Hurricane Ian smashed Florida in late September, significantly affecting human lives and well-being. While anecdotal reports of alligators, sharks, and other wildlife in unusual places have been in the news, the impacts of Ian on habitat, animals, recreational access, invasive species, and the fishing industry are still being assessed. Florida’s native wildlife species are well adapted to hurricanes, and species have all kinds of strategies for staying safe or rebounding quickly, but the magnitude of this storm surely had impacts.

The Nevada Department of Wildlife (NDOW) recently developed an action plan to expand engagement with the Hispanic community and young adults in their state. The goal of the plan is to increase the relevancy of conservation for those groups. During a two-day workshop, a cross-section of 15 staff from all NDOW divisions and regions explored results of an internal assessment of the agency’s readiness to increase relevancy with new constituencies, input from interviews with Hispanic and young adult stakeholders conducted by Dr. Cindi Jacobson with Innovative Outcomes, and data from a statewide survey of Nevada residents conducted by Responsive Management, Inc.

Partners working through the North American Bird Conservation Initiative released the most recent State of the Birds report on October 12. This is the first State of the Birds report since the landmark 2019 study that showed the loss of 3 billion birds in the U.S. and Canada over the last 50 years. Overall, the 2022 study documents that more than half of U.S. bird species are declining with the greatest loss in grassland birds and shorebirds, down 34% and 33% respectively since 1970. In addition, the report describes 70 newly identified “Tipping Point” species that have each lost 50% or more of their populations in the past 50 years, and could decline further if nothing changes.

At the AFWA Annual meeting in Ft. Worth, TX, the Directors adopted the revised Commission Guidebook (Commission Guidebook 2022). In spring 2022, WMI partnered with AFWA to update the Commission Guidebook to reflect changing norms of state agency commission practices.

The Wildlife Management Institute is seeking a new President to replace Steve Williams who recently announced his plans to retire at the end of March 2023. The WMI Board of Directors continues their search for qualified candidates and welcomes applicants to submit their materials for consideration. A new president is expected to be selected on or before February 2023. Following is the full position description.

The USGS and researchers at the Wyoming and South Dakota Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Units released new research documenting the impacts of energy development on migrating mule deer. Following is the press release issued on October 5, 2022.