On October 1, many aspects of the federal government ground to a halt as the deadline to enact federal spending bills passed. For the first time in seventeen years, hundreds of thousands of federal workers were furloughed and federal facilities were shuttered. The impasse ended late in the evening on October 16, but in the more than two weeks that the government was shutdown, these closures and the pause of federal research and conservation efforts took a toll on natural resource management, reports the Wildlife Management Institute.

The Wildlife Management Institute (WMI) and Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee teamed up with renowned hunting journalist Craig Boddington and the Boone and Crockett Club to produce a 2-minute demonstration video and 30-second public service announcement (PSA) to promote the use of bear spray by hunters. The demonstration video is posted on outdoor-oriented Facebook pages and websites that have hundreds of thousands of fans.

Legislation that extended provisions of the 2008 Farm Bill expired on September 30^th, but negotiating the new Farm Bill took a back seat to resolution of the federal government shutdown and the deadline to raise the debt ceiling. Both the Senate and House have passed substantially different versions of new farm legislation, but have yet to convene a conference committee to work out differences. However, both chambers have now chosen members of that conference committee, according to the Wildlife Management Institute.

Research led by The Nature Conservancy and released in mid-September validates efforts to limit the encroachment of juniper and other conifers in sagebrush habitats in order to maintain sage grouse populations, reports the Wildlife Management Institute. The report found that in the study area in eastern Oregon, there were no active sage grouse leks when conifer cover exceeded 4 percent within two-thirds of a mile of a lek location.

A number of the nation's conservation organizations, including the Wildlife Management Institute, are encouraging the U.S. Senate to follow the U.S. House of Representatives' lead and pass legislation that directs the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to accelerate the pace and scope of forest management on lands they control.

Agencies and organizations wishing to hold meetings or events in conjunction with 79th North American Wildlife and Natural Resources Conference are invited to submit a Related Meeting Request Form now available from the Wildlife Management Institute's conference website. Meeting planners are encouraged to submit requests without delay as meeting space is limited. The deadline for related meeting requests is November 12, 2013.

The Department of Fish, Wildlife and Conservation Biology at Colorado State University will again offer the annual Wildlife Management Short Course on the campus during the week of March 31?April 4, 2014. This popular course was developed for laypersons and agency personnel with non-wildlife training. A number of agencies have sent administrators, commissioners, planners, information and environmental education personnel, legislators, and other staff to this course to obtain a broad exposure to wildlife conservation, management and issues.

Northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus) populations have experienced a general decline of an average rate of 3 percent per year across most of their range in the southeastern U.S. over the last 40?50 years. In Oklahoma in the western part of its distribution, populations have experienced a long-term decline, albeit at a lower rate than reported for other regions of the U.S. (i.e., 1.5 percent per year).