie at strategic locations in the fields could reduce soil loss by 95 percent, phosphorous loss by 90 percent and loss of nitrogen from the field by 85 percent.

Conservation Briefs is a compilation of short news stories of interest to Outdoor News Bulletin readers. The stories cover a number of issues that have developed in the past month or provide updates on issues that were featured in previous ONB editions. Each story includes links to online resources for more details on each topic.

This Month:

The U.S. Geological Survey's Utah Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit is working with a consortium of other cooperative research units and universities to examine relationships of climate to trophic linkages between forage productivity, native ungulates and a top predator across landscapes in the western United States. The project is funded through NASA's Biodiversity and Ecological Forecasting Program and led by Thomas Edwards of the Utah Unit and the Department of Wildland Resources at Utah State University.